Another trip to Schweinfurt, this time for a family celebration, had us pass by Ledward Barracks again. The corner of Niederwerrner Straße and Franz-Schubert-Straße looked very different, because several buildings have already been torn down.
Back in February 2015, the city of Schweinfurt purchased the areal from the Federal Republic of Germany. In December 2016, the city of Schweinfurt then sold it to the state of Bavaria. The state of Bavaria is now expanding its Würzburg university branch by adding another campus in Schweinfurt on the barracks grounds.
The demolition of the old buildings on Ledward Barracks will cost about euro 2.2 million, and was scheduled to be completed by June 2017. This is when construction of the new International Campus of the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt was originally due to begin.
As it is often the case in construction in Germany (and other places as well), things are taking longer than expected. There are a lot contaminated materials to be disposed of. Other building material will just get shredded, and some might be reused. Because of the heavy tanks used back then, part of the asphalt around the barracks is more than one meter in depth.
I took these photos of the former barracks just three days ago. Some buildings will remain; They plan on keeping the former Abrahms Club, the Court of Honor (Ehrenhof), and another building near the west gate, which is used for accommodating refugees, and on lease for the next five years.
The artillery barracks, the NCO Club, and the medical clinic are all gone.
I was in Ledward 1st Inf Div 16th Inf 1952-1954 then with the 3rd Div 30th Inf from 1958-1961.I see our old building is now gone along with a lot of memories. Kind of sad for me.
I lived right inside the gate across the street from McDonalds for years. B Troop 3/4 cav. Late 80’s. Lots of stories from that place. I agree, sad to see it go.
I was there from 9-78 to 10-81 With 2-30 Inf. and. C trp 3/7 Cav Brings back a lot of memories.I will be thinking of all the people I met.
A/2-30 12/82 – 12/84. Sad to see the place scraped clean.
I was there in C Troop 3/7th Cavalry from June 1981- Aug 1984. Our 1SG was Willie C Swint. I believe he retired as a CSM a few years later. I finally retired in 1989 out of the B-Troop 2/7 TH Cavalry, S-2 Jump Talk at Ft Cason Colorado. When I was in Germany we supported boarder security at Camp Coburg, East/West German border. I’m looking for anyone who still remembers, if You Ain’t Cav You ain’t ! Old Times Many Memories,SSG Danny C Rees.
I was in 3/7 in Schweinfurt from late 64 till March 65. I drove an M-60 tank. I used to sneak out a hole in the fence at dark back of the motor pool, go downtown and meet my girlfriend Rosie. Never got caught. Wound up driving an M-48 in Vietnam for the 3/4 cav. Hit a mine but escaped. I became a beer lover while in Schweinfurt.