Pattonville is a neighborhood in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

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 ...

, northeast of

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, with the unusual distinction of being a former

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

housing complex, as few U.S. installations returned to German control have been maintained in their former form.

History

Pattonville was a large U.S. military housing installation in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

during 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 ...

, built and maintained by the

U.S. 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, cl ...

from 1955 to 1992 as part of the Stuttgart Military Community. The community was named for

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

(1885–1945), commander of the Third Army in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries, including all of the great powers, fought as part of two opposin ...

. Located northeast of the city and just southeast of

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is ...

, Pattonville was home to

Stuttgart American High School Stuttgart American High School in West Germany was first located at Robinson Barracks (old SA (SturmAbteilung) barracks), north of Stuttgart, from fall 1953 to spring 1955. That fall, the school moved a few miles northeast and opened at Pa ...

from 1955 to 1992, with a peak enrollment of 1,200 during the 1960s. Former

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...

and musician

Katrina Leskanich Katrina Elizabeth Leskanich ( ; born April 10, 1960) is an American musician and the former lead singer of the pop rock band Katrina and the Waves. Their song " Walking on Sunshine" was an international hit in 1985. In 1997, the band won the ...

Katrina and the Waves Katrina and the Waves were a British rock band widely known for the 1985 hit " Walking on Sunshine". They also won the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Love Shine a Light". History Pre-history (1975–1980) The band's earliest inc ...

are among the better known students of SAHS, although both graduated elsewhere.

Patch American High School Alexander M. Patch American High School (also known as "Patch American High School" or "Patch High School") was an English language high school in Germany, on Patch Barracks southwest of Stuttgart, operated by DODEA (formerly known as DoDDS). Op ...

Patch Barracks Patch Barracks is a U.S. military installation in Stuttgart, Germany. It is named after U.S. Army General Alexander M. Patch (1889–1945). History Patch Barracks was renamed from the German ''Kurmärker Kaserne'' in 1952; it was originally ...

, southwest of Stuttgart, became the only

DODEA The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) is a federal school system headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, responsible for planning, directing, coordinating, and managing prekindergarten through 12th grade educational programs on behal ...

(DoDDS) High School for the vicinity in 1992; it closed in 2015, and the new Stuttgart High School opened that fall on

Panzer Kaserne Panzer Kaserne (German notation: Panzerkaserne) is a U.S. military installation in Böblingen, Germany, part of U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart. The post is administered by U.S. Army Installation Management Command-Europe (IMCOM-Europe), a legacy f ...

, just east of

Böblingen Böblingen (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Beblenga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, seat of Böblingen (district), Böblingen District. Sindelfingen and Böblingen are Geographic contiguity, contiguous. History Böblingen was found ...

, as the sole DODEA school in the Stuttgart Military Community.

Stuttgart Golf Club

A noted feature of Pattonville was the Stuttgart Golf Club, a 18-hole

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

and club on , operated by and for the U.S. military and their families. Designed by Bernhard von Limburger, it opened in 1956, adjacent to the west, and West German locals were first allowed access in 1969. Over time, the club allowed a limited number of German members and the club was transitioned to shared German control with the large withdrawal of U.S. Army personnel from Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg following the Gulf War; it is now known as Golf Club Neckar eV. The American Stuttgart Golf Club is operated by the U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Office. The golf course and club are the only remaining link to the former U.S. installation.

Closure and Redevelopment

Following the withdrawal of most Army units in the area after the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

, the installation was returned to the German government. Largely a housing complex, Pattonville was opened in 1994 as apartments for the local German population, and the former Stuttgart American School complex is now in use as the Erich-Bracher-Schule. The former military airfield supports the rescue helicopter "Christoph 51", which was relocated there due to air traffic congestion at

Stuttgart Airport Stuttgart Airport (German: ''Flughafen Stuttgart'', formerly ''Flughafen Stuttgart-Echterdingen'') is the international airport of Stuttgart, the capital of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is christened in honor of Stuttgart's forme ...

. It has become a recreational aerodrome, with the German civilian ICAO code EDTQ.http://www.edtq.de Recreational aerodrome Pattonville EDTQ Jurisdiction of the area had been shared by the cities of

Remseck Remseck am Neckar () is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Rems and Neckar, about 12 km northeast of Stuttgart, and 7 km southeast of Ludwigsburg. The to ...

and

Kornwestheim Kornwestheim ( Swabian: ) is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated about north of Stuttgart, and south of Ludwigsburg. History Origins and Development Kornwestheim can look back at a history of ...

, eastern and southern neighbors of

, respectively. The irregular boundary between the two cities was realigned along John-F.-Kennedy-Allee, Pattonville's central spine, so that the western half belongs to

, the eastern half to

. Pattonville's current population of approximately 6,000 (2013) is split between the two cities. The streets, named after various

U.S. states In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

, are a reminder of the postwar American military presence.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Photo Tour of Redeveloped Pattonville- now a German residential area

Stuttgart-Ludwigsburg HS Alumni Association

DoDEA Page with Contact for Stuttgart American High School Alumni

Facebook Interest Page for Pattonville

* ttp://www.vvs.de/download/VLP09_Ludwigsburg_Kornwestheim.pdf Stuttgart VVS Transit Map for Pattonville
German Language Website of Golf Club Nekartal- former Pattonville Golf Course
Ludwigsburg United States military in Stuttgart Military installations of the United States in Germany Cantonments