Sheridan Barracks
 Sheridan Barracks
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| country | Germany | ||
| today | Sheridan Park | ||
| local community | Augsburg-Pfersee | ||
| Coordinates : | 48 ° 21 ' N , 10 ° 51' E | ||
| Opened | 1934 to 1936 | ||
| Old barracks names | |||
| 1936-1945 | General Kneussl infantry barracks, air intelligence barracks, army intelligence barracks |
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Location of the Sheridan barracks in Bavaria |
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The Sheridan barracks was a military shelter in the Augsburg district of Pfersee . At the end of 1998 the approximately 70 hectare site was abandoned by the armed forces of the US garrison in Augsburg and was therefore one of the conversion areas of the city of Augsburg. As part of an urban planning competition, a development plan was developed and construction of the new Sheridan Park district began in 2006 .
History and name of the location
After the National Socialists came to power, new barracks were built throughout the German Reich when the Wehrmacht was arming . From 1934 to 1936, three new barracks were built on the previous farmland on the western outskirts of Pfersee: the General Kneussl infantry barracks (named after Paul von Kneussl ) and to the south of it the air and army intelligence barracks. The area covers approximately 70 hectares.
The Wehrmacht only used the barracks for almost 9 years. After the war ended in 1945, it took over the American occupation forces and united the three areas into one large barracks, which in 1953 was named "Sheridan Barracks". It was named after Corporal Carl V. Sheridan, who was posthumously honored with the Medal of Honor , the highest honor for bravery of the US armed forces, for his work in the conquest of Frenz Castle . The barracks were occupied by the US Army until 1998.
Sheridan Park
After the withdrawal of the American armed forces from Augsburg, a new usage concept for the large area called Sheridan Park (also spelled Sheridan Park or Sheridan Park) was worked out. In 2006 almost all of the barracks' buildings were demolished. The newly created commercial and residential area Augsburg-West is on the B 17 .
New buildings
In Sheridan Park a primary school , the holistically conceptualized Westparkschule (also written Westpark-Schule) , which was inaugurated in 2011, with a kindergarten and crèche , as well as a daycare center were built.
In 2012, the Apostle Junia Church of the old Catholic parish of Augsburg was inaugurated.
Other striking new buildings are the Sheridan Center on Stadtberger Straße (supermarket, bakery, shops and offices, opened in 2015) and the Sheridan Tower in Max-Josef-Metzger-Straße (restaurants, shops and offices, opened in 2018).
Preserved buildings
Headquarters
The former commandant building (building no. 165) is used today by the association "Freie Christengemeinde Arche eV" (a Pentecostal church ), which holds services there and runs a youth facility.
Officers' mess
For the three Wehrmacht barracks, a common officers' mess was built on the southern tip of the site. After the American takeover, this was used as an officers' mess ( Officers Club Sheridan , building no. 180). It is still preserved and has been a listed building since 2006.
The building originally consisted of two wings, today it has three. The main wing in east-west direction has an approximately 100 m² ballroom facing west. This hall is dominated by a wall fresco depicting the battle on the Lechfeld . It was created in 1939 by Otto Michael Schmitt , whose most famous work in Augsburg is probably the colorful facade of the weaver's house . The fresco, the creator of which had been forgotten, was at some point painted over by the Americans with a rather amateurish motorway scene. It was later exposed again, the painter identified and the picture restored.
A terrace on the west side of the officer's mess offers seating with a view of the park-like garden with trees from the time it was built. On the north side of today's central wing, the Americans added an even larger event hall with a stage as the third wing of the building, which in turn is oriented in an east-west direction and is around 570 m² in size.
On New Year's Eve 2013–2014, the empty building was broken into and damage caused by vandalism .
View from the east
Middle wing
Eagle with lightning and ball over the entrance
Fountain on the south wing
View from the west
Vehicle hall and sub-camp of the Dachau concentration camp
From April 1944 to April 1945, a subcamp of the Dachau concentration camp existed in a large hall that was originally built for vehicles on the premises of the Luftnachrichtenkaserne (later Sheridan barracks) . 1000 to 2000 male prisoners were taken from there to work in and around Augsburg, mainly to the aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt in Haunstetten .
The Americans used the building again as a vehicle hall, as well as a library and repair shop for television sets. They ensured a good state of preservation and gave the building the number 116 on the grounds of the Sheridan barracks. After their departure, the Augsburg city council decided to keep the building as a memorial. The memorial has not yet opened. Initially, a concept called “Halle 116 Thinking Place” was proposed, then one called “Peace as a Learning Place”. Since 2018, the city of Augsburg has also been providing information on its own website.
Chapel
The former chapel ( chapel , building 136) built by the Americans on the barracks site is still preserved and should be used again as a church if possible. Discussions are ongoing with interested parties.
Others
General Lucius D. Clay , military governor of the American zone of occupation in Germany from 1947 to 1949, was perhaps the most prominent guest in the officers' mess of the Sheridan barracks. General Dwight D. Eisenhower , who later became President of the United States, also visited Augsburg in 1951 as the Supreme Commander of the NATO armed forces in Europe .
Shows and concerts were held in the large event hall of the officers' mess, for example Roy Black and his Cannons performed here .
Individual evidence
- ↑ America in Augsburg eV: America in Augsburg ~ Sheridan Reese Flak Fryar: Carl V. Sheridan. Retrieved March 20, 2020 .
- ↑ sheridanpark.de
- ^ Church building of the Apostelin Junia Church
- ↑ Andrea Baumann: There is still space in the Sheridan Center. In: augsburger-allgemeine.de. Augsburger Allgemeine, accessed April 23, 2019 .
- ↑ "Structural highlight": Sheridan Tower is now officially opened - Augsburg - B4B Schwaben. In: b4bschwaben.de. Retrieved April 23, 2019 .
- ↑ America in Augsburg ~ Sheridan Reese Flak Fryar: Sheridan Officer's Casino. amerika-in-augsburg.de, accessed on September 12, 2016 .
- ^ Duane Denfeld: World War II museums and relics of Europe . Military Affairs / Aerospace Historian Pub., January 1, 1980, p. 60 .
- ↑ Existing objects on sheridanpark.de ( Memento from March 20, 2020 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Augsburger Allgemeine: Sheridan area: rioters rage in the officers' mess. In: augsburger-allgemeine.de. Retrieved September 13, 2016 .
- ↑ STADTZEITUNG advertising publisher and travel agency GmbH & Co. KG: The future of hall 116. In: stadtzeitung.de. Retrieved September 12, 2016 .
- ^ City of Augsburg: The "Hall 116" in the former Sheridan barracks. In: augsburg.de. Retrieved March 13, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Augsburger Allgemeine: Sheridan barracks: He was the first bartender in the US officers' mess. In: augsburger-allgemeine.de. Retrieved September 13, 2016 .
