Ordensburg Sonthofen



The Generaloberst-Beck-Kaserne are barracks of the armed forces of Germany, the Bundeswehr, in Sonthofen in Oberallgäu.

History
The complex was built in 1934 as NS-Ordensburg Sonthofen by the German Labour Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront) for the NSDAP.

Three NS-Ordensburgen existed: A fourth one was planned at (the historic) Ordensburg Marienburg, in East Prussia
 * Ordensburg Krössinsee, in Pomerania
 * Ordensburg Sonthofen, Allgäu
 * Ordensburg Vogelsang, Eifel

It was designed by architect Hermann Giesler. It served as Adolf-Hitler-School for the education of party cadres. The internationally known actor Hardy Krüger attended this school. In the last year of the war it was used as sickbay.

Commander of the Ordensburg was the Reichstag deputy Robert Bauer (NSDAP) from 1936 to 1941.

In November 1937 Adolf Hitler visited the Ordensburg Sonthofen.

After the war French troops first took over the Castle. Later the US Army located the training center for the US-Constabulary force there.

In 1956 the Castle was acquired by the Bundeswehr and was named after the member of resistance and former chief of the general staff of the army General Ludwig Beck.

Current use
The Generaloberst-Beck-Kaserne hosted schools of the Bundeswehr (Military Police (Feldjäger) and Staff Service). In 2009 the Bundeswehr transferred these schools to the Emmich-Cambrai-Kaserne in Hannover. Two other bases were then closed and their personnel moved to Sonthofen.

Today the facility is protected as a historic site.

Literature

 * Hartmut Happel: Die Allgäuer Ordensburg in Sonthofen. Eberl, Immenstadt 1996, ISBN 3-920269-01-2
 * Gerhard Klein: Die NS-Ordensburg Sonthofen 1934 bis 1945. In: Paul Ciupke u. Franz-Josef Jelich (Hrsg.): Weltanschauliche Erziehung in Ordensburgen des Nationalsozialismus. Zur Geschichte und Zukunft der Ordensburg Vogelsang Geschichte und Erwachsenenbildung, Bd. 20. Essen 2006. S. 65 - 84