USAREUR - Cities - Mannheim

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U.S. ARMY INSTALLATIONS - MANNHEIM

BLUMENAU CLASS III	HAMMONDS BARRACKS	SPINELLI BARRACKS
COLEMAN BARRACKS	MANNHEIM MISC.	SULLIVAN BARRACKS
FEUDENHEIM BUNKER	NEUOSTHEIM AIRFIELD	TAYLOR BARRACKS
FRIEDRICHSFELD QM SVC	RHINE RIVER PATROL, "M"	TURLEY BARRACKS
FUNARI BARRACKS	RHEINAU KASERNE
GENDARMERIE KASERNE	SECKENHEIM QM SVC ST

For additions, corrections, or suggestions please contact the webmaster

MAPS

Installation Maps - late 1970s

1. Coleman Barracks, Sandhofen, late 1970s (KB)	2. Coleman Barracks, Sandhofen, early 1960s (KB)	3. Funari Barracks, Käfertal, late 1970s (KB)	4. Hammonds Barracks, Seckenheim, late 1970s (KB)
5. Spinelli Barracks, Mannheim, late 1970s (KB)	6. Sullivan Barracks, late 1970s (KB)	7. Taylor Barracks, Käfertal, late 1970s (KB)	8. Turley Barracks, Mannheim, late 1970s (KB)

1980

Topographical maps of Mannheim and surrounding area. These maps are reproduced from the "U.S. Military Installation Atlas" published by the 37th Transportation Group in 1980.

Click on the thumbnail to view a larger format of the same map.

Click here for a list of the installations.

Mannheim (384 KB)

TELEPHONE DIRECTORIES

NOTE: I plan to post extracts from the "Troop Units" section of the telephone directories sometime in the future - if I see that there is any interest.

1. Mannheim Telephone Directory, 15 February 1947

PHOTOS

Click on thumbnail to view larger image

Mannheim

A. Pionier Kaserne

B. Flak Kaserne

Mannheim Misc.

Planatarium Theater, Mannheim, 1945 (Webmaster's collection)

Funari Bks

Funari Barracks, recent (Mike Smith)

Funari Barracks main gate, probably late 1950s

Funari Barracks main gate, mid-1970s (MARPAC/RPC Mannheim/187th FB)

1. Funari Bks Main Gate, 1952 (83 KB)

2. Funari Bks, prob 1968 (109 KB)

3. Main gate (KB)

4. View from Birkenauer Strasse (KB)

5. Mannheim American School (KB)

6. Bensheimer Strasse (KB)

7. (KB)

8. Gate (KB)

9. Move out (KB)

10. (KB)

11. (KB)

12. (KB)

13. Hqs Btry (KB)

14. Headquarters troops (KB)

Gendarmerie Ksn

Gendarmerie Kaserne (right); Blumenau POL dump (upper left), 1988 (www.leo-bw.de)

Rheinau Ksn

Sullivan Bks

Additional Kaserne Photos 1

Sullivan Barracks, Funari Barracks and BFV, recent (Mike Smith)

Partial aerial of Sullivan Barracks, 1952

1. Sullivan Bks Main Gate, 1954 (102 KB)

2. 510th Tk Bn Headquarters Building, Sullivan (104 KB)

3 . Retreat Parade in front of 510th Tk Bn Hqs Bldg (121 KB)

4. Sullivan Bks Chapel, 1954 (105 KB)

5. Sullivan Bks Main Gate, 1960s (243 KB)

6. Aerial of Sullivan, 1959

7. Aerial of Sullivan, 1959

8. Aerial of Sullivan, 1959

9. AAA battalion equipment, 1959

Taylor Bks

Taylor Barracks, recent (Mike Smith)

Turley Bks

Turley Barracks (Bing)

Turley Barracks, Mannheim ca. 1965 (Alan Farr)

Fuel station at Turley Barracks, Mannheim 1969 (David Evans)

Turley Barracks, annotated installation map - 1960s
Click on the map to view a larger version with a building schedule.
If you have additional information or corrections, please contact the webmaster (email at top of page)

1. Service Club

Benjamin Franklin V.

Benjamin Franklin Village, 1980s (Mike Smith)

American Elementary School, BFV, 1957 (Webmaster's collection)

BFV PX and service station

2. BFV Officers Club

3. BFV BOQ

4. BOQ towards Sullivan Bks

Spinelli Bks

Spinelli Barracks, recent (Mike Smith)

Spinelli Barracks, 2011 (German website)

1. (KB)

2. (KB)

Coleman Bks

Tent City, Coleman Barracks, 1961

Army Airfield and track park, Coleman Barracks, prob mid-1950s (Alain Dailloux)

Coleman Barracks, Sandhofen, recent (Mike Smith)

1. Area behind Coleman tower	2. Area behind Coleman tower
3. Area around Coleman tower	4. Area around Coleman tower	5. Area around Coleman tower
6. Coleman tower	7. Inside the control tower	8. H-34 Choctaw	9. OV-1 Mohawk
10. Returning from the field

Base Operations and Fire Department, early 1950s (Michael Adel)

29th Sig Bn Hqs, early 1950s (Michael Adel)

WAC barracks, Coleman Bks (Michael Adel)

11. Bldg 21	12. Bldg 25	13. Gate to cantonment area	14. Arrival at Sandhofen
15. Cantonment area	16. 29th Signal motor park	17. Winter at Sandhofen	18. "C" Co motor pool
19. Morning clean up	20. Loading up equipment	21. "C" Co barracks	22. Mess hall
22. Unidentified area	23. Now identified

Hangar 4, Coleman Barracks, early 1950s (Michael Adel)

Weapons display at Coleman Barracks, around 1954 (Noel Little)

Hammonds Bks

See Jack Emanuelson's email for additional information

Hammonds Barracks, Seckenheim, c. 1961 (Leonard Mills)

Hammonds Barracks, Seckenheim, recent (Mike Smith)

	1. Old main gate, Hammonds Bks (KB) 3. Part of the closed area (KB)	2. Main gate from inside the kaserne (KB) 4. The old softball field (KB)

5. Company street (KB)	6. Former Hqs Area Command Bldg (KB)	7. Back of former Hqs Area Command Bldg (KB)	8. Former Service Club, Library, Cafeteria (KB)
9. Flag pole; behind it the mess hall; Co B bldg to the left, Co A bldg to the right (KB)	10. Front view of former Service Club (KB)

Autobahn Svc Station

1. Oasis Service Station, Seckenheim, 1951 (236 KB)

USMCA Mannheim / 293rd BSB (APO 09086) - Histories, Misc. Information

(Click on image to access the BImA brochure - 3.5 Mb PDF -
at bundesimmobilien.de)

The Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben (BImA) - the German Federal Agency for Real Estate - has issued a brochure - sorry, only in German - that presents the US military installations and other activities in the Mannheim and Heidelberg communities for sale as they are being vacated by the US military and returned to the German government. (Lots of current photos of US installations.)

BImA is the German federal property management agency and is responsible for managing, selling or renting former NATO assets that have been returned to the German government as part of the various drawdowns and consolidations that started in the early 1990s.

HISTORIES & MISC. INFORMATION

Research Request

Information is being compiled for a history of the U.S. Army installations in the Mannheim, Sandhofen, Seckenheim and Rheinau areas, 1945 to 1990s.

Help keep the memories alive!

1. Historical information on installations and units
Requester: Webmaster
Subject: Looking for historical information on units and military activities including base support in the Mannheim, Sandhofen, Seckenheim and Rheinau areas between 1945 and the 1990s.
Contact: webmaster

2. Aerial & ground photos of kasernes & housing areas
Requester: Webmaster
Subject: Looking for period photos of the US Army installations (including dependent housing areas, schools, shopping centers, service (gas) stations & miscellaneous storage or maintenance facilities used by EES/AAFES, Quartermaster, Ordnance, Signal and Transportation units/activities) in Mannheim, Sandhofen, Seckenheim and Rheinau from 1945 to the 1990s.
Contact: webmaster

3. Installation maps
Requester: Webmaster
Subject: Looking for facility/post engineer maps of the various installations, activities and housing areas in the Mannheim, Sandhofen, Seckenheim and Rheinau areas from 1945 to 1990s.
Contact: webmaster

4. Military Community map
Requester: Webmaster
Subject: Looking for a map that shows in detail the Mannheim military community boundaries for the period 1974-1990.
Contact: webmaster

5. Post Telephone Directory
Requester: Webmaster
Subject: The post telephone directory (any time frame) often provides great historical information on units and activities located on post, including building numbers. The table of contents of a typical post telephone directory can be found here.
Contact: webmaster

6. Gendarmerie Kaserne
Requester: Webmaster
Subject: Looking for photos and information on the kaserne on Lilienthalstrasse in Schönau that was occupied by Labor Service units during the Cold War.
Contact: webmaster

7. Rheinau Kaserne
Requester: Webmaster
Subject: Looking for photos and information on the small installation that was constructed in the 1950s by the US Army on the southern edge of Rheinau and was home to the USAREUR Tranportation Center and other units during the Cold War.
Contact: webmaster

(Source: Special publication No. 40 of the City Archives of Mannheim, Germany, 2013)

Memories of Mannheim - Die Amerikaner in der Quadratestadt seit 1945

by Cristian Führer

Sonderveröffentlichung des Stadtarchivs Mannheim - Institut für Stadtgeschichte Nr. 40

This book, written in German, provides a wonderful and detailed review of the more than six decades of partnership between the US Army and the city of Mannheim. The American experience in Mannheim since 1945 is captured through historical data, personal anecdotes of current and former members of Mannheim's American community and a vast collection of photos.

Although the Army garrison in Mannheim is very close to being history (the last troops will leave in 2015), the memories and the friendships that have developed over the many years will last for a long time.

This book will help preserve the legacy and many of the memories of the thousands of service members, civilians and family members that made up the Mannheim Military Community through the years.

Well done, Christian!

(Source: HERALD POST, Serving the communities of U.S. Army Garrison Baden-Würrtemberg, November 11, 2010: Vol. 36, No. 6 (online copy accessed Dec 12, 2010))

US Army Garrison Commander, Lt Col Elizabeth Ryan Griffin (left)
and Sgt Maj Timothy Magee stand at attention during the official
Mannheim deactivation ceremony, May 31, 2011 (Herald Post)

(Source: AFN Europe)

Cover

Reflections - USAG Mannheim 1945 - 2011 (AFN Europe) .

HISTORY OF HAMMONDS BARRACKS

Source: Heidelberg Herald-Post (Heidelberg MILCOM newspaper), September 5 1985

Seckenheim joins Heidelberg Community

Hammonds Barracks in Seckenheim becomes part of the Heidelberg Military Community Oct. 1. This is a return to the fold. Hammonds has come full circle.

It was once the headquarters for a German infantry battalion. After World War II it was the headquarters of what was then called the Heidelberg Military Post. Today it houses a German Army headquarters, a U.S. Army command and several staff agencies.

Completed in 1937 for the German Wehrmacht, the post was named Loretto Kaserne. The first unit to make its home in Loretto was the 2nd battalion of the 110th Infantry Regiment. Led by its band, the battalion marched through the barracks gates on Oct. 11, 1937, to take up garrison quarters in the brand-new casern; The 110th Infantry Regiment that moved into the then new billets had a history going back to 1852. The regiment was raised locally and had distinguished itself in fierce fighting on the Loretto heights in France during World War 1. The new casern was named in memory of this battle.

The casern was built during the heyday of Hitler's remilitarization of Germany. The storm clouds of World War II were already looming on the horizon. Caserns constructed during this period, such as Hammonds and Patton, were constructed to stringent specifications. The basements and first floors of these buildings were built to withstand a hit from a 250-pound bomb. While the top floors were designed to absorb the blast, the first floor and basement were virtually bunkers with ceilings of reinforced concrete and iron.

All these years later, the workmen who are installing district heating on Patton Barracks can be seen sweating and cussing as they try to get their jackhammers through these massive walls and ceilings.

The 110th Regiment first fought in the May 1940 Blitzkrieg campaign in France. Then, as Hitler's ambitions turned to the east, it was transferred to the Russian front. In the autumn and early winter of 1941 it fought to within sight of the Kremlin spires. It was decimated in the process. By the end of the winter campaign of 1941 it had virtually ceased to exist as a fighting unit. Its survivors were transferred to the German 88th Infantry division. The 110th faded away.

World War II ended for Seckenheim on Good Friday, 1945. Gen. George S. Patton's Third U.S. Army occupied the town. Lorreto Kaserne was renamed Hammonds Barracks in honor of PFC Robert M. Hammonds of the U.S. 100th Infantry Division, who was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.

Hammonds Barracks became the headquarters for the Heidelberg Area Command and later, in 1961, for the Central Army Group. Centag left Hammonds to move to Campbell Barracks in Heidelberg a couple of years ago. Hammonds is now the home of the Army Materiel Command, Europe.

History has come full circle for part of the casern. Part of it was returned to the German Army after the Central Army Group moved to Heidelberg. The Headquarters of the Southern Territorial Command moved into refurbished barracks and renamed them Loretto Kaserne. Today Hammonds Barracks and Loretto Kaserne stand side by side on the banks of the Neckar on the western fringe of Seckenheim.

Seckenheim is a busy, prosperous suburb of Mannheim, connected to Heidelberg by the OEG street car, autobahn and the B37 highway along the Neckar.

"Where there's muck there's money," goes an old folksaying, and nothing could be truer for Seckenheim, whose town symbol is the "honey-wagon," or manure cart.

In the years before phosphates and artificial fertilizers, the canny farmers of Seckenheim lived off the sewage they collected from Heidelberg, Mannheim and Schwetzingen. The Seckenheim honey wagons would roll along the Neckar River, on what is now the B37, collecting the slops from the houses and palaces of their "big city" cousins. The Seckenheimers used this human manure as fertilizer for their fields, where a variety of root and grain crops were grown.

The town's mascot and good luck symbol is the spigot ("Puhlzabbe" in Seckenheim dialect) on the back of the honey wagon; it controlled the flow of the liquid dung. Although the advent of the flush toilet brought an end to this trade, even today the unpleasant smell of pig manure hangs heavy over the fields around Seckenheim before the spring planting.

This cultural heritage has given Seckenheimers a distinctive outlook on life: earthy, honest, and humorous.

Although this is the part of their history of which Seckenheimers are most proud, they enjoy a past similar to other towns of this region. After successive Celtic and Roman settlements on the bank of the river a tribe called the "Neckarschwaben" settled the area. Their chief, called Sicco, gave his name to the village: Sicco-Heim (home of Sicco). Local historians have tracked Roman records that indicate that Roman legions fought a battle here about A.D. 350 and called that battle "Sequanheim."

Although ravaged by the various wars that raged over this area through the centuries, the Seckenheimers more often had to contend with the Neckar river which had a sudden and capricious tendency to flood. It wasn't until an embankment was built in the 1800s that this danger was eliminated.

A wealthy noble built Seckenheim's baroque church and Rathaus in the mid 1700s when the court flourished in Mannheim. Viewed from the north bank of the river, Seckenheim still has an extremely picturesque waterfront.

The town celebrates its fests and has its own racetrack (just behind the Autobahn Kaserne). The track sees at least three race meetings a year, the best being the spring farmers' races. These are informal affairs with no starting gates, just a flag, and races for all ages and sizes horses and humans. They capture the earthy, lively spirit of people who maintain a healthy contact with their peasant roots.

To one side of the bustling main street, near the bridge over the Neckar, stands a fountain. At first glance it looks like a water barrel, or maybe a winecart, but on closer inspection it reveals itself to be the symbol that the Seckenheimers have chosen for their town: the honey wagon with its "puhlzabbe."

HISTORY OF COLEMAN BARRACKS

Source: Welcome Pamphlet, HQ 7th Sig Bde, early 1980s

Coleman Barracks, formerly Fliegerhorst (flyer's nest) Kaserne, was built during 1938 as an airfield for both fighters and bombers. At the beginning of the war, the (Luftwaffe) fighter squadron "Pike-As," commanded by Hans Moelder, was stationed here. Moelder was one of Germany's top air aces, having shot down over 300 planes, mostly Russian.

The naming of Coleman Barracks is exceptional in that it is the only Barracks in the Heidelberg area other than Patton to be named after an officer. Its name commemorates Lieutenant Colonel Wilson D. Coleman, who was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for single-handedly halting an enemy column.

The US Army requisitioned Coleman Barracks in the fall of 1945. Until mid-1949 the area was used as a quartermaster collecting point for the unserviceable automobile material and for surplus storage. In the fall of 1949, the 7849th Ordnance Automotive Center was activated at Coleman Barracks. This organization was redesignated as the Ordnance Procurement Center with liaison offices in all the principal cities of Europe. In 1951, a Replacement Depot was established at Coleman Barracks and served as the staging area for all troops arriving in Germany. From 1951 to 1962, Coleman Barracks has housed such notable organizations as elements of the 2d Armored Division, 13th Infantry Regiment and 1st Battle Group, 18th Infantry. During the Berlin crisis of 1961, the latter unit, commanded by Colonel Glover S. Johns, was the first unit moved to reinforce the Berlin Garrison.

Coleman Barracks is the largest Barracks in the Heidelberg area, presently housing such major combat and combat support units as the Headquarters of the 3d Brigade, 8th Infantry Division; 7th Signal Brigade; and the USAREUR Confinement Facility. The Coleman Army Airfield has more take-offs and landings than any other Army airfield in Germany.

TURLEY BARRACKS

(Source: Email from Joe Wilson, 761st Tank Bn, WWII)

First Sergeant Samuel J. Turley

The Kaiser Willhelm Kaserne in Mannheim, Germany, occupied by the 6th Transportation Truck Battalion in 1947, was renamed the Samuel J. Turley Barracks in October 1947.

1st Sgt Turley, a member of Company C, 761st Tank Bn, was killed in action near Metz, France, on 9 Nov 1944. Sgt Turley was awarded the Silver Star, posthumously, for demonstrating supreme courage by sacrificing his life to save the men of his company during action in France.

For more details on Sgt Turley and the 761st Tank Bn during WWII, check out their great web site.

Benjamin Franklin Village dependent housing in Mannheim (Wikimapia)

Construction of BFV began in 1951 (Christian Führer)

(Source: Email from Christian Führer)

The three photos show the beginnings of BFV during the early 1950s. Construction began along Birkenauer Straße in 1951 and ended near today's Elementary School in 1957.

(Grant Circle area for officers was also completed in 1956/1957).

(Webmaster note: I have reason to believe that the Grant Circle housing project was part of the "German Alternate Housing program" mentioned in the S&S article below. Can anyone confirm this?)

1. BFV construction

2. BFV construction

Family Housing, Mannheim

(Source: STARS & STRIPES, Sep 28, 1954)

Nearly 3,700 new apartment units are under construction or planned in the Mannheim-Heidelberg-Karlsruhe area under the American construction and German Alternate Housing programs.

By November 19, the first four phases of the Army program, totaling 1,494 units, will be completed in the three new Amercian communities --

Paul Revere Village in Karlsruhe

Ben Franklin Village in Mannheim

Patrick Henry Village in Heidelberg

The German Alternate Housing program will add 396 units.

The Army has recently broken ground for four additional phases of construction that will eventually add 1,808 units. Plans include 23 BOQ buildings, with an estaimated completion date of March 1955.

Related Links:
293rd Base Support Battalion - official website of the former Mannheim Military Community. Mannheim MILCOM was reorganized and redesignated as the 293rd BSB in October 1991 and is part of the 26th Area Support Group, Heidelberg. (In addition to all of the great local information found on the 293rd BSB website, activities and events at Mannheim are also covered by the online version of the ASG Newspaper, Herald-Post Online. Check the Archives link for past issues.)

		Closed US Army Installations in Mannheim and Heidelberg - Gert Scheuermann has created a website that attempts to keep the memories of the installations that have closed in the Mannheim and Heidelberg communities.
		Fliegerhorst Sandhofen and Coleman Army Airfield - Dirk Schulz hosts this web site dedicated to the history of the airfield at Mannheim-Sandhofen that was used by the German Luftwaffe in WWII and became a major US Army Airfield in the post-war years.