Belgian barracks
The Belgier-Kaserne is a barracks in the west of Graz . It is located in the 15th district of Wetzelsdorf in Graz at Straßganger Straße 171.
history
The Belgian barracks in World War II
The Belgier barracks was built between 1939 and 1940. The architectural tasks were carried out by a group of Berlin architects. Initially, the eight planned objects were built by various Graz construction companies.
The first unit to move into the Belgian barracks was the 2nd reserve battalion of the Waffen SS regiment “Der Führer” . Several other SS replacement units were later housed. During the Second World War it was given the name SS-Kaserne Wetzelsdorf .
In the course of the war, and especially at the end of the war in 1945, numerous shootings took place on the barracks grounds. Immediately after the end of the war, an Austro-Soviet investigative commission tried to identify the 142 bodies found there. After further corpses were found, the number of deaths increased to 219 in 2010. Further deaths are suspected that were buried in bomb craters that were used as mass graves. These new assumptions were underpinned by further body finds based on hit photos, which were only released by archives.
Feliferhof shooting range - site of Nazi crimes
The barracks also include the Feliferhof , which has been used by the military as a shooting range since 1869. Today it is also used by the police . Around 500 people were murdered on this site during the Nazi era. From September 1941 until the establishment of an execution site in the regional court in 1943, death sentences were carried out by military and police courts here. From February 1945 shootings were carried out again.
At the end of April 1945 around 130 corpses of prisoners buried in bomb craters were excavated and reburied in a mass grave at the Feliferhof. These inmates were shot into this grave. After the liberation, the mass grave with 142 corpses was discovered by Allied troops on May 18, 1945, 116 of them in civilian clothes and 21 in uniform (ten Hungarians, four Germans, three French, three Russians and one American). The bodies of the 140 men and 2 women were solemnly buried on May 27, 1945 in the Graz central cemetery. A commission of inquiry was set up by the state government to clarify the executions.
In 1980 the first memorial plaque was put up. The memorial is being kept by the Styrian Military Command as a reminder for "the remaining traces of brutal arbitrary acts by the Nazi judiciary". Commemorations are held around the International Day of Human Rights.
The Feliferhof is a listed building .
The Belgian barracks in the post-war period
After the end of the Second World War on May 8, 1945, the Soviet troops under Marshal Tolbuchin moved into the Belgian barracks on May 9, 1945 and evacuated Styria on July 23, 1945. From then on they were represented by the British 8th Army under General Hankesworth. At that time the Belgian barracks were called Hankesworth Barracks . At times, the Belgian barracks also housed part of the Wetzelsdorf internment camp for former National Socialists for denazification . From 1953 the northern part was ceded by the British to the Krumpendorf driving unit (later Styria) and some subdivisions of the former B-Gendarmerie (the predecessors of the Austrian Armed Forces). It was the only barracks that housed the British and parts of the B gendarmerie at the same time. The 8th British Army left Styria in 1955 and left the barracks to the Austrian Armed Forces.
The Belgian barracks under the Austrian Armed Forces
After the British left Styria, the Austrian Armed Forces converted the barracks into an armored barracks. Several tank units emerged from it, for example Panzerbataillon 4 with the M 47 battle tank or the Jagdpanzerbataillon 4, which was converted to the Kürassier tank destroyer. The tank units were relocated to Gratkorn on November 30, 1998 . On December 1, 1998, the command battalion 1 moved into the Belgian barracks. Today, the center of international cooperation that emerged from it and is equivalent in battalion status is located there . Since September 1, 2006, the Belgian barracks has also been home to the Armed Forces Command of the Austrian Armed Forces, which, together with a part in Salzburg-Wals, is responsible for the operational management of all armed forces in Austria and all missions abroad.
Naming
The Wetzelsdorfer barracks were given the name Belgian barracks due to the decree to maintain the tradition of the armed forces, which was passed in 1967 under Federal Minister Georg Prader . This was intended to set a worthy memorial to the Styrian kuk infantry regiment No. 27 "King of the Belgians" founded in 1682. From 1853 the Belgian kings Leopold I , Leopold II and Albert I were appointed owners of this regiment by Emperor Franz Joseph I. Soon the members of this regiment were popularly called the Belgians .
Use and expansion / reconstruction of the barracks
Before 1945 numerous houses and buildings were still part of the barracks. Today these are only partially used as residential buildings for the management staff. The Pöls training area and the Feliferhof shooting range are still subordinate to the Belgian barracks. The only new buildings that were erected in the barracks were the fixed position commission as well as a few armored and motor vehicle halls and ammunition and equipment stores. In 1956, part of the barracks in the area of the northern entrance gate was sold to the city of Graz.
The officers' mess of the Belgier barracks, which burned down in 2005, is also the Graz casino on site. It is also used for the events of Styrian military associations, the officers' social evening and the NCO ball. From 2002, the International Operations Command was divided into several groups, which, together with the Mission Preparation Center in Götzendorf and the International Cooperation Center, explored its tasks in managing all international requirements and, by fulfilling them, continued the importance of the Belgian barracks on an international level. Now the main part of the command of the Austrian armed forces is located here.
Location and traffic
The Belgier barracks are located in the 15th district of Wetzelsdorf at Straßganger Straße 171. About 3 km of paved road run through the 18.7 hectare barracks area. It also has its own railway connection. With over 30 objects, it is considered to be the largest built-up military facility in Graz.
Trivia
Arnold Schwarzenegger , famous actor and former governor of California, did his basic military service as a tank driver in the Belgian barracks.
List of the units currently stationed in the Belgian barracks
- Armed Forces Command of the Austrian Armed Forces (2006-present)
- Supplementary department of the Styrian Military Command (1966-present)
- Fixed position commission Graz of the Styrian military command (1978-present)
- Military Hospital Graz (1989-present)
- Belgian barracks operational relay (1994-present)
- User support for information technology south of the command command support and cyber defense (2002-present)
- Center for International Cooperation (2002-present)
- Army Personnel Office (2003-present)
- Army building administration south (2000-present)
- Defense center Styria (2006-present)
List of the units that were stationed in the Belgian barracks
- Building administration later branch of the Federal Building Administration II (1947–1999)
- Brigadesanitätsanstalt 5 later Heeressanitätsanstalt Graz (1956–1989)
- Mountain Brigade Medical Company 5
- Battery / Artillery School later 1st Battery / Brigade Artillery Department 5 (1956–1957)
- Barracks command Belgian barracks (1957–1994)
- Units of Supply Regiment 2 (1957–1982)
- Panzerjägerkompanie 5 (1957)
- 5th Jäger Brigade Command (1963–1966)
- Command and headquarters company training regiment 10 (1963–1971)
- Headquarters of the Styrian Military Command (1974–1998)
- Command company of Corps Command I (1974–1993 and 1998–2002)
- Medical training company (1979–2002)
- Army salary post II or cash register later accounting of the Styrian military command (1982–1998)
- Computer center of the Styrian military command (1991–2000)
- Command Battalion 1 (1998-2002)
- Corps Command I (1998-2002)
- Bookkeeping of Corps Command I (1998–2002)
- Computer center Graz of the Army Data Processing Office (2001-2002)
- International Operations Command (2002–2006)
- Army accounting of the Federal Ministry for National Defense (2002-2005)
- News element of the Land Forces Command (2002–2006)
- Verification Department of the Austrian Armed Forces (2002–2006)
List of clubs that currently have their headquarters in the Belgian barracks
- Sections of the Army Sports Club
- Sections of the Heeressportschützenverein
- Unteroffiziersgesellschaft Steiermark
- Fearless and Faithful Comradeship Association
- "Society for Bosnian-Herzegovinian Relations"
- Traditional train of the Feldjäger Battalion No. 9
- Traditional Association Higher Leadership Graz
- Association of Austrian Peacekeepers, Styrian regional group
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Nazi crimes in Graz: number of victims increased on ORF -Steiermark from March 10, 2010 accessed on March 10, 2010
- ↑ http://www.denblickhinrichten.at/
- ↑ The expansion of public space with the means of art . synesthesie.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
- ↑ Austria's Armed Forces - Current - Prospective officers visit the Feliferhof Memorial
- ↑ Austria's Armed Forces - Current - Against Forgetting: Commemoration at the Grazer Feliferhof
Coordinates: 47 ° 3 ′ 11 ″ N , 15 ° 23 ′ 48 ″ E