From a sports school to an airfield - the barracks of Babenhausen in the Third Reich

Since the end of the 19th century Babenhausen has been an important military garrison site. The historic buildings on the barracks grounds were built in 1900 and 1901. Until the end of the First World War, they were used as accommodation for artillery and cavalry units and as a reserve hospital.

On 20 July 1933 the SA Brigade 50 of Hessen Darmstadt took over the Babenhausen barracks, which were now used as a "SA sports school". On 8 November 1936 the 2nd section of the artillery regiment 36 moved into the barracks. In September 1938 the Garrison Babenhausen took over the "Wehrkreis Reit- und Fahrschule XII". The airfield Babenhausen was officially established in 1939 as a military airfield and in 1940 it was briefly used by the French campaign. At the end of 1944 air force units were quartered around Babenhausen, whose airplanes were stationed at the "Feldflugplatz Babenhausen". On 16 March 1945 about 400 prisoners had been accommodated in the barracks area. They had been marched on foot from a prisoner-of-war camp in Silesia to Babenhausen and had arrived at Babenhausen in a miserable condition. Nine days later the Americans arrived and occupied the barracks and private homes.