News barracks

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United StatesUnited States News barracks
Main gate of the news barracks in Heidelberg

Main gate of the news barracks in Heidelberg

country Germany
local community Heidelberg-Rohrbach
Coordinates : 49 ° 23 '  N , 8 ° 41'  E Coordinates: 49 ° 22 '32 "  N , 8 ° 41' 9"  E
Opened 1937 to 1939
owner BImA
Old barracks names
1937-1945 News barracks German EmpireWar Ensign of Germany (1938–1945) .svg
News barracks (Baden-Württemberg)
News barracks

Location of the news barracks in Baden-Württemberg

The news barracks is a former barracks in Heidelberg , which last housed a military hospital of the US armed forces . It has been available for civil use since September 2013. The separate spelling corresponds to the last used official American name, especially in the historical context, the spelling variant "message barracks" can also be found. Because of its longstanding use as a hospital, it is often referred to simply as the "US Hospital".

history

Memorial stone: "In memory of the news department 33. 1936–1945"

The news barracks was built between 1937 and 1939 on the southern outskirts of the Rohrbach district , as the third of three new barracks built in the first half of the 20th century in Heidelberg, named after the Neue Kaserne, later Grenadierkaserne and Patton Barracks , from 1903 and the Großdeutschlandkaserne, later the Campbell Barracks, also built in 1937 . Initially, intelligence troops were housed there, but they were ordered to the front in September 1939 for military service. Subsequently, infantry units in particular were stationed in the barracks, and in 1941 it served temporarily as a hospital for a period of nine months .

After the Second World War , all three barracks were taken over by the US armed forces. A military hospital was set up in the news barracks , initially by the 103rd Evacuation Hospital. This was replaced in August 1945 by the 130th Station Hospital, which arrived from Le Havre , France . A first prominent patient was General George S. Patton , who suffered a serious car accident in Mannheim-Käfertal on December 9, 1945 . He died of the consequences a few days later, on December 21, in Heidelberg. Around 1957 the hospital was expanded with a new building.

In the summer of 2008, as a result of the troop reduction of the American armed forces, the inpatient operation (hospital) was discontinued, the outpatient (clinic) was temporarily retained. The entire complex was closed in summer 2013 and handed over to the Federal Agency for Real Estate Tasks at the end of September 2013 .

From 1997 until it was closed, the Europe Regional Medical Command (ERMC) was also stationed in the barracks , to which a total of 31 medical facilities in Germany, Belgium and Italy were subordinate. The ERMC was then relocated to the site of the former Sembach military airfield in the Palatinate , which switched from the American Air Force to the army in 2010 and has since been known as Sembach Kaserne . Other units such as the Europe Regional Veterinary Command (ERVC), which was responsible for the dog squadrons of the American army and was also responsible for other veterinary tasks, and the dental Europe Regional Dental Command (ERDC) were mainly relocated to locations in the Kaiserslautern area.

future

There are various concepts for future civil use; the actual implementation will be accompanied by public participation . The city administration is considering an urban development competition . The area covers 9.3 hectares , making the news barracks, after the radio relay station on the Königstuhl , the second-smallest of the former military complexes in the city intended for conversion . The number of buildings is given between 14 and 26, depending on the source. Due to the former use as a hospital, there is a helicopter landing pad on the site .

Monument protection

Several buildings in the complex are, at least in part, under monument protection , including the riding hall built in 1940. In the 1960s, it was converted into an event hall with a stage known as the Wilson Theater and extensively restored between 2009 and 2011. The roof construction is remarkable, the only example in Baden for the use of Hetzer girders, a forerunner of the glued wood girders used today and named after the inventor Karl Friedrich Otto Hetzer . The hall is classified as a cultural monument according to § 2 of the Monument Protection Act of Baden-Württemberg . Together with the parade hall, which last functioned as a sports hall and has a similar roof structure, it is intended to be included in the monument topography .

literature

Web links

Commons : News barracks  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. See also this photo from the entrance area , accessed on November 16, 2013.
  2. Timeline 1900–1933 on the website of the Heidelberg History Association, accessed on November 16, 2013.
  3. ^ Timeline 1933–1945 on the website of the Heidelberg History Association, accessed on November 16, 2013.
  4. ^ Nancy Montgomery: Heidelberg Hospital to convert to clinic. In: Stars and Stripes . January 24, 2008, accessed November 16, 2013
  5. Matt Milham: News barracks latest US facility in Heidelberg to close. In: Stars and Stripes. July 1, 2013, accessed November 16, 2013
  6. Everyone is allowed to look around the Rohrbach US Hospital. In: Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung. November 13, 2013, accessed October 1, 2018.
  7. Matt Milham: Army medicine moves west as Heidelberg shuts down. In: Stars and Stripes. April 23, 2013, accessed November 16, 2013
  8. USAREUR headquarters announce troop changes for the 2010–2015 financial years ( memento of the original from October 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) 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. US Forces press release dated June 23, 2010, accessed November 16, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.eur.army.mil
  9. ^ Rehabilitation of the Wilson Theater in the news barracks in Heidelberg-Rohrbach. Description of the restoration on the website of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development on the construction work of the visiting forces in the Federal Republic of Germany. PDF file, 744kB, accessed November 16, 2013.
  10. ^ US Hospital Heidelberg, Repair Wilson Theater, building 3619. Project description on the website of the regional finance office in Karlsruhe, accessed on November 16, 2013.
  11. Monument topography Stadtkreis Heidelberg ( Memento of the original from June 10, 2015 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. . List of the cultural monuments intended for inclusion in the monument topography of the districts of Kirchheim, Rohrbach and Südstadt on the website of the Rohrbach district association, as of October 25, 2013, accessed on November 18, 2013. The two halls are at the postal address of the barracks, Karlsruher Straße 144, listed. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.heidelberg-rohrbach.com