Mackenzie King Barracks
The Mackenzie King Barracks was one of the first barracks of the British Armed Forces in Berlin after the Second World War and the occupation of Germany from 1945 to 1951 . The military site was built on the site of the old people's home designed by the Jewish Community in Berlin from 1929 .
In the course of the amalgamation of troops , the area was de- designated as a military property in 1951 and handed over to the responsible Berlin Senate authorities.
Jewish retirement home (1931–1941)
The building complex was built between 1929 and 1931 in the Berlin district of Schmargendorf in what was then the Wilmersdorf district according to the plans of the architect and municipal master builder Alexander Beer .
The property at Berkaer Strasse 32–35 at the corner of Sulzaer Strasse 10 was designed as a senior citizens' residence on behalf of the Berlin Jewish Community and, after completion, was used as a Jewish retirement home with more than 100 rooms for 180 residents on a total area of 7,000 m².
The up to 5-storey building was considered one of the most innovative social facilities of its kind in Berlin due to its architectural facets .
From 1939 the Jewish Community in Berlin was systematically forced by the rulers of the Nazi regime to cede the property to the Reich Ministry of the Interior , behind which the Reichsführer SS was hiding.
In 1941 the old people's home was finally formally dissolved and the last residents deported to extermination camps and murdered.
In the same year Alexander Beer was arrested by German authorities and deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp , where he was finally killed in May 1944.
Reich Security Main Office (1941–1945)
In 1941, the previous retirement home was taken over by the authorities of the Reichsführer SS and then used as a branch of the Reich Main Security Office for counter-espionage and as the location of the foreign intelligence service under the leadership of Major General of the Police Walter Schellenberg . A filing bunker was also set up in the courtyard .
Mackenzie King Barracks (1945–1951)
With the entry of the Allied occupying powers in 1945, the barracks were initially taken by Canadian units and renamed Mackenzie King Barracks.
The namesake was the long-time Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King .
Only a few months later, the property was handed over by the Canadian units to the British Armed Forces , which kept the barracks name.
In Mackenzie King Barracks an officers' mess and the 1st Battalion of the Coldstream Guards , one of the five royal body regiments , were initially housed. After its relocation, the Royal Horse Guards , a guard cavalry regiment, moved into the barracks.
At the end of 1951, the property was given up again by the British armed forces due to the focus of units on the Berlin districts of Spandau and Charlottenburg and de-designated as a military location .
It was the last military use of the building complex.
See also: List of closed British military bases in Germany
Use since 1951
After the completion of extensive construction work , the property was initially used as a branch of the Wilmersdorf Hospital from 1956 .
From 1978 to 2002 the Max-Bünger-Center was housed there, which operated care stations and senior citizens' apartments on the property .
In 2002 the hospital operator Vivantes took over the property, which still maintains the building complex with various social and care stations. After extensive renovation , the house was reopened in August 2011 and now houses rooms for 123 residents.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Carsten Schanz: The mysterious barracks . In: GUARD REPORT . Issue 78 (March 2018). Kameradschaft 248 German Security Unit e. V., Berlin, S. 1-4 .
- ↑ Mackenzie King Barracks. In: BAOR Locations. Retrieved March 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Mackenzie King Barracks. In: Landesdenkmalamt Berlin. Accessed March 30, 2018 (German).
- ↑ Vivantes capital maintenance. In: Hospital operator Vivantes. Accessed March 30, 2018 (German).