Turkish barracks

The courtyard of the Turkish barracks during a parade of the 2nd Infantry Regiment “Crown Prince” in 1882

The Türkenkaserne (also: Neue Infanteriekaserne am Türkengraben and Prinz-Arnulf-Kaserne ) was a barracks complex of the Bavarian Army in Munich's Maxvorstadt .

Discarded plans

The planning of the complex began on August 23, 1809 in a meeting in which the design of the Königsplatz had been discussed. King Maximilian I wanted the square to be redeveloped with military buildings so that a real military district should arise. A garrison church, a cadet corps building and a veteran's house were to be built. During this meeting, doubts about the feasibility arose. The Veteran's House was abandoned at an early stage because it was feared that it would have a demoralizing effect on the offspring of the officer corps if their cadets had been constantly exposed to the sight of invalids and wounded. The commission finally agreed on the construction of a large barracks building, a garrison church and the cadet corps, which should be attached to the church as a wing structure on both sides. However, parts of the square were owned by both private and municipal authorities, so that considerable costs for the purchase of land were feared. In addition, a required channel was not available. Such a canal was originally intended to be drawn from the Würm to Maxvorstadt, but this project also failed due to the question of ownership of the land. The project was finally abandoned in 1813 by the Minister-State Secretary for Warfare von Triva .

In 1815 and 1816, Maxvorstadt was again considered as a barracks location when a replacement for the dilapidated Kreuzkaserne was sought. War economist Frey considered the Maxvorstadt unsuitable due to the still unclear water supply and high property prices. In the spring of 1816, von Triva, who had meanwhile advanced to become Minister of War, ordered the suspension of all further new building plans.

planning

On March 15, Minister of War von Maillot applied for the construction of a new infantry barracks in Munich, which was approved by King Max I Joseph on March 24 . The draft of Munich engineering officers calculated an occupation of 2,244 men in peacetime and 2,758 men in a state of war or in exceptional cases. These designs were examined by the Genie directorates in Augsburg , Landau , Würzburg and Nuremberg and rated positively overall.

construction

In the same year a 44,417 m² meadow was bought for 34,000 guilders , which was located on the area which is now bordered by Barerstrasse, Theresienstrasse, Türkenstrasse and Gabelsbergerstrasse . It was the same site that had been abandoned in 1815 because of excessive costs. The total cost of the project was estimated at 315,000 guilders. The draft, which had been presented to the king on July 2, 1823, was presumably approved on the same day. The foundation stone was laid on July 14th to the left of the still-preserved Turkish gate . It contains a time capsule with all circulation coins from 1823 as well as a gold and a silver military merit medal. The first phase of construction began on August 13th and the shell of the first building was completed on December 18th, 1823. In November 1824 the first soldiers of the 2nd Rifle Company of the 1st Line Infantry Regiment "König" moved into the Turkish barracks. In August 1825 six companies of the 1st Line Infantry Regiment moved from the new Isar barracks to the Turkish barracks, followed in August by the remaining units of the regiment stationed in Munich, which were relocated from the Kreuzkaserne and the barracks in Maxvorstadt.

Exterior view of the Turkish barracks around 1840

King Ludwig I stopped the expansion of the barracks up to Wilhelminenstrasse (today Barerstrasse) in order to keep a distance from the Pinakothek . He also commissioned Leo von Klenze with the further design of the barracks. By 1826, 529,761 guilders had been spent, the barracks building provided space for almost 3,000 soldiers.

Use and expansion until 1918

In addition to the Infantry Body Regiment , the 1st Infantry Regiment "König" and the 2nd Line Infantry Regiment "Kronprinz" were barracked in the complex. The body regiment remained until 1918, the other two regiments moved to new barracks in the 1890s. Another side wing was built in 1872/73, and a drill house followed in 1886. During the revolution of 1918, soldiers from the Turkish barracks joined Kurt Eisner's train .

Use after 1918 and demolition

Turkish Gate 2010

The state police took over the barracks in 1920, and the area was again used for military purposes during the Nazi era . The buildings were partially destroyed in the Second World War , after which they were used as residential and commercial space. Later in the 1970s, the facility was almost completely demolished; the only remaining building is the Turkish Gate , which is a listed building. Today the Pinakothek der Moderne , the Brandhorst Museum , the Mineralogical State Collection and buildings of the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich are located on the site .