Allentsteig military training area

Coordinates: 48 ° 39 ′ 19 ″  N , 15 ° 18 ′ 51 ″  E

Allentsteig military training area​

Austria

Location of the Allentsteig military training area in the Waldviertel

The Allentsteig military training area (formerly Döllersheim military training area ) is a restricted military area and military training area in the Lower Austrian Waldviertel . It was laid out at the time of the Third Reich and was originally named after Döllersheim , one of the most important places of the 40 villages that were relocated for military purposes immediately after the Anschluss in 1938 . The Allentsteig military training area has an area of ​​about 157 km².

history

Headquarters of the command of the military training area: Allentsteig Castle

The Wehrmacht needed after the invasion of Austria practice rooms. The relatively sparsely populated Döllersheimer Ländchen in the Waldviertel was selected for this purpose. With almost 200 km² it reached in north-south direction from Göpfritz an der Wild to Kamp , in west-east direction from Zwettl to Neupölla . The resettlement took place in four steps between June 1938 and December 1941 and affected around 6800 people from 42 localities and other groups (see: List of settlements that were relocated for the creation of the Döllersheim military training area ). The Ostmark branch of the German settlement company was based in Allentsteig . If the residents were initially assigned alternative farms with corresponding properties, later resettlers were practically expelled and received only small severance payments, some of which had to be placed in blocked accounts and no longer paid out after the end of the war.

The places themselves were depopulated, but spared by orders of the highest order, since Adolf Hitler's father was born near Döllersheim (in a place called Strones ).

At the same time as the resettlement, military facilities with barracks, bunkers and shooting ranges were built. The first artillery firing exercise was carried out on August 8, 1938. In 1941/42 the area was declared an army estate district and thus free from parishes. On average there were 30,000–35,000 soldiers on the training site. It was thus one of the most heavily used exercise areas in the German Reich.

After the occupation of what is known as the rest of the Czech Republic , a collection warehouse for booty was set up here. Also POW camp were built, of which the most famous of French officers in Edelsbach (Oflag XVII A) was.

Until the end of the war, combat units were constantly assembled here before they were transferred to the front.

On May 9, 1945, the area was captured and occupied by the Red Army . The provisional state government decided on August 15, 1945 to repopulate the area. Organizational programs were drawn up and announced to the population in February 1946. The plan was to settle former residents who were not given any other farms in exchange, as well as displaced persons from South Tyrol and German Bohemia .

But on July 27, 1946, the military training area was confiscated by the Soviet Union as German property . As a result, the occupation troops also carried out a training operation with up to 60,000 soldiers. The camp was also used as a transit camp for Soviet prisoners of war before they were transported to the Soviet Union. The buildings in the evacuated areas, which were not originally destroyed by the Wehrmacht, were subsequently shot to pieces and destroyed by the Soviet troops. The soldiers sold the material from the demolished houses on the black market. The forest areas were also badly affected.

The crew withdrew from the military training area on September 17, 1955 and the area became the property of the Republic of Austria.

Lower Austrian state parliament members and the Chamber of Agriculture advocated resettlement by farmers in newly built farms. The plan provided for ten to twelve new villages. Projects such as a European university and a nuclear reactor for peaceful purposes have been launched by various newspapers. The newly created armed forces also needed training rooms and saw a takeover as a cheap solution. Refund requests have been made by the former residents.

The government under Julius Raab decided in the course of the State Treaty Implementation Acts in 1957 that emigrants no longer had the right to their previous property. In the same year 157 km² were handed over to the armed forces. Considerable peripheral areas of the military training area were given to the Windhag'sche Scholarship Foundation , although they had far less land prior to the establishment of the military training area. The people living in these peripheral areas were evacuated in the years that followed. The name was changed to Allentsteig military training area in 1964 and the previously unincorporated area was reassigned to municipalities, namely Allentsteig in the north, Göpfritz an der Wild in the northeast, Röhrenbach in the east, Pölla in the southeast and Zwettl-Niederösterreich in the west. The area is still used by the Austrian Armed Forces as a training area and has therefore remained uninhabited.

An area of ​​approx. 3000  ha was cultivated by farmers who leased this area from the armed forces. The leases were only valid for one year as future damage by the military was not foreseeable. They do not receive any compensation for damage caused by the armed forces, which is why only small leases have to be paid for these contracts, which are in most cases extended.

In Döllersheim, the church and the cemetery were restored and rededicated in 1984. The ruins of the citizens' hospital were also preserved. A museum was set up in Allentsteig to commemorate the resettled people .

The proposal made by Minister Norbert Darabos in 2012 to remove management from the army forests, which in this case are the farmers' partners, and to transfer this to the federal forests, caused displeasure among the around 200 farmers who cultivate leased land . This could change the lease agreements and deprive the farmers of their livelihoods. The peasants' protests were also joined by the timber industry, which feared the existence of around 30 sawmills due to a monopoly of raw materials .

It was not until 2012 that a supreme court ruled that the resettlements in 1938 did not come under political persecution - therefore there is no restitution.

The military training area today

Church in the Kaufholz warehouse

The Kaufholz camp and the Liechtenstein barracks are now located on the site as barracks for the armed forces . Today there are 38 training camps and 1,500 accommodations available. The exercise area is used by around 30,000 soldiers annually.

Brigadier Leopold Cermak was in command of the Allentsteig military training area from 2003 until his death in July 2009 . Since January 29, 2010, Colonel Josef Fritz has been in command of the military training area. The reconnaissance and artillery battalion 4 (former PzAB3), which is commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Reinhard Lemp, is stationed at the military training area . This battalion is currently subordinate to the 4th Panzer Grenadier Brigade from Linz - Ebelsberg .

The state road 75 leads through the area, which brings a significant reduction in travel time to Allentsteig. However, this state road must be closed to civil traffic during the exercise.

Due to its isolated location, the Allentsteig military training area is also a unique natural area in Europe with rare fauna and flora.

As an employer for around 600 people, the armed forces are an important employer. In the next few years, investments will be made in a security center, which will also provide training and test centers for domestic and foreign disaster control organizations. The military training area has been cooperating with four municipalities in the region in the small region of ASTEG since 2006 .

Incidents

On May 30, 1962, a Bell 47 helicopter crashed shortly after take-off and went up in flames. The on-board mechanic in the rank of platoon leader was killed, the pilot survived seriously injured.

On February 5, 1980, a Saurer armored personnel carrier came off the road due to the slippery snow surface and overturned. The driver, a staff sergeant from Salzburg, was killed. Half an hour after this accident, an armored recovery vehicle skid on the same stretch of road and rammed a civilian car, the five occupants of which were then taken to hospital.

On January 19, 1983, another helicopter crash occurred over the training area; a Bell 206 crashed into a forest after an engine failure. The pilot and the commander of the reconnaissance battalion from Mistelbach were killed, two other inmates survived critically injured.

On May 3, 1988, a 20-year-old soldier lost his life as part of a combat exercise at the Allentsteig military training area. The projectile of an M-109 self-propelled howitzer exploded in front of the calculated target point, and a shrapnel hit the soldier in an infantry fighting vehicle fatally.

On April 17, 2003, the driver of a Saab 105 lost control of the machine during a turning maneuver with the landing gear extended and had to get out of the car at an angle with the ejection seat, where he suffered knee injuries and a fractured vertebra. The machine hit the ground and was totally destroyed.

During the “Pacemaker 08” exercise on April 24, 2008, the commander of a Saurer armored personnel carrier was killed and the driver seriously injured. The vehicle had gone off the road and overturned.

On September 16, 2009, an M109 self-propelled howitzer accidentally shot at a housing estate outside the training area during a combat exercise. The shell detonated over 3000 m from the actual target on a street and damaged several houses and vehicles. The gun leader of the self-propelled howitzer had switched to manual mode in the navigation system instead of automatic, which resulted in the fire control system receiving incorrect data after changing positions.

On October 7, 2009, a fatal incident occurred with an M109 self-propelled howitzer during an artillery exercise. A grenade exploded prematurely after being inserted into the hold due to a defective fuse, before the loading gunner could insert the propellant charge. The gunner was hit by shell fragments and killed, the gunner was seriously injured.

On July 5, 2012, the driver of a Saurer armored personnel carrier drowned during a training run after the tank collapsed into a depression in the ground covered with vegetation and filled with mud and water. Another soldier was injured.

Nature on the Allentsteig military training area 

The military training area Allentsteig is an Important Bird Area and important refuge for many rare species of birds in Austria. Mainly types of open and structured landscapes breed in the square. The barber warbler breeds with a stable population in open land areas rich in thorn bushes. More open land species with stable stocks are turncoat , Karmingimpel ,   Stonechat , Whinchat and grasshopper warbler . On the held open fire lanes which breeds Woodlark . At least half of the corn kings in Austria live here. Due to the weather conditions, the number of calling males fluctuated between 50 and 146 callers from 2000 to 2018, although parts of the area could not be controlled due to explosive ordnance. In dry years there are far fewer corn kings.

The white-tailed eagle has been breeding in the area since 2004 and using the ponds in the area. In winter there are up to ten sea eagles on the square. The white-tailed eagles feed on the eruptions of game shot during hunts and, since 2015, on the remains of wolf cracks . In the passage also species like coming harrier , marsh harrier , lesser spotted eagle , greater spotted eagle , serpent eagle , golden eagle , eastern imperial eagle and booted eagle before. Hen harriers are winter guests.

In recent years there have been declines in many species at the Allentsteig military training area , as the use of the area has changed and species are declining on a large scale. Since the mid-1990s, agricultural land in the central area was abandoned. From 2006 to 2012 the safety regulations were changed in such a way that no more tillage is allowed in the majority of the area. In many fallow areas, the goldenrod is spreading across the board . Other areas became uniform wasteland. Because of the bark beetle infestation of the spruce stands on the site, forest work takes place all year round and disturbs sensitive forest species. Species that are in decline due to changes in the square include red-backed killer , snipe , lapwing , pygmy owl, and rough-owl . Black grouse , gray shrike (2003 still 23 breeding pairs) and black stork have become extinct .

See also

• List of settlements relocated for the creation of the Döllersheim military training area
• List of barracks of the Austrian Armed Forces

literature

• Margot Schindler : Having to go. The resettlement of the Döllersheim area (Lower Austria) 1938–1942. Folklore aspects (=  publications of the Austrian Museum for Folklore 23). Austrian Museum for Folklore, Vienna 1988, ISBN 3-900359-38-5 (publication accompanying the special exhibition in the Gobelsburg Castle Museum).
• Friedrich Polleroß (Ed.): 1938 before - after. Contributions to the contemporary history of the Waldviertel (=  series of publications by the Waldviertler Heimatbund. Vol. 30). Waldviertler Heimatbund, Horn 1988, ISBN 3-900708-04-5 .
• Johannes Müllner: The desecrated homeland. 2nd Edition. Association Information Waldviertel, Allentsteig 1998, ISBN 3-9500294-0-0 .
• Karl-Markus Gauß : The iron heart of the Waldviertel. From Döllersheim to Allentsteig / Austria . In: Katharina Raabe , Monika Sznajderman (eds.): Last & Lost. An atlas of disappearing Europe. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 2006, ISBN 3-518-41772-X , pp. 181ff.
• Peter Härtling : Zwettl. Review of a memory (= dtv 19121). Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-423-19121-0 .
• Broadcast on Deutschlandfunk: Faces of Europe on January 10, 2009, 11:05 am. The hole in the Waldviertel. The Allentsteig military training area in Austria. Reports Antonia Kreppel. Microphone Katrin Michaelsen.

Web links

Commons : Allentsteig military training area  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature about the Allentsteig military training area in the catalog of the German National Library
• Website of the Austrian Armed Forces on the TÜPL Allentsteig
• Entry for Allentsteig military training area in the database of the state's memory for the history of the state of Lower Austria ( Museum Niederösterreich )

Individual evidence

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1. ↑ military training area Allentsteig celebrates his 50s , BMLV .gv.at, 14. September 2007
2. ↑ ^{a b} Allentsteig: Darabos angered farmers and military in the press of March 2, 2012, accessed on March 5, 2012.
3. ^ Allentsteig: Further protests against Darabos plans on ORF from April 9, 2012
4. ^ No restitution of fields in Allentsteig in the press on July 19, 2012, accessed on July 20, 2012.
5. ↑ Federal Army mourns Brigadier Leopold Cermak. Web presence of the Austrian Armed Forces, accessed on April 28, 2012 . 
6. ^ New commanders in Allentsteig, Mistelbach and Mautern. Web presence of the Austrian Armed Forces, accessed on April 28, 2012 . 
7. ↑ New commander in Reconnaissance and Artillery Battalion 4 in Allentsteig. Web presence of the Austrian Armed Forces, accessed on April 28, 2012 . 
8. ↑ Security center at the ORF military training area from October 8, 2007, accessed on October 10, 2009.
9. ↑ http://www.arbeiter-zeitung.at/cgi-bin/archiv/flash.pl?seite=19620531_A05;html=1 An army helicopter crashed: one dead
10. ↑ http://www.arbeiter-zeitung.at/cgi-bin/archiv/flash.pl?seite=19800206_A01;html=1 Fresh snow even made tanks slide - 1 dead
11. ↑ http://www.arbeiter-zeitung.at/cgi-bin/archiv/flash.pl?seite=19830120_A07;html=1 Airplane accident in the army: two dead
12. ↑ http://www.arbeiter-zeitung.at/cgi-bin/archiv/flash.pl?seite=19880505_A09
13. ↑ http://www.airpower.at/news03/0417_ga11/index.html Saab 105 crashed at the TÜPL Allentsteig
14. ↑ Soldier killed in accident with armored personnel carrier in Allentsteig ( Memento from September 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
15. ↑ http://www.nachrichten.at/nachrichten/chronik/Nach-Granateneinschlag-Straf-und-Disverbindarmeldung-gegen-Schuetzen;art58,262430 Criminal and disciplinary reports against shooters after a grenade strike
16. ↑ http://www.nachrichten.at/nachrichten/chronik/Allentsteig-Defekt-zuendet-Haubitzen-Granate-zu-frueh;art58,273521 Allentsteig: Defect fired howitzer grenade too early
17. ↑ http://derstandard.at/1339639854446/Niederoesterreich-Ein-Toter-bei-Panzerunfall A dead person in a tank accident
18. ^ Ottokar Jindrich, Alois Schmalzer, Josef Trautmannsdorf: Allentsteig military training area . Bird protection in Austria. 45, November 2018. 8-11.