US garrison Mannheim

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Map with occupied military areas of the US Army in Mannheim 2010

The US Garrison Mannheim (Engl. Mannheim Garrison / US Army Garrison Mannheim ) was the administrative unit of the US Army in Mannheim until May 31, 2011 .

history

At the end of the Second World War , the US Army occupied Mannheim and soon took over the Wehrmacht barracks . Mannheim thus became one of 112 places in Germany in which the American armed forces were based. Over time, the barracks were expanded with the infrastructure that the soldiers and their families needed, such as living quarters, schools, churches, sports fields and shopping opportunities. In 1956 the Mannheim High School opened and later there was a location of the University of Maryland .

The garrison became part of Mannheim life, the German-American folk festival took place regularly or the Albert Schweitzer tournament, a high-level basketball tournament, was held. A major accident occurred in 1982 when, at the International Airship Days to mark the city's 375th anniversary, a US Army transport helicopter used to drop parachutists at Mannheim-Neuostheim Airport crashed and 46 people died. Most of them were young skydivers from Mannheim's twin cities, Toulon and Swansea

Farewell ceremony on May 31, 2011

The Central Army Group (CENTAG), an important NATO headquarters, was based in Mannheim-Seckenheim from 1961 to 1980 . After German reunification and the end of the Cold War in Europe, the number of soldiers stationed in Mannheim decreased and the first areas in Mannheim were released. In 2010, that year around 8,000 Americans were still living and working in Mannheim, it was finally decided to leave the city completely; this was part of the restructuring of its armed forces in Europe called "Transformation" by the US Army. On May 31, 2011, the Mannheim garrison was dissolved. The last woman in command of the garrison was Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth Ryan Griffin. The remaining US armed forces stationed in Mannheim were temporarily part of the US Army Garrison Baden-Württemberg, which was disbanded in September 2013. All soldiers and civilian employees were to be withdrawn from Mannheim by February 2015 and the barracks returned to the German authorities.

In Mannheim, an area was vacated by 2016, which at that time corresponded to around 3.5 percent of the entire municipal area of ​​the city. In July 2010, the city of Mannheim set up a " conversion " office that coordinated the transition to civil use.

Garrison locations

Memorial to German-American friendship on the Friendship Square in Benjamin Franklin Village
Helicopter at Coleman Airfield
Military prison

The US garrison in Mannheim comprised around 2,000 buildings with 2,200 apartments on an area of ​​around 500 hectares. The garrison consisted of the following barracks:

  • Gendarmerie barracks in Mannheim-Schönau , abandoned in 1991
  • Rheinau barracks in Mannheim-Rheinau , size: 10 ha, abandoned in 1995
  • Turley Barracks Officer's Casino, abandoned in 1999
  • Coal Point in Rheinauhafen , size: 11 ha, abandoned in 2002
  • Turley Barracks in Mannheim-Neckarstadt-Ost , size: 13 ha, from 1994 to 2004 there was also a location of the University of Maryland , abandoned in 2007
  • Friedrichsfeld Quartermaster depot in Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld ; Size 20 ha, abandoned in 2008
  • “Mannheim Class III Point” tank farm in Blumenau ; Size: 12 ha, abandoned in 2010
  • Taylor Barracks (2nd Signal Brigade headquarters) in Mannheim-Vogelstang , size: 46 ha, abandoned in 2011
  • Benjamin Franklin Village (with the Mannheim American High School with over 1700 students) in Mannheim-Käfertal; Size: 88 ha; Returned to the Federal Republic of Germany in 2013.
  • Sullivan Barracks (7th Signal Brigade headquarters) in Mannheim-Käfertal ; Size: 44 ha; Returned to the Federal Republic of Germany in 2013.
  • Spinelli Barracks in Mannheim-Feudenheim ; Size: 82 ha; Returned to the Federal Republic of Germany in 2014.
  • Funari Barracks (5th Signal Command headquarters) in Mannheim-Käfertal ; Size: 11 ha; Returned to the Federal Republic of Germany in 2014.
  • Coleman Barracks ( American Forces Network , US Army Confinement Facility Europe) near the Sandhofen district in the Scharhof district; Size: 216 hectares. In 2010 the 28th Transportation Battalion was disbanded. Founded in 1936, it was relocated to Mannheim in 1949 and was the oldest unit stationed in the city. According to plans, the barracks should be returned to the Federal Republic of Germany in February 2015. However, in the course of a reorientation of the American armed forces in Europe, the US Army took the barracks back into use in January 2015.

In addition, there were locations in the Mannheim district, such as the STEM Barracks and the Hammonds Barracks in Seckenheim , which belonged to the Heidelberg garrison and were abandoned in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

Economic factor

The US garrison employed about 700 local German workers. This made it one of the 25 most important employers in the city of Mannheim. The US garrison Mannheim was also one of the five major customers of the Mannheim utility company MVV .

literature

  • Christian Führer: Memories of Mannheim. The Americans in the city of squares since 1945 . (Special publication of the Mannheim City Archives - Institute for City History No. 40). Heidelberg, Ubstadt-Weiher, Basel: Regional culture publishing house. ISBN 978-3-89735-775-4
  • Dirk Schulz: Sandhofen Air Base. Coleman Barracks and Airfield. An airfield through the ages . Neulußheim 2007.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ HeraldPost, July 1, 2010 "Heidelberg, Mannheim to close by 2015", p. 10 ( Memento of the original from March 30, 2012 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. (pdf; 442 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bw.eur.army.mil
  2. ↑ Mannheimer Morgen September 12, 2011 ( Memento of the original from March 16, 2014 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.morgenweb.de
  3. ↑ Mannheimer Morgen June 5, 2010 ( Memento of the original from November 3, 2013 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.morgenweb.de
  4. ↑ HeroldPost, June 1, 2011 on the closure of the garrison ( Memento of the original from February 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (pdf; 712 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bw.eur.army.mil
  5. ↑ USAG Baden-Württemberg ( Memento of the original from December 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bw.eur.army.mil
  6. ↑ Army garrisons in Germany get new names, Stars & Stripes, September 26, 2013 (in English)
  7. ↑ HeraldPost, July 1, 2010 "Heidelberg, Mannheim to close by 2015" ( Memento of the original from March 30, 2012 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. (pdf; 442 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bw.eur.army.mil
  8. ^ "Conversion of former military areas in Mannheim" (PDF; 69 kB), accessed September 20, 2011
  9. ↑ City of Mannheim, "Konversion in Mannheim", accessed September 20, 2011 ( Memento of the original from September 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mannheim.de
  10. ↑ City of Mannheim: Municipal council submission August 8, 2003  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / web.mannheim.de  
  11. ↑ Mannheimer Morgen October 14, 2005  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.morgenweb.de  
  12. ↑ City of Mannheim ( Memento of the original from December 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mannheim.de
  13. ↑ City of Mannheim  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.mannheim.de  
  14. ^ City of Mannheim
  15. ↑ Federal Agency for Real Estate Tasks, June 3, 2013
  16. ↑ Federal Agency for Real Estate Tasks, June 3, 2013
  17. ↑ http://rhein-neckar.bundesimmobilien.de/653141/Rueckgabe-Verwaltungsgebaeude
  18. ↑ http://rhein-neckar.bundesimmobilien.de/653141/Rueckgabe-Verwaltungsgebaeude
  19. ↑ Mannheimer Morgen June 5, 2010 ( Memento of the original from November 3, 2013 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.morgenweb.de
  20. ↑ http://rhein-neckar.bundesimmobilien.de/653141/Rueckgabe-Verwaltungsgebaeude
  21. ↑ http://www.bundesimmobilien.de/7788580/Coleman_Barracks
  22. ↑ City of Mannheim, "Konversion in Mannheim", accessed September 20, 2011 ( Memento of the original from September 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mannheim.de

Web links

Commons : US-Garrison Mannheim  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
 Wikinews: US Army leaves Mannheim  - message