Air Force Barracks (Cologne)
 Air Force Barracks
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Welcome sign at the main gate (south gate) of the air force barracks (2013) |
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| country | Germany | ||
| local community | Cologne | ||
| Coordinates : | 50 ° 52 ' N , 7 ° 7' E | ||
| Opened | 1870 | ||
| Workforce | 4,300 soldiers 1,200 civilian employees |
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| Stationed troops | |||
| see units / departments | |||
| Old barracks names | |||
| 1945 1945–1957 |
Camp madness |
 
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Location of the air force barracks in North Rhine-Westphalia |
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The air force barracks of the German armed forces at the Cologne location houses three higher command authorities , parts of the flight readiness of the Federal Ministry of Defense , command authorities and other military and civil services and facilities.
Location and development
The air force barracks are located within the Cologne districts of Grengel , Wahnheide and Lind . The barracks are one of the largest in Germany and cover an area of around 300 hectares; more than 200 buildings are located within this closed military property. The area is located in the immediate vicinity of the federal motorway 59, and parts of the Federal Ministry of Defense on Bonn's Hardthöhe can be reached within a few minutes' drive. The military part of Cologne-Bonn Airport , where the flight readiness of the Federal Ministry of Defense (FlBschBMVg) is located, is directly connected to the barracks.
history
The current barracks area and the adjoining Wahn shooting range have been used for military purposes since the beginning of the 19th century . After the Napoleonic Wars of Freedom, Prince August of Prussia reorganized the artillery with the aim of combat-oriented training and a troop ready for combat at all times. In the course of these military reforms, training areas were set up near garrison towns . In 1816 the 7th Royal Prussian Artillery Brigade was set up in Cologne ; For this reason, the municipality of Wahn had to provide military training grounds for the Wahn shooting range in the Wahner Heide from the following year . With the advancement of military technology over the next few decades, the practice area was constantly expanded. From 1870 the first half-timbered buildings for soldiers from various troops were built on today's barracks , and stone buildings followed from around 1900. Numerous historical buildings from this early phase of the barracks have been preserved to this day and some have been placed under monument protection.
In 1913, the first aircraft that was used for artillery observation landed on the military training area. In 1939, the Wehrmacht established an air base on the site of the military training area . This later became today's Cologne / Bonn Airport and its military part, which is used by the flight readiness of the Federal Ministry of Defense .
On April 11, 1945, American forces occupied "Camp Wahn" and built a transit camp for around 15,000 forced laborers from Eastern Europe. On June 15, 1945, the military camp was handed over to the British armed forces .
From October 1949, the British High Commission, as the agency of the British High Commissioner and part of the Allied High Commission, had its office with 560 employees in the property of today's barracks. There were also units of the British Army and the Royal Air Force .
On July 18, 1957, the British Vice Air Marshal Hogan handed over the military part of the airport to the German Air Force ; this is how the actual history of today's air force in the Wahnheide district begins .
Historic barracks buildings
Troops / offices
- Luftwaffe Command (KdoLw), parts of Cologne-Wahn
- Air Force Command (LwTrKdo)
- Aviation Office of the Federal Armed Forces (LufABw)
- Flight readiness of the Federal Ministry of Defense (FlBschftBMVg)
- Bundeswehr Fire Brigade , (military part of Cologne-Bonn Airport )
- Air Force Support Group Wahn
- Regional sanitation
- Command Support Center of the Air Force (FüUstgZentrLw), parts of Cologne-Wahn
Military deans
- Evangelical Military Deanery Cologne
- Catholic Military Deanery Cologne
The 2011 stationing concept announced by Federal Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière - as part of the implementation of the Bundeswehr reform resolved in 2010 - will also have considerable interference with the structure and the scope of military and civilian posts of the higher command and command authorities currently located in the air force barracks.
Public cemetery of the city of Cologne
A public military cemetery of the city of Cologne ( enclave ) is located within the restricted military area of the air force barracks . In addition to those killed in the war of 1870/71 and the First World War , the marines Max Reichpietsch and Albin Köbis who were shot and were shot dead in this barracks on September 5, 1917 are buried there . A memorial stone with relief images by Reichpietsch and Köbis commemorates the two executed sailors. In addition, there is an obelisk for French prisoners of war and a memorial for deceased Russian prisoners of war in memory of the war dead from 1914 to 1916 on this public burial site. The bronze plate on the memorial stone for the tsarist soldiers was made by Russian prisoners of war and bears the coat of arms of the last tsar Nicholas II . If you want to visit the cemetery, you have to register at the air force barracks beforehand.
Bronze commemorative plaque with the Tsar's coat of arms on a memorial stone for Russian soldiers 1914 to 1916
Memorial for Kaiser. Russian soldiers 1914 to 1916
Graves of unknown Russians
Memorial stone to Max Reichpietsch and Albin Köbis
Obelisk for deceased Franz. Soldiers 1914 to 1916
Scrubbing mill
The remains of the historic scrubbing mill are located on the grounds of the air force barracks . This water mill was first mentioned in a document in 1359. In 1949, the grinding operation had to be stopped by order of the British military administration . In 1968 the mill building was demolished; only the water wheel and some remains of the wall remained. In 2002 a protective roof was built over the water wheel.
Sign board
Covered water wheel
Scheuerbach
Pool next to the mill
Top view
Other buildings and facilities
Library and conference building, kindergarten, garrison church , troop kitchen , officers 'home , non-commissioned officers' home , team home , canteens , hairdressing salon, Wahn-Heide military history collection, three sports halls, two sports fields, nine tennis courts, multi-purpose ash area, outdoor swimming pool (closed).
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Annual report 2008 of the Armed Forces Commissioner of the German Bundestag Reinhold Robbe , p. 2, 4th para.
- ↑ How to get to the air force barracks in bundeswehr.de
- ^ Helmut Vogt : Guardians of the Bonn Republic: The Allied High Commissioners 1949–1955 , Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2004, ISBN 3-506-70139-8 , p. 53.
- ↑ The history of the military in the Wahner Heide in bundeswehr.de
- ↑ Ceremony for the establishment of the Luftwaffe command in luftwaffe.de
- ↑ Ceremony for the establishment of the air force command in luftwaffe.de
- ↑ Aviation Office of the Bundeswehr
- ^ Hendrik Varnholt: Bundeswehr Reform - dissolved, renamed, relocated. (No longer available online.) Www.rundschau-online.de, formerly in the original ; Retrieved October 30, 2011 . ( 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.
- ↑ Grave blessing in the Wahn air force barracks in bundeswehr.de (Catholic military chaplaincy)
- ↑ The Wahner Heide (page 18). In: bibliofil.de. (PDF file; 789 kB)
- ^ Officers' home society Wahn e. V.
- ↑ Unteroffizierheimgesellschaft Wahn e. V.
- ↑ Military history collection opens its doors in Cologne-Wahn in bundeswehr.de
