Vogelsang military training area
The Vogelsang military training area, founded in 1946 and abandoned at the end of 2005, was located in the German northern Eifel between the places Simmerath , Heimbach and Schleiden in North Rhine-Westphalia . It was 45 km² (with a circumference of about 40 km) around the expanded area of the former NS-Ordensburg Vogelsang on the Erpenscheid mountain, the surrounding Dreiborn plateau and the Urftstausee including parts of the Obersee .
The training area was established in 1946 by the British armed forces , from 1950 it was under Belgian administration and was used by the Belgian military and other NATO troops until December 31, 2005 .
history
prehistory
The starting point of the later military training area was the NS Ordensburg Vogelsang , which was completed in 1936 . This building complex, built by the NSDAP as a training center for the offspring of the Nazi leadership cadre, was put into use by the Wehrmacht as a barracks in 1939 and, with 100 hectares of built-up area, is the second largest structural legacy of National Socialism in Germany after the party congress buildings in Nuremberg . The listed part of the building alone has a gross floor area of more than 50,000 square meters .
British use from 1946
After the end of the Second World War in early 1946, the British military administration temporarily considered demolishing the Ordensburg as an outstanding symbol of National Socialism. In September 1946 the British confiscated 6,354 hectares of land around the Ordensburg as a military training area ("Training Area Vogelsang"). The residents of the village of Wollseifen, now located in the military training area, were forcibly relocated.
Belgian administration from 1950 to 2005
In 1950 the British handed over the military training area and the facilities of the former order castle to the Belgian armed forces. The Belgian military then used the site from 1950. At the Ordensburg Vogelsang, the Belgian military administration carefully reconstructed the buildings that had been destroyed in the war. Only the emblems of the Third Reich, mainly swastikas , were removed . The Belgian “Camp Vogelsang” was built in and around the architecture of the former Ordensburg.
Camp Vogelsang
The outer walls for the newly built barracks "Van Dooren" were built on the already completed base walls of the House of Knowledge planned by the National Socialists, so that the angled architectural style is similar to the building from the Nazi era. The Belgian military cinema (later theater) was built on the neighboring foundation of a planned auditorium. Belgian infantry and artillery soldiers in battalion strength were stationed in the camp until around 1953. The barracks were then only used for the training area command, which had around 250 civilian and military forces, the maintenance of the barracks and the infrastructure of the training area, and the reception and supply of the training troops, including weapons and equipment.
Camp Vogelsang was a self-sufficient facility with:
- School,
- Police,
- Church,
- Doctors,
- Hair stylist,
- Big kitchen,
- Laundry,
- Restaurants,
- Sports facilities (sports hall, indoor swimming pool, tennis and soccer field)
- Shop,
- Movie theater,
- Hospital,
- Workshops,
- Post Office,
- Energy supply, 12 kilovolt substation,
- Deposits,
- Accommodation,
- central heating system,
- Water supply,
- Wastewater treatment,
- Gas station,
- civil workplaces,
Within the former NS-Ordensburg one built or used among other things the troop accommodation
- De Schelde
- Camp 26 A
- St. Jöris or St. Georges (the Hundred Houses)
- Camp Doreen
as well as the cinema building. In the mid-1950s, the Walburgis Chapel was set up in the east wing of the tower (to the right of the entrance to the Ordensburg) next to the Belgian primary school (1st to 6th grade) . The inauguration was carried out by the Aachen Bishop Johannes Pohlschneider . The last local pastor was Hermann Brouwers († November 2017). When the Belgian primary schools were closed in 2003, the Vogelsang primary school was the last of 18 until June 2005 to be operated by the Belgian armed forces on German territory.
Airfield
Former airfield Walberhof (grass runways) for light aircraft and helicopters of the Belgian army (until 2006). This airfield (built 1934-1935) was already used by the Wehrmacht and was also used in the western campaign. At the end of 1944 a Messerschmidt fighter squadron was stationed on Vogelsang for a short time. In 1963 a Piper Cub L-18C of the Belgian Army Aviation crashed here . The pilot and one companion perished.
NATO training area
Several tank roads were built in the area of the training area. One of these tank roads leads, starting in a narrow piece of forest near Herhahn (south of the former Ordensburg or the barracks) to the southern part of the former military training area or the Dreiborn plateau and frames the town of Dreiborn . In addition, various unpaved tank tracks were set up in the area.
For the training units and troop units, the training ground was used or newly built:
- 6 bivouac rooms
- 75 km of roads and paths
- 36 shooting lanes
- 1 Air Field (Walberhof)
Exercise was also carried out in connection with the military training area in Elsenborn , Belgium, 23 km away . In 1954 the artillery fired twice a week from this training area into the training village of Wollseifen, whose population had already been forcibly relocated in 1946. The village's church and cemetery were also destroyed in the process; the dead had previously been reburied elsewhere. With the establishment of NATO in 1956 and the admission of the Federal Republic of Germany, in addition to soldiers from Belgium, NATO units from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Luxembourg, the United States of America, Germany and Canada practiced on the training area administered by the Belgian military. In addition, some of the exercising troops also moved into troop accommodation within the Belgian barracks of the former NS-Ordensburg.
The facility could accommodate and supply a maximum of 3,000 soldiers at the same time (excluding bivouacs) and accommodate the material and ammunition of the training troops. The Belgian troops practiced six months a year, the troops from the Netherlands, England, America, Germany and Canada for six months. Every year the facility was used by 30,000–40,000 NATO soldiers for 47 weeks of training. They mostly stayed two weeks for shooting and tactical exercises. The tanks of the exercising troops were transported by rail to / from the Schleiden-Höddelbusch military loading ramp on the Oleftalbahn. The loading ramp was followed for the tank road connected Equipped L 207 near Herhahn with the tank line of the training area.
In the 1960s, consideration was given to merging the two practice areas Elsenborn and Vogelsang. However, the result of the planning then led to the military training area being reduced from the original 6,354 hectares to 4,200 hectares.
From 1957 to 1975 a German liaison command (VKdo) was set up, which kept the connection with the Belgian command and supported the German soldiers practicing. From 1997 to 2005 a German military representative (DMV) was in Vogelsang. His main focus was:
- Cooperation with the Belgian headquarters and the Belgian permanent staff
- Advising the commanding officer on provisions and responsibilities in German law
- Representation of German military interests towards the public services
- Supervision of compliance with the administrative agreements to the supplementary agreement to the NATO troop statute in all questions relating to the use of the military training area
- Representation of the press and public relations work of the Bundeswehr
After the declaration of the Belgian government to give up the training area by 2005, the military use of "Camp Vogelsang" ended at the end of 2005, because the federal government did not want to continue using the training area either. The barracks and the training area were cleared by the Belgian military administration.
Use since 2006
At the same time, at the beginning of 2006, the land ownership was transferred from the Federal Republic of Germany to the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. As part of a land development procedure, the federal government exchanged the approximately 3,300 hectares of affected predominantly forested area of the Vogelsang military training area for equivalent state forest holdings in the Eifel. However, the risk of contaminated sites remained with the federal government , as in comparable cases in the context of land conversion .
Since January 1, 2006, the area with the huge structures has been open to civilian use and can be visited during the day, part of the area is accessible by bike and hiking trails, for which the old tank roads were partly used.
The indoor swimming pool has been open to the public since then. The sports hall and the sports field can be rented for use at the swimming and sports club.
On the site of the former Ordensburg there is a Rotkreuz Museum , one of the largest in Europe , open to the public from May to October on two floors with around 600 square meters in eleven rooms .
In October 2018, the Vogelsang IP Academy received various exhibits on permanent loan from the now closed Museum of the Belgian Armed Forces in Germany (BSD) in Soest. A documentation of the history of the military training area Camp Vogelsang is planned, but it will also shed light on the subject of the "Cold War" and the civil society relations between Belgian military personnel and the local population.
- For information on the use of the Ordensburg since 2006, see Ordensburg Vogelsang .
tourism
In addition to the main attraction of the NS Ordensburganlage Vogelsang, which has been inaccessible to the population for decades, general national park and nature tourism in the Eifel National Park also plays a role today. A special position for hikers is the exploration of the former Wollseifen settlement ( Wüstung Wollseifen ). In summer there are barrier-free carriage rides between the Vogelsang Kino, the Walberhof and the Wüstung Wollseifen on the first and third Sunday of each month. Various ranger tours through the national park also start in Vogelsang, mostly over the Dreiborn plateau and thus over the former military training area.
Other places of tourist interest are the lookout points with a wide view of the Urft Dam, other military installations scattered across the restricted area and several remains of settlements such as the former village of Vogelsang and various hamlets . For example, there are still some old farms and cottages near Jägersweiler ; The family of European aerobatics champion Liesel Bach lived in one of the vacant houses until it was cleared in 1946 .
Many routes can be combined with one another to form circular hikes and some of them can also be traveled by bike. The Eifel National Park Wilderness Trail leads over the Dreiborn plateau and the fourth stage of the Eifelsteig .
There are refreshment stops in Vogelsang, on the Urft dam, in Hirschrot, Einruhr, Dreiborn, Morsbach and Herhahn. Various AVV and VRS bus routes connect the villages. Line 63, the Vogelsang u. a. connects with Simmerath - Einruhr - Vogelsang (- Schleiden). Also the SB82, National Park Shuttle : Kall - Gemünd - Vogelsang. So are z. For example, long-distance hikes are also possible from the Walberhof car park, with the return journey being made by bus.
Guided ranger tours are organized by the national park administration, but many hikers travel individually.
In 2016, the Nordeifel Nature Park e. V. set up a trekking area on the former practice area. At the “Nordstern” natural camp site, max. 2 tents can be pitched for a fee. These places (and 3 others in the Eifel) can only be reached on foot.
Danger from old ammunition
Large parts of the former military training area and thus of the national park cannot be opened to the public without restrictions, as a large part of the former military training area Vogelsang could be contaminated with ammunition residues / old ammunition and an area-wide and deep clearance would be too costly. The problem is the contaminated sites , which not only stem from the post-war use as a firing range and general camp operations, but also to a large extent to ammunition remains from fire from the Second World War ( duds )
These areas, which may still be contaminated with ammunition remains, are fenced off; entering is strictly forbidden.
natural reserve
The areas of the Vogelsang military training area that have been largely unused and thus "overgrown" for decades only by the military and otherwise largely unused are elementary components of the Eifel National Park and its protection concept. Due to the very little human intervention since the 1950s, especially the lack of agriculture and forest management, valuable flora and fauna have developed. For example, the rare European wildcats can be found in the forest areas of the military training area, and also the strictly protected red- backed shrike in the peripheral areas .
In addition to the open land and forest areas of the Dreiborn plateau, small stream valleys with tall herbaceous meadows, accompanying brook alpen forest and underwater vegetation are of ecological interest. The slopes are partly characterized by species-rich Bärwurzwiesen meadows , undisturbed spring swamps with spring moss are also available. Red deer in particular keep meadow areas free from encroachment.
literature
- Hans-Dieter Arntz : Vogelsang - history of the former order castle . Helios-Verlag, Aachen 2008, ISBN 978-3-938208-71-7 .
- Franz Albert Heinen : Vogelsang - From the NS-Ordensburg to the military training area in the Eifel. A critical documentation . Helios publishing house. Aachen. 2002.
- Franz Albert Heinen: Vogelsang. In the heart of the Eifel National Park. 2nd edition, Gaasterland-Verlag. Düsseldorf 2006, ISBN 3-935873-11-5 .
- Traditionsverein Wollseifen (Ed.): Wollseifen - The dead village. Schleiden. (Self-published) n.d.
Web links and literature
- Extensive video (NL) about the history from 1932 to 2005
- Overview of the National Park Association
- www.nationalpark-eifel.de (leaflet Dreiborn plateau 2015)
- Natura 2000: stream valleys in the Vogelsang military training area
- German Federal Armed Forces at the Vogelsang / Eifel NATO training area
- Förderverein Wollseifen (about the history of Wollseifen)
- Vogelsang Internationaler Platz (location development company Vogelsang GmbH)
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.kamp-vogelsang.be/hoofdmenu/het_kamp/materialen/
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from December 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ [1] Belgian video on the history of Camp Vogelsang, total 44 min, see 20:45 min
- ↑ Vogelsang. (No longer available online.) In: Belgian garrisons / locations in Germany from 1945. Museum of the Belgian Armed Forces in Germany, archived from the original on March 5, 2016 ; Retrieved May 25, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.kamp-vogelsang.be/hoofdmenu/reportages/adlerhof/ Personnel strength of the training ground command
- ↑ Catholic Walburgis Chapel Vogelsang ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ [2] Military Pastor Herman Brouwers
- ↑ Pictures of the Belgian primary school
- ↑ Closure order (Arrêté du Gouvernement belge), see Article 6 (in French)
- ↑ http://www.kamp-vogelsang.be/hoofdmenu/het_kamp/materialen/
- ↑ http://dreiborn.eu/dorfchronik.html
- ↑ http://www.kamp-vogelsang.be/hoofdmenu/het_kamp/materialen/
- ↑ Loading troops
- ↑ Transport of tanks over the Oleftalbahn
- ↑ [3] Belgian video on the history of Camp Vogelsang, total 44 min, see 20:45 min
- ↑ DMV
- ↑ https://www.schwimmbadvogelsang.de/ Hallenschwimmbad Vogelsang
- ^ Eckart Roloff and Karin Henke-Wendt: From times of war to peaceful construction in the national park. (Red Cross Museum in Schleiden-Vogelsang ip) In: Visit your doctor or pharmacist. A tour through Germany's museums for medicine and pharmacy. Volume 1, Northern Germany, S. Hirzel Verlag, Stuttgart 2015, pp. 159–160, ISBN 978-3-7776-2510-2 .
- ↑ http://www.trekking-eifel.de/de/die-trekkingplaetze/nordstern/ Trekking place “Nordstern” on the Erpenscheid mountain near Vogelsang
- ↑ http://regio.outdooractive.com/oar-eifelverein/de/punkt/rastplatz/naturlagerplatz-nordstern/18277106/ Naturlagerplatz Nordstern
- ↑ http://www.trekking-eifel.de/ Trekking places in the Eifel
Coordinates: 50 ° 34 ′ 46.5 ″ N , 6 ° 25 ′ 25.9 ″ E