: ''For the civil airport use of this facility after 2007, see:

Kitzingen Airport : ''For the military use of this facility prior to 2007, see Kitzingen Army Airfield'' Kitzingen Airport is a general aviation airport located in Germany, about 3 kilometres north-east of Kitzingen, Bavaria. The airport was opened as a private, ...

'' Harvey Barracks/Kitzingen Army Airfield is a former

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

3rd Infantry Division (3rd ID) facility in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, located about 3,5 km east-northeast of

Kitzingen Kitzingen () is a town in the Germany, German state of Bavaria, capital of the Kitzingen (district), district Kitzingen. It is part of the Franconia geographical region and has around 21,000 inhabitants. Surrounded by vineyards, Kitzingen County i ...

(Bavaria), about 390 km southwest of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. Formerly part of the United States Army Würzburg military community, it was a 1st ID garrison since 1996 and prior to that it was home to 3rd ID 2nd Brigade. Originally built in 1917, the installation served as a training school for German pilots in World War I. The German Luftwaffe used the base a generation later to train the pilots of dive bombers and pursuit planes during World War II. The Americans took control in April 1945 and used it as an air base until being turned over to the 1st ID in 1947. It was closed on 29 March 2007 and turned over to the German Government as part of a

USAREUR United States Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF) is an Army Service Component Command (ASCC) /Theater Army responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICO ...

restructuring announced in 2005 which returns the 1st ID to the United States.

History

The airfield has its origins in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

when it served as a training school for Imperial German Air Force (

Luftstreitkräfte The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Force)—known before October 1916 as (Flyer Troops)—was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, alt ...

) pilots. After the armistice treaty between the Allies and Germany in November 1918, the land was returned to farmers. Beginning in 1933, the land again was used as an airfield, although under the terms of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

Germany was forbidden to have an air force, buildings and hangars were built around a grass airfield and the airfield was used as a flight training school, ostensibly for civilian

Deutsche Luft Hansa ''Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G.'' (from 1933 styled as ''Deutsche Lufthansa'' and also known as ''Luft Hansa'', ''Lufthansa'', or DLH) was a German airline, serving as flag carrier of the country during the later years of the Weimar Republic and th ...

airline pilots.

Luftwaffe use

When the new German Air Force (

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

) was announced in 1935, the training school became a military flight school to train military pilots for bomber and pursuit squadrons. Beginning in April 1936, Sturzkampfgeschwader 165 was activated at Fliegerhorst Kitzingen, and in 1939, Sturzkampffliegerschule Kitzingen as training organizations, primarily for

Junkers Ju 87 The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from ''Sturzkampfflugzeug'', "dive bomber") was a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Con ...

A "Stuka" dive bomber;

Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II ''Luftwaffe'' twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called ''Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") that would be too fast ...

fighter-bomber and

Dornier Do 17 The Dornier Do 17 is a twin-engined light bomber produced by Dornier Flugzeugwerke for the German Luftwaffe during World War II. Designed in the early 1930s as a ''Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") intended to be fast enough to outrun opposing a ...

light bomber pilots. Beginning in 1943, Night Fighter training was performed by Nachtjagdschule 1, using RADAR-equipped

Messerschmitt Bf 110 The Messerschmitt Bf 110, often known unofficially as the Me 110,Because it was built before ''Bayerische Flugzeugwerke'' became Messerschmitt AG in July 1938, the Bf 110 was never officially given the designation Me 110. is a twin-engine (Des ...

;

Dornier Do 215 The Dornier Do 215 was a light bomber, aerial reconnaissance aircraft and later a night fighter, produced by Dornier originally for export, but in the event most served in the ''Luftwaffe''. Like its predecessor, the Dornier Do 17, it inherited t ...

, and

Dornier Do 217 The Dornier Do 217 was a bomber used by the German ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II as a more powerful development of the Dornier Do 17, known as the ''Fliegender Bleistift'' (German: "flying pencil"). Designed in 1937 and 1938 as a heavy bomber ...

aircraft in support of the

Defense of the Reich The Defence of the Reich (german: Reichsverteidigung) is the name given to the strategic defensive aerial campaign fought by the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany over German-occupied Europe and Germany during World War II. Its aim was to prevent the ...

campaign. The Luftwaffe, 1933-45
/ref> As a result of the

Western Allied invasion of Germany The Western Allied invasion of Germany was coordinated by the Allies of World War II, Western Allies during the final months of hostilities in the European theatre of World War II, European theatre of World War II. In preparation for the Allied ...

beginning in March, 1945, Kitzingen became an operational combat airfield when elements of Kampfgeschwader 54 (KG 54) arrived, flying the new

Messerschmitt Me 262 The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed ''Schwalbe'' (German: "Swallow") in fighter versions, or ''Sturmvogel'' (German: "Storm Bird") in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produced by the Germa ...

A jet interceptor fighter. The jet operations drew a significant amount of attention from Allied air forces, and as a result the USAAF

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...

flew several

B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

heavy bomber attacks on the airfield, and

Ninth Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...

B-26 Marauder The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in t ...

medium bomber attacks, along with fighter sweeps by

P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

s, to keep the German jets on the ground and limit their effectiveness. USAFHRA Document Search, Kitzingen
/ref> The Luftwaffe abandoned Fliegerhorst Kitzingen about 11 April 1945, blowing up the runway, aircraft hangars and other technical buildings.

USAAF use

The airfield was seized by Allied ground forces in early April 1945, with the USAAF IX Engineering Command 819th Engineering Aviation Brigade moving in to clear mines; remove destroyed Luftwaffe aircraft and bring the airfield to an operational state for use by American aircraft. The airfield was declared operational on 15 April 1945, designated as

Advanced Landing Ground Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) were temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II during the liberation of Europe. They were built in the UK prior to the invasion and thereafter in northwest Europe from 6 June 19 ...

"R-6 Kitzingen". It was immediately put to use as a resupply and casualty evacuation airfield, with

C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (Royal Air Force, RAF, Royal Australian Air Force, RAAF, Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF, Royal New Zealand Air Force, RNZAF, and South African Air Force, SAAF designation) is a airlift, military transport ai ...

transports moving in and out frequently with ammunition and other supplies; evacuating combat wounded back to the rear area.Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. The

405th Fighter Group was able to move in with

s on 30 April, but the combat use of Kitzingen was brief, as the collapse of German resistance was in progress, and the war in Europe ending on 7 May.Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. . German Prisoners of War were housed at the airfield, and put to work repairing the heavily damaged facilities; clearing the wreckage, and restoring services to the surrounding area, damaged by the bombing of the area in March and early April. The airfield became an occupation garrison by the Air Force, being designated as Army Air Force Station Kitzingen. The airfield was turned over to

Air Technical Service Command The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

, becoming the home of various engineering units, and the

10th Reconnaissance Group 010 may refer to: * 10 (number) * 8 (number) in octal numeral notation * Motorola 68010, a microprocessor released by Motorola in 1982 * 010, the telephone area code of Beijing * 010, the Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the R ...

, which used Kitzingen as a base of operations, flying mapping and damage assessment photo-recon flights from the airfield during late 1945 and most of 1946.

United States Army use

The Air Force units moved out at the end of July 1947 and Army units moved in, using the facility as an occupation garrison. Beginning in 1949, with the formation of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

and the establishment of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

, American army units remained in Kitzingen though a

Status of Forces Agreement A status of forces agreement (SOFA) is an agreement between a host country and a foreign nation stationing military forces in that country. SOFAs are often included, along with other types of military agreements, as part of a comprehensive security ...

. On 2 April 1951, Harvey Barracks obtained its name in honor of Captain James R. Harvey, Company E, 359th Infantry, who was killed during the invasion of Normandy, France. For his actions of extraordinary heroism, he was awarded the distinguished service cross posthumously. Various 3rd Infantry Division units have used Kitzingen Army Airfield/Harvey Barracks during the years of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, however major flight operations from the airfield ended in 1981 with the departure of the 3rd Combat Aviation Battalion to Giebelstadt AAF. The airfield only sporadically housed flying units during training exercises after 1981, being renamed Kitzingen Army Airfield Heliport. In August 2005 it was announced that the 1st Infantry Division was returning to the United States as part of a

restructuring, and that Harvey Barracks would be inactivating. The facility wound down operations over the next 24 months and was closed on 29 March 2007.

Civilian use

The area was sold by the Federal Republic of Germany to a private investor in 2013. It is developed as an commercial area since then. The Area is named ''conneKT'' now.conneKT
/ref>

References