While the camp was in existence, a Reichsadler, or imperial eagle, stood resplendent over the gateway to the SS garage courtyard. On May 5th, 1945, the day of the liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp, it was torn down by a group of prisoners. In doing so, they were getting rid of a clear and visible symbol of the National Socialist reign of terror.
The garage yard outside the detention camp was used by
the SS for a number of purposes, for SS celebrations and as an assembly area for prisoners during delousing actions.