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BuilT for ThE Bavarian armY rEnovaTEd BY ThE uS armY
The renovated building 541 will be the new headquarters of the 15th Engineer Battalion.
GrAFENWOEHr, Germany -- The newly renovated building 541 at Tower Barracks is a combination of history and modern standards. The US Army invested around 9.5 million dollars in the half-timbered building that was once built as accommodation for the royal Bavarian Army.
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"That's what we love about Grafenwoehr, it's a site with over 100 years of history, but also a platform and state-of-the-art training area for the best soldiers in the world, surrounded by our great German partners in beautiful Bavaria," said Col. Kevin Poole, at the grand opening of the building. Between 1907 and 1915, planning, preparation and construction took place in Grafenwoehr. The accommodation buildings for the III. royal Bavarian Army Corps were built on the site south of the city.
The buildings continued to be used by the following armies. Building 541 was used as an administration building for the US Army Garrison Bavaria until the start of the renovation. The renovated building will be the new headquarters of the 15th Engineer Battalion, a unit whose history also goes back to 1916. Today, the battalion supports the U.S. Army Europe and Africa and NATO in the training of international armed forces. The 15th Engineer Battalion has a total of six companies in Germany, five of them in Grafenwoehr. Another bridge company will soon arrive with around 500 soldiers. "As pioneers, we enjoy building, so the new building gives additional capacity and capabilities," said Lt. Col. Dennis Louck, the battalion commander, about the additional space.
In addition to garrison commander Col. Kevin Poole and Lt. Col. Dennis Louck, Grafenwoehr's mayor Edgar Knobloch also attended the celebration. He was also pleased with the successful renovation of the historic building and the construction activity in the warehouse. Other guests included the commander of the 18th Military Police Brigade, Col. Chad Froehlich, representatives of the Federal real Estate Agency (BImA), from the USAG Bavaria Department of Public Works (DPW) and representatives of the companies contracted for the renovation.
"All in all, this was one of the smoothest construction sites we've had in the last ten years," said Andrea Hösl, head of the project management department at USAG Bavaria DPW. Hösl's team was responsible for the renovation of the building, from financing through the design and planning process to the actual renovation work. Due to a special permit from the State Construction Office, the entire renovation project was processed exclusively by the garrison DPW and US Army Corps of Engineers-Europe.
"Today we not only celebrate the completion of the building 541 construction project, but also the excellent partnership," said Edwin Vasquez, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Europe. Despite various challenges such as detecting contamination, unexplod-
Garrison Commander, Col. Kevin Poole, Col. Chad Froehlich, Grafenwoehr Mayor Edgar Knobloch, Lt. Col. Dennis Louck, Werner Allar of the Klebl Company, Command Sgt. Major Michael Cordery and Edwin Vasquez cut the ribbon after the completion of the renovation of building 541.
The accommodation building was built in the Franconian half-timbered style around 1910 for the soldiers of the III. royal Bavarian Army Corps. There was lively activity in the courtyards of the barracks.
ed ordnance, the Corona pandemic and delivery difficulties, the project was completed successfully and on time. The building meets both German and American safety and security standards and is barrierfree. During the renovation, the historical elements were preserved and environmental aspects were taken into account, e.g. the annual nesting of swallows on the roof of the building.
HISToRy of THE TRAINING AREA
“Grafenwoehr Training Area, Yesterday - Today” is the title of the bi-lingual book written by reserve Sgt. Major Gerald Morgenstern. On 288 pages with more than 800 photos, it does not only tell the history of the training area since 1910 but also covers the development of the training area in recent years. One chapter also deals with the construction of the camp for the royal Bavarian artillery. “Grafenwoehr Training Area, Yesterday - Today” is available in bookstores and at various sales locations on and off post. For more information, visit us on Facebook at “Grafenwoehr Training-Area Book.” The book may also be ordered by sending an e-mail to morgenstern. gerald@t-online.de.
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