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U.S. ARMY INSTALLATIONS - FRANKFURT
 
 
MAPS
1945

Map of the Army Transportation System in Frankfurt & Vicinity. This map and the others marked 2 through 8 were included in the "Handbook - USFET Headquarters Command", published by the Information and Education Section, Headquarters Command, USFET, 1945.

Click on the thumbnail to view a larger format of the same map.

1. Army Transportation System in Frankfurt & Vicinity (283 KB)


2. Map "A" - Heddernheim (KB)
3. Map "B" - 97th Gen Hosp area (KB)

4. Map "C" - I.G. Farben Hochhaus area (KB)
5. Map "D" - WAC Circle area (KB)

6. Map "E" - Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof area (KB)
7. Map "F" - Hauptwache/Zeil area (KB)
8. Map - Höchst area (KB)
 
1946

Map of the Frankfurt am Main. This map was prepared by the 655th Engr TOPO Bn under the direction of the Chief of Engineers, HQ USFET.

Click on the thumbnail to view a larger format of the same map.

Click here for a facilities list.

Frankfurt am Main (KB)
Map has been divided into four separate sections for faster
download. Click on the area of interest for a larger view
 
1947

Map of the Frankfurt Military Post area. The map was included in Volume V of the "Third Year of the Occupation", OCCUPATION FORCES IN EUROPE SERIES, 1947-1948, published by the Historical Division, European Command, in 1948.

Click on the thumbnail to view a larger format of the same map.

Frankfurt Military Post
and Facilities (440 KB)

 
1949

Map of facilities in the Hq Frankfurt Military Post area. The map was included in the "Guide to Frankfurt Military Post" published by the Command Section, Hqs FMP in 1949.

Click on the thumbnail to view a larger format of the same map.

Frankfurt Military Post
and Facilities (440 KB)

 
1951

Map of facilities in the Hq Frankfurt Military Post area. The map was included in the "Guide to Frankfurt Military Post" published by the Command Section, Hqs FMP in 1951. (Shows some additional detail compared to the 1949 map.)

Click on the thumbnail to view a larger format of the same map.

Click here to see the List of facilities.

Frankfurt Military Post
and Facilities (168 KB)

 
1952

Map of facilities in the Hq Frankfurt Military Post area. The map was included in the "Frankfurt In Your Pocket" guide edited by Ruth Rutledge, Druck- und Verlagshaus Frankfurt a.M., 1952.

Click on the thumbnail to view a larger format of the same map.

Frankfurt Military Post
and Facilities (323 KB)

Installation Maps - late 1970s

1. Creighton W. Abrams Complex, 1970s (KB)
2. Drake and Edwards Kasernes, 1970s (KB)

3. Gibbs Barracks, 1970s (KB)
4. Gutleut Kaserne, 1970s (KB)

5. McNair and Michael Barracks, 1970s (KB)
6. Frankfurt Shopping Center, 1970s (KB)
7. Frankfurt MILCOM Headquarters, 1980s (KB)
 
1980

Topographical maps of Frankfurt am Main and surrounding area. These maps are reproduced from the "U.S. Military Installation Atlas" published by the 37th Transportation Group in 1980.

Click on the thumbnail to view a larger format of the same map.

Click here for a list of the installations.

Frankfurt West (440 KB)

Frankfurt East (411 KB)
TELEPHONE DIRECTORIES
NOTE: I plan to post extracts from the "Troop Units" section of the telephone directories sometime in the near future - if I see that there is any interest.

1. ROUNDUP Telephone Directory, 15 July 1945

2. Continental Telephone Directory, 1 October 1945

3. Frankfurt Telephone Directory, 1 April 1946


4. Frankfurt, 15 September 1949
5. Frankfurt, 1 March 1952
6. NACOM Telephone Directory, 15 February 1956		  
COMMAND AND COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS
NOTE: Click on thumbnail of newspaper to read the page.
Occupation Chronicle - Some of the issues published while in Germany

1. Occupation Chronicle - page 1, Oct 9 1946 (2 MB - PDF!)





2. Occupation Chronicle - page 1, Jan 23 1948 (296 KB)


3. Occupation Chronicle - page 2, Jan 23 1948 (KB)


4. Occupation Chronicle - page 3, Jan 23 1948 (KB)

5. Occupation Chronicle - page 4, Jan 23 1948 (KB)
6. Occupation Chronicle - page 5, Jan 23 1948 (KB)
7. Occupation Chronicle - page 6, Jan 23 1948 (KB)		  

8. Occupation Chronicle - page 7, Jan 23 1948 (KB)
9. Occupation Chronicle - page 8, Jan 23 1948 (337 KB)		    
Frankfurt Chronicle - Some of the issues published while in Germany
 
 
PHOTOS
Click on thumbnail to view larger image

Frankfurt Kasernes

 

A. Kurhessen Kaserne
B. Kaserne des I.R. 81 an der Friedbergerwarte

C. Kurhessen Kaserne
D. Kaserne des I.R. 81

E. Kaserne des I.R. 81
F. Kurhessen Kaserne
G. Artillerie Kaserne, F.-Bonames
H. I.G. Farben administration bldg



 
I.G. Farben Hochhaus
1945-1989


 

1. SHAEF Hqs, mid-1945 (KB)
2. SHAEF Hqs from the rear (KB)
 Click here to supersize (338 KB)
3. USFET HQ, Frankfurt, prob 1946 (KB)
Click here to supersize (349 KB)
4. IG Farben Bldg, prob 1950
Click here to supersize (485 KB)

5. IG Farben, around 1950 (303 KB)
6. CPS-5 area control radar, around 1950 (KB)
7. Aerial view of Headquarters Building, V Corps, prob. 1954 (363 KB)
8. IG Farben Hochaus, 1959
Click hier to supersize (410 KB)

9. IG Farben Hochaus, towards the east (KB)
Click hier to supersize (370 KB)
10. Aerial view of the Abrams Complex (112 KB)
11. IG Farben Building, around 1950 (270 KB)


12. IG Farben, mid 1951 (217 KB)  
13. IG Farben, mid 1951 (176 KB)
14. HQ US Forces, European Theater sign, prob late 1945 (KB)
  

15. Rotunda Snack Bar, 1948 (227 KB)  
16. Back of IG Farben Bldg, 1948 (263 KB)  
 



 
Zephyr Diner
Autobahn Snack Bar

 

1. Zephyr Diner, 1950 (250 KB)  
2. Entrance, 1950 (227 KB)  
3. Sitting outside, 1950 (227 KB)  
4. 3rd Food Training Course participants, 1950 (227 KB)   

5. Inside the diner, 1950 (227 KB)  
6. Mr. Heinrich Fischer receives an award (227 KB)  
 



 
Frankfurt Kasernes
1945-1989

 

1. Aerial view of Drake Kaserne (center) and Edwards Kaserne (right), May 1950 (147 KB)
2. Aerial view of Drake Kaserne (center) with Edwards in the background, May 1950 (159 KB)

3. Aerial view of Gibbs Barracks, May 1950 (173 KB)
 

4. View towards Main Gate, Gibbs Barracks, 1952 (96 KB)
5. View of parade ground on Gibbs Barracks, 1952 (111 KB)

6. Aerial view of Gutleut Kaserne, May 1950 (143 KB)
7. Gutleut Ksn, 1976 (KB)

8. Main Gate, Gutleut Ksn, 1976 (KB)

 

  

9. Drake Kaserne, Main Gate 1958 (77 KB)
10. Edwards Ksn, Main Gate 1963 (93 KB)
11. Gibbs Bks, Main Gate 1954 (58 KB)
12. 19th Armor Gp Headquarters Building, Gibbs, 1954 (84 KB)

13. EES Snack Bar, Gibbs Bks 1954 (65 KB) -- see recent pic

14. Main Gate, Gibbs Kaserne, 1958 (113 KB)

15. NCO & EM Club, Gibbs Kaserne, 1958 (107 KB)
16. Clubs, Gibbs Kaserne, 1958 (56 KB) -- see recent pic

17. Main street, Gibbs Kaserne, 1958 (52 KB) -- see recent pic

18. HQ 4th Armor Gp, Gibbs Kaserne, 1958 (41 KB)
19. Gibbs EM Open Mess membership card (48 KB)
20. Gibbs EM Club schedule (44 KB)

21. Gibbs EM Open Mess Christmas Menu (70 KB)
22. Main Gate, Gibbs Bks, 1945 or 1946 -- see recent pic
23. Frankfurt PX, 1953 (169 KB)

25. Frankfurt PX (68 KB)
26. Frankfurt PX, prob late 1940s (133 KB)

27. Frankfurt PX, 1949 (KB)

28. Aerial view of WAC Circle with Shopping Center, probably early 1950s (104 KB)

29. Airfield Tower, Bonames, Feb 2003 (KB)
30. Hangars, Bonames, Feb 2003 (KB)
31. Runway, looking east to west, Bonames (KB)
  

32. 66th Avn Co Barracks, Gibbs (73 KB)
33. Rose AAF, Bonames, June 1967 (62 KB)

34. Aerial view of Rose AAF, Bonames, 1986 (178 KB)		  

35. Saturday Review at Drake Ksn, April 1956
36. Drake Ksn, April 1956
37. Drake Ksn, April 1956
38. Drake Ksn, April 1956

39. Drake Ksn, April 1956
40. Drake Ksn, April 1956 		   

41. Frankfurt a.M., 1958
42. Frankfurt devasted, 1945
43. Frankfurt HS, 1959/60
  
44. Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, 1946
45. RTO, Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, around 1947
46. Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, late 1940s
47. Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, 1954

48. Inside the busy Hauptbahnhof, 1950 (124 KB)

 

49. American Red Cross Club in the Schumann Theater building, 1945
50. Schumann ARC, 1946
51. Schumann ARC, 1947

52. Schumann Snack Bar, 1949

53. Schumann Club and Crossroads PX, 1950 (185 KB)
54. Carlton and Excelsior Hotels, late 1940s
55. Carlton Hotel, 1947
56. Rendezvous Club, 1947

57. USAH Frankfurt, around 1956 (KB)
58. USAH Frankfurt, around 1956 (KB)
 

59. Atterberry Ksn, 2004 (KB)
60. Atterberry Ksn, 2004 (KB)
61. Atterberry Ksn, 2004 (KB)
62. TMP #2, 2004 (KB)

63. TMP #2, 2004 (KB)
64. TMP #2, 2004 (KB)
 

65. AC Circle PX, 1956 (KB)
66. Strassenbahn passes WAC Circle, 1955 (KB)
 



 
In and Around Frankfurt 2002-2003
Helmut Knauthe
 For additional photos of Frankfurt City and former US facilities - check out the Frankfurt Bilder website! (see comments below in the Related Links section)
 

1. 97th General Hospital, 2002
2. 97th General Hospital, 2002
3. 97th GH guard house, 2002
4. 97th GH chapel, 2002

5. TMP No. 2, 2002
6. Goethe University, former IG Farben Hochhaus
7. Back of IG Farben Hochhaus with Rotunda, 2003
8. Former Officers Club, 2003

9. Bldg on former Gibbs Barracks, 2003
10. Former Abrams Bldg, 2004
 

11. Hqs Bldg, Drake (KB)

12. Hqs Bldg (KB)


13. Bldg 512 (KB)


14. Bldg 513 (KB)

15. Former 3rd AD Museum (KB)

16. Wehrmacht relic (KB)






 
Höchst      

1. McNair Bks, prob 1950s (138 KB)
2. North entrance, McNair Bks, 2003 (KB)
3. Höchst, mid 1960s (158 KB)
4. McNair Bks, 1974 (KB)

5. Main gate, McNair Bks, 2002 (KB)

 



 
Bad Nauheim General Board, APO 807  

Fifteenth US Army patch
1. Sign in town pointing out direction to Hqs 15th Army offices
2. Grand Hotel, Bad Nauheim, 1945
3. 15th Army motor pool, Friedberg, 1945

4. Inside motor pool shop, Friedberg, 1945
5. Service station, Bad Nauheim, 1945
5. APO and message center, Bad Nauheim, 1945
6. 15th Army riding stables, Bad Nauheim, 1945
       
Oberursel
   

1. Aerial view of Camp King, late 1950s (156 KB)
2. Former Officers Club, Bldg 1027, 2003 (76 KB)
3. Rear view of O'Club, 2003 (81 KB)
  

4. Camp King in 1953, as seen from the Hohemarkstrasse 		   

5. Camp King as seen from the Maschinenfabrik, 1953		    
       
Feldberg
   

1. Feldberg Radio Relay site, 2004 (KB)
2. Communications complex on top of Grosser Feldberg, prob 1950s (254 KB)
3. Grosser Feldberg Tower 2003 (82 KB)		  

4 Feldberg Radio Relay site, 2004 (KB) 		     
       
Rhein-Main AB      
Northern portion of Rhein-Main AB used by USAFE and civilian airlines, prob 1950 (254 KB)
    

Approximate location of next seven photos 		   

1. Rhein-Main AB tower
2. Passenger terminal
3. Passenger terminal
4. Rhein-Main AB

5. Rhein-Main AB
6. Boeing 377 Stratocruiser
7. Base ops

8. Rhein-Main AB, prob 1950
Click here to supersize (393 KB)
 9. Rhein-Main BX, 1990
 
       
 
HISTORIES & MISC. INFORMATION
 
(Source: Guide to Frankfurt Military Post, 1951)

Air-To-Air Intercept
 
ORGANIZATION OF FMP (1951)
 
(Source: Email from Kenneth Van Booven, 7811 SCU)

MILCOM HQ, 1980s
 
In 1955-56 I was stationed in a small compound in Frankfurt.  Actually, my room faced the  streets of Frankfurt.  I don't even recall if the compound had a specific name (Webmaster: this area was known as MILCOM HQ on Hansa Allee in the 1980s).  There were about 20 guys living there along with several NCO's who lived off base.  Our official name was Headquarters Company, 7811 Army Unit.  In our same section of the building we had an MP Detachment as well as being next to the 314th Army Band. Further back in the compound was an Engineering Company.
 
Most of my company, along with the MP Detachment, worked in the Northern Area Command located in the I. G. Farben Building which was about nine city blocks south of our billets. The mess hall was about mid-way between.  Believe the location was on Hansa Allee.  About a block  to the east of the mess was a WAC Detachment and across the street from them was an Air Force unit. These were at the PX Circle.
 
Do you have any more information on the 7811 Army Unit?
 
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Thanks for your response. I do recall the engineering unit (Webmaster: Engineer Compound in the 1980s) as well as the dental area (Webmaster: Dental Compound).
 
Last week I met with three others who were stationed there. One actually worked in the engineering unit and lives in Lansing, Il.  The other two live in East Moline and Effingham, Ill. Know of two others (one living in St. Louis area and one in West Palm Beach) also in my unit.  They couldn't make it. This was sort of a 50th reunion as we all were sent stateside in 1956.  Actually, that was my job.  Cutting orders and sending people home.  We came up with about 20-25 more names.
 
Where you show the gym on the map there also was another long building to the East on the street.  This is where the engineers had their billets.  Also the guard was posted from a lower room of this building. I worked for Capt. Yakerson in the redeployment section of NACOM.  Our CO was Capt. Wiggins. 

During my first night in the compound, probably in March of 1955, (and for several days later) two of us had to escort a Pvt. Verdeen everywhere he went. He had defected to the East/Russians and was part of an exchange.

Except for daily work routine, the only other event was two planes carrying paratroopers crashing together in the Black Forest and they moved the remains to QM refrigeration warehouses outside of Frankfurt and I had guard duty at night for a week or more.  Sort of a lasting impression for a 19/20 year old.
 
HISTORY OF THE ABRAMS BUILDING

Source: Public Affairs Office, V Corps, (1987?)

Occupied by the US Forces at the end of World War II, the General Creighton W. Abrams Building in Frankfurt am Main, West Germany, has been used continuously by the US Army for the past forty-two years. The tract of land on which the Abrams Building is situated (the Abrams Complex) has been in continuous use for 600 years. In the 14th century, a fortress, the Grüneburg ("Green Fortress"), was constructed in the area of the present-day Grüneburg Park. Over the ensuing three centuries the need for a fortress on this site declined, and it was abandoned. In 1851, the City of Frankfurt purchased the landeventually developing the larger part into a municipal park, Grüneburg Park. The City selected the smaller part to become a location for a facility for the mentally ill.

In the summer of 1927, the board of the powerful "I.G. Farbenindustrie" voted on buying additional property from the Rothschilde in Frankfurt for the construction of their office imperium.

Mr. Hans Poelzig, the then already famous architect, having designed various noted buildings in his home of Berlin and the League of Nations Palace in Geneva, Switzerland, was chosen to design the entire complex.
Construction started in March 1928 and was completed in 1930. In the days of the I.G. Farben trust's greatness, 3,000 workers toiled throughout the nine floors (counting the basement and the attic) and six wings of the continent's largest office building. Architecturally, the building is a masterpiece, built in the shape of a crescent, with wings projecting from its convex. Its length is 240 meters (approximately 800 feet) by 30 meters wide (100 feet) and has over 500 rooms. As exterior material, the construction engineers used Travertine stone, and marble on the inside. Poelzig, its creator, did succeed in not scrificing form to function. The building has stood for 60 years as a testament to the principle that architecture can be designed to be both functional and esthetic.  

Headquarters V Corps, 1954?

Click on the thumbnail to view a
larger format of the same map.

Although the I.G. Farben building in its vastness was the largest aerial target in the Frankfurt area, the structure was spared bombing. When US troops occupied Frankfurt, General Dwight D. Eisenhower requisitioned the building for his headquarters after the US Army's 5th Division captured Frankfurt on 29 March 1945. It remained the headquarters for the US Army in Europe for several years.

From 1945 to 1947, the I.G. Farben Building was the location of the Supreme Headquarters, Allied European Forces as well as the headquarters for the US occupation forces and the Military Governor. On 10 May 1947, permanent orders prohibited further reference to the building as "I.G. Farben" and designated it as the Headquarters Building, European Command. In January 1952, Headquarters V US Army Corps assumed control of the building. In December 1955, the I.G. Farben Industry in Receivership sold the building and grounds to the German government, which in turn granted US Forces indefinite use of the complex.

The original office used by General Eisenhower has been refurbished and dedicated in honor of the former Supreme Allied Commander as the Eisenhower Conference Room.

In a ceremony on 16 April 1975, the building was officially named in honor of General Creighton W. Abrams: the General Creighton W. Abrams Building. (Deceased) Gen Abrams was former Army Chief of Staff, the last commander of US Forces in Vietnam, and for a period of one year, July 1963-July 1964, commander of V Corps.
 
HISTORY OF McNAIR BARRACKS

Source: Welcome Issue, 22nd Sig Bde Voice of the Corps, 31 Oct 1989.

McNair Kaserne, home of the 22d Signal Brigade, was named after General Leslie McNair, an American commander killed in the closing days of World War II after the arrival of the occupational Army.

Originally built between 1919 and 1920, the buildings were designed for use by French occupational forces at the conclusion of the First World War. The French Army lived in the kaserne for 12 years when, with the resurgence of German military might and world prominence, it withdrew to French territory.

The kaserne remained vacant for only one short year. Hitler's rise to power was reflected throughout Germany with increased military preparedness and the formation of special guard units. One such unit reoccupied the empty buildings of the kaserne and remained until 1937.

With the possiblity of war increasing, the Special Guards were relocated and the kaserne again changed hands. That year, an anti-aircraft unit, whose purpose was defending Frankfurt from enemy bombs, took up residence in the kaserne.

When open hostilities broke out in Europe in 1939, the anti-aircraft unit was removed and a unit of the German Highway Patrol Police moved into McNair. The Police force remained quartered at the kaserne until the end of the war, with the mission of controlling and supervising movement of military and civilian vehicles in the Frankfurt-Hoechst