United States Army Garrison Schweinfurt (USAG Schweinfurt) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

military community located in and around

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a town#Germany, city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding Schweinfurt (district), district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultur ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

from 1945 to 2014. The garrison comprised two installations (Conn and Ledward Barracks), two housing areas (Askren Manor and Yorktown Village Housing Area), and two local training areas (''Brönnhof'' or Area M) in Pfändhausen, to the north of

as well as Sulzheim (Sulzheim Training Area), 15 minutes to the south of

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

-era installations in

Bad Kissingen Bad Kissingen () is a German spa town in the Bavarian region of Lower Franconia and County town, seat of the Bad Kissingen (district), district Bad Kissingen. Situated to the south of the Rhön Mountains on the Franconian Saale, Franconia ...

Bad Neustadt Bad Neustadt an der Saale (, ), officially Bad Neustadt a.d.Saale and often simply called Bad Neustadt, is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the Rhön-Grabfeld district in Lower Franconia. It is situated on the rivers Fran ...

Hammelburg Hammelburg is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It sits in the district of Bad Kissingen, in Lower Franconia. It lies on the river Franconian Saale, 25 km west of Schweinfurt. Hammelburg is the oldest winegrowing town (''Weinstadt'') in Francon ...

, and Oerlenbach were closed prior to the closure of USAG Schweinfurt in the years following

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

in 1990.

History

The installations that would go on to comprise Ledward and Conn Barracks of USAG Schweinfurt began construction in 1935. Ledward Barracks was then a Heer tank barracks, constructed from 1935–36 for Panzerregiment 4, then called the ''Schweinfurt Panzerkaserne'' or ''Adolf-Hitler-Kaserne'', while Conn Barracks, originally known as ''Flugplatz Schweinfurt'' was constructed from 1936–37 as a

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

airfield, which was used to base Ju 87 Stuka bombers. Troops from the 42nd Infantry Division, Seventh U.S. Army liberated the constituent installations and the city of

on April 11, 1945. Immediately following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the ''Flugplatz'' was renamed ''Schweinfurt Air Base'', and used by the Army Air Corps; the former ''Panzerkaserne'' was used as a refugee camp for displaced Estonians, Yugoslavs, Lithuanians, and Poles, while also containing U.S. consular offices. On October 19, 1946, the ''Panzerkaserne'' was redesignated Ledward Barracks, in honor of

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

William J. Ledward, Commander of the 27th Artillery Battalion, killed in action in Italy in 1944. On December 22, 1947, Schweinfurt Air Base was redesignated Conn Barracks, in honor of 2nd Lieutenant Orville B. Conn, Jr. of the 6th Cavalry Group, killed in action in France in 1944. Under the United States Army, Schweinfurt was home to approximately 11,000 people at its peak, including about 6,000 Soldiers, family members, Department of Defense civilian employees, and their dependents. At the time of its closing, USAG Schweinfurt was subordinate to

United States Army Installation Management Command The United States Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM) is a Combat service support (United States), support formation of the United States Army responsible for the day-to-day management of Army installations around the globe. Army garris ...

– Europe and was an indirect report garrison under USAG Ansbach, as part of the

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

Military Community. The installation was returned to the German government on September 19, 2014 due to an ongoing effort to concentrate the U.S. military's footprint in Germany to fewer communities. Since the end of the Army's tenancy, the installation has been utilized by the German government for a variety of uses, including the housing of refugees from the

European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and Human migration, migrants into Europe, mostly from the Middle East. An estimated 1.3 million people came to the continent to request Right of asyl ...

References

External links

U.S. Army Garrison Schweinfurt website
{{coord missing, Germany Military installations established in 1945 1945 establishments in Germany 2014 disestablishments in Germany Schweinfurt (district) Schweinfurt Military installations of the United States in Germany