Spilburg barracks

Spilburg barracks
Spilburg barracks
country	Germany
Names	Gaffey Barracks
local community	Wetzlar
Coordinates :	50 ° 33 '  N , 8 ° 31'  E Coordinates: 50 ° 33 '2 "  N , 8 ° 31' 15"  E
Opened	1913-1914
Old barracks names
1914–1920 1934–1945 1945–1950 1951–1955 1957–1994	Spilburg-Kaserne Spilburg-Kaserne Gaffey Barracks - Spilburg-Kaserne
Formerly stationed units
NCO School III./Infanterieregiment 36 NCO School IX Army NCO School school 8 for Fahnenjunker battle group B5 tank Jägerbataillon 5 Panzergrenadierbrigade 13 III./Artillerieregiment 5 field artillery battalion 135 Panzergrenadier battalion 131 Panzergrenadier battalion 132 Panzerartilleriebataillon 135 Panzerjäger company 130 supply battalion 5 replenishment battalion 5 Panzergrenadier battalion 131 (mixed) Artilleriespezialzug 5 / I reserve hospital group 7402 store headquarters Wetzlar defense circle command 434 (GerEinh) connection command Air Force to brigade command Panzergrenadierbrigade 13 supply battalion 136 4./mittleres repair battalion 450 (GerEinh) medium ordnance repair company 539 medium repair company 5 Panzerjäger company 4 armored reconnaissance 130 ambulance battalion 330 (ta) ambulance trains (rail) 3001-3005 4./Instandsetzungsbataillon 450 (GerEinh) 4th / Maintenance Battalion 5 Wallmeistertrup p 471/1 Wallmeistertrupp 471/2 Dentist group 418/1 Dental station (Terr) H 408 Wetzlar 1 Dental station H 013 Material equipment Sanitary area 47/6
Location of the Spilburg barracks in Hesse

The Spilburg barracks is a monument in the south of the city center of Wetzlar . Together with the Sixt-von-Armin barracks in the west of Wetzlar's core city, over 4500 soldiers and 800 civilian employees were active in the city, so that Wetzlar functioned as the largest garrison town in Hesse.

Architecture and building history

Aerial photo from 1950

The former parade yard is now a university campus

The ensemble of buildings around the large parade yard was created according to a design by Hermann Georg Müller, son of the Wetzlar contractor Johann Georg Müller, which was presented to the non-commissioned officer school in Biebrich and accepted on March 19, 1911 . The buildings in the Heimat style were built in the spring of 1913, starting with the L-shaped team buildings. Most of the construction ensemble of the NCOs' school was handed over as a new location on April 1, 1914. In 1914 farm buildings were added before construction work came to a standstill as a result of the First World War . Only with the renewed military use in the time of National Socialism was the barracks greatly expanded and completed.

Usage history

From April 1, 1914 to March 1, 1920 the Spilburg barracks served as the NCO school for the Prussian Army . After its dissolution, ownership of the barracks site passed to the city of Wetzlar, who converted the Spilburg barracks into a school location and housed all schools on the site. With the rearmament , the schools had to give way to the Wehrmacht , which used the barracks from November 1, 1934. First the III. Battalion of the 36th Infantry Regiment stationed. Further infantry units followed, and from mid-1940 the NCO School IX, which later became the Army NCO School. Eventually this facility was also dissolved and replaced by School 8 for Fahnenjunker.

At the end of the Second World War , on March 29, 1945, American forces occupied the Wehrmacht barracks, which they used until the beginning of the Korean War under the new name "Gaffey Barracks". Between 1951 and 1955 soldiers of the French army followed before the Bundeswehr took over the location. Between 1956 and 1961 the barracks were repaired and expanded.

The combat group B5, established in Grafenwöhr on August 1, 1956 , moved into the Spilburg barracks in 1957. In 1959 it was reclassified to Panzergrenadierbrigade 13 with its headquarters at the same location. The Air Force Liaison Command was also set up at the Brigade Command.

The Panzerjäger Battalion 5, initially formed in Grafenwohr from October 1, 1956, was stationed in the Spilburg barracks on May 27, 1957.

The III set up on November 6, 1956 in Grafenwöhr. The 5th battalion of the 5th Artillery Regiment was transferred to the Spilburg barracks in Wetzlar on June 4, 1957. In February 1959, the battalion was renamed Field Artillery Battalion 135 and subordinated to Panzergrenadierbrigade 13. In 1965 the battalion was finally named "Panzerartilleriebataillon 135".

In 1957, the Wetzlar site command was established in the barracks. On April 1, 1967, this was renamed Defense District Command 434 and operated as a device unit.

In March 1957, the middle field equipment repair company 539 was stationed in the Spilburg barracks. In 1962, this unit was reclassified to Medium Repair Company 5. In 1972 the company was absorbed into the new 5 Supply Battalion.

On March 31, 1959, the 5 Panzerjäger Battalion was disbanded. Mainly the tank battalion 194 was formed from the association, which found its new home in the Lützow barracks in Münster - Handorf . The 3rd Company, however, was reclassified to Panzerjägerkompanie 130 on April 1, 1959, which initially remained in the Spilburg barracks.

On April 1, 1959, due to the surrender of Grenadier Battalions 2 based in Marburg and 351 from Hammelburg, Panzergrenadier Battalion 131 was formed in the Spilburg barracks in Wetzlar.

As early as February 14, 1959, the supply battalion 136 was formed from parts of the Quartiermeister battalion 5 located in Diez, which was also housed in the Spilburg barracks. With Army Structure III, supply battalion 136 was disbanded in 1972. At the same time, parts of the battalion were set up to supply battalion 5, some of which was stationed in the Spilburg barracks. In 1975 the name of the battalion changed, and from then on it was called Supply Battalion 5.

Panzerjägerkompanie 4 was also set up on April 1, 1959, but was relocated to Kassel in August 1959 and was disbanded there on March 31, 1992.

On November 16, 1961, Panzergrenadier Battalion 132 was set up in the Spilburg barracks. As early as December 1961, however, the battalion was transferred to the Schwarzenborn camp , where it was renamed Jägerbataillon 132 on March 11, 1973 and finally on October 1, 1981, Panzergrenadierbataillon 152.

The partially active ambulance battalion 330 was set up on October 1, 1962 and remained in the mobilization base in the Spilburg barracks until it was dissolved on March 31, 1997. At the same time, the ambulance trains (rail) 3001 to 3005 were stored here as equipment units.

The reserve hospital group 7402 was set up as a unit on December 1, 1965 and stored in the mobilization base of the barracks. It was dissolved on December 31, 1998.

The 4th / medium repair battalion 450 was set up on October 1, 1966 as a device unit in the Spilburg barracks. On October 1, 1972, the name was changed to 4th / Maintenance Battalion 450 as a device unit, and finally on October 1, 1975 it was reorganized into 4th / Maintenance Battalion 5. The unit was disbanded on September 30, 1993.

In 1968 the Panzerjägerkompanie 130 was relocated to the hussar barracks in Sontra .

On January 1, 1973, Panzer Reconnaissance Unit 130 of Panzer Grenadier Brigade 13 was set up. On October 1, 1979, he was first integrated into the headquarters company of the brigade, but independent again in 1982. In the same year he moved to the hussar barracks in Sontra.

In 1974 the second artillery special train of the 5th Panzer Division was set up in the Spilburg barracks, after a special train had been formed in Idar-Oberstein in the Klotzberg barracks since the 1960s . The unit stationed in Wetzlar was designated Artillery Special Train 5 / I. It was able to fire special nuclear ammunition. The artillery special train 5 / I was assigned to the armored artillery battalion 135. Its service ended on June 16, 1992.

Panzergrenadierbataillon 131 was renamed Panzergrenadierbataillon 132 on September 30, 1981 with the introduction of Army Structure 4 of the Bundeswehr. It remained in the Spilburg barracks. In addition, a new, mixed Panzer Grenadier Battalion 131 was set up on October 1, 1981. It was a unit that was partially cadre in peacetime. Most of the battalion was stationed in the Spilburg barracks. His 4th (tank) company was based in the Sixt-von-Armin barracks.

With the end of the Cold War , profound changes began for the Spilburg barracks. As early as September 30, 1992, the mixed Panzergrenadier Battalion 131 and the Panzergrenadier Battalion 132 were disbanded.

The 135 armored artillery battalion was decommissioned on March 31, 1993.

The 5th Supply Battalion ended its service on March 31, 1993. Parts were used to set up the supply battalion 51 in Schwalmstadt .

On March 31, 1994, Panzergrenadierbrigade 13 and the Luftwaffe liaison command to the brigade command were finally dissolved, and the Spilburg barracks were abandoned as a Bundeswehr location.

The medical area 47/6 in the Spilburg barracks was equipped with material for medical care. From October 1, 1968, the dental station H 013 was set up, which was renamed to dental station (Terr) H 408 Wetzlar 1 on October 1, 1972 and was called dentist group 418/1 from April 1, 1981. The Catholic and Evangelical pastors of Wetzlar were housed in the barracks. The location telecommunication system 415/303 was set up. The Wallmeistertrupp 471/1 and 471/2 existed for construction matters.

The barracks then underwent a conversion with a focus as a university location - the Dual Study Programs StudiumPlus the Technical University of Central Hesse is housed here - the industrial area and the residential use. The district military replacement office remained on the site until it was dissolved in 2012 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Hessian monuments: Spilburg barracks Wetzlar - State Office for Monument Preservation Hesse
2. ^ Hessian monuments: Spilburg barracks Wetzlar - State Office for Monument Preservation Hesse
3. ↑ Irene Jung: Wetzlar. A small town history, Sutton-Verlag 2010, p. 112
4. ^ Hessian monuments: Spilburg barracks Wetzlar - State Office for Monument Preservation Hesse
5. ^ History of the Spilburg at the Spilburg portal ( Memento from March 13, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
6. ↑ Holdings of the Federal Archives of Spilburg Barracks. Repair, stationing, expansion
7. ↑ Panzergrenadierbrigade 13 in the Federal Archives
8. ^ Panzerjägerbataillon 5 (1956 to 1959) in the comrades and friends of the former Panzer Battalion 194 eV
9. ↑ Chronicle of the Armored Artillery Battalion 135
10. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n} Spilburg barracks. In: Bundeswehr location database . Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr , accessed on April 12, 2020 . 
11. ^ Panzerjägerbataillon 5 (1956 to 1959) in the comrades and friends of the former Panzer Battalion 194 eV
12. ↑ ^{a b} Panzerjägerkompanie 130 in Sontra is subordinated to Panzergrenadierbrigade 5, April 1, 1993. Contemporary history in Hesse. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
13. ↑ Panzergrenadierbrigade 13 in the Federal Archives
14. ↑ Federal Archives
15. ↑ History of the Bundeswehr's supply troops
16. ↑ Hinrichs / Bollinger: Chronicle of the end of the atomic deployment and training order Artillery Teaching Regiment 5 - June 16, 1992, Idar-Oberstein, June 1992
17. ↑ Panzergrenadierbrigade 13 in the Federal Archives
18. ↑ Chronicle of the 4./PzGrenBtl 131 mw N.
19. ↑ Chronicle of the 4./PzGrenBtl 131 mw N.
20. ↑ Chronicle of the Armored Artillery Battalion 135
21. ↑ Panzergrenadierbrigade 13 in the Federal Archives
22. ↑ Conversion in Hessen, Newsletter 10, PDF
23. ^ Article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung by Wolfram Ahlers: "New Leica headquarters can continue to grow"

Web links

Commons : Spilburg-Kaserne  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Gewerbepark Spilburg - Spilburg timeline on spilburg.de
• State Office for Monument Preservation Hesse (Ed.): Spilburg barracks In: DenkXweb, online edition of cultural monuments in Hesse