Forest barracks
 Forest barracks
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| country | Germany | ||
| local community | Hilden | ||
| Coordinates : | 51 ° 11 ' N , 6 ° 58' E | ||
| Opened | 1937 | ||
| Workforce | 750 | ||
| Stationed troops | |||
| see departments | |||
| Old barracks names | |||
| 1945–1968 | St David's Barracks |
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| Formerly stationed units | |||
| Anti-aircraft troops 1st Battalion The Lancashire Rgt 34th Light Air Defense Rgt RA |
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Location of the forest barracks in North Rhine-Westphalia |
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The forest barracks is a barracks of the Bundeswehr in Hilden , North Rhine-Westphalia . It was built from 1937 and was named "Waldkaserne" on July 7, 1969. The barracks are located on the outskirts of Hilden, surrounded by the city forest in a nature reserve on Elberfelder Straße.
history
Barracks at the time of the Wehrmacht
The construction of the barracks on an area of about 29 hectares began in 1937. In the barracks were after its completion air defense forces of the Armed Forces housed. On November 25, 1938, the first Wehrmacht soldiers entered the forest barracks on Elberfelder Strasse, which they used until 1945.
Under British occupation
After the Second World War , the barracks first served as accommodation for American and then British troops. During the occupation the barracks belonged to the British Army of the Rhine , English Army of the Rhine, abbreviated to BAOR. The British used the barracks as "St David's Barracks". Relations with the population developed amicably , especially after the FRG was accepted into NATO , when the Germans and the British became allies. The people of Hilden appreciated it when English music corps appeared at festive events or in the carnival procession. On March 2, 1968, the British 34th Light Air Defense Regiment Royal Artillery of Hilden said goodbye with a parade. The last British occupation force left Hilden. The British Army of the Rhine keeps the memory alive on its website with lots of photos and information.
Takeover by the Bundeswehr
In 1968 the barracks were taken over by the Bundeswehr.
In 1989 the city of Hilden sponsored all of the troops stationed in the forest barracks - a connection between a Bundeswehr location and its garrison town that is still unique today. Contact with the civilian population is maintained in a barracks by the respective senior officer.
The first senior on site at the Waldkaserne was Lieutenant Colonel Heinz Glutsch, commander of the 731 Supply Battalion, who was also one of the founders of the Waldkaserne's circle of friends. The "Freundeskreis der Bundeswehr Waldkaserne Hilden eV" serves to promote relationships between the units of the forest barracks and the civilian population. Today's senior officer is Lieutenant Colonel Björn Taube, who is also in command of the 2nd Feldjäger Regiment.
Soldiers from the Waldkaserne have been participating in missions abroad since the early 1990s : Somalia, ex-Yugoslavia and Afghanistan.
Around 750 soldiers - including around 15 percent women and 70 civilians - are stationed in the Waldkaserne today. They belong to the Feldjägerregiment 2, the training music corps, the medical center, the military shielding service (MAD), the support center for civil training and further education, the civil BWI Informationstechnik GmbH, a technical inspection unit and the Bundeswehr service center (BwDLZ).
In 2008 the Waldkaserne celebrated a double anniversary: 70 years of existence and 40 years as the location of the Bundeswehr.
The barracks were renovated in 2009 for over 18 million euros. The barracks in Hilden will also be retained as part of the restructuring of the Bundeswehr and the cutbacks by the Ministry of Defense. The barracks are not only an important military facility, they also represent a not insignificant economic factor for the city.
On August 29, 2014, the sponsorship between the city of Hilden and the Waldkaserne offices, which is unique in Germany, lasted 25 years.
Departments
- Staff Feldjägerregiment 2
- 1st Company Feldjägerregiment 2 ( headquarters and supply company )
- 7th Company Feldjägerregiment 2 ( Feldjägerdienstkommando )
- Training music corps of the Bundeswehr
- Civil vocational training and further education (ZAW formerly Fachausbildungscompanie) Hilden
- Regional network management center 30 (SKB)
- North Rhine-Westphalia State Command ( youth officer Hilden)
- Parts of the Bundeswehr Service Center in Düsseldorf
- MAD position 3
