Horrocks Barracks

Horrocks Barracks was a military installation in Schloss Neuhaus, Germany.[1]

Horrocks Barracks
Schloss Neuhaus
Horrocks Barracks is located in Germany
Horrocks Barracks
Horrocks Barracks
Location within Germany
Coordinates51°44′43″N 08°42′44″E
TypeBarracks
Site information
Operator British Army
Site history
Built1257 – present
Built forPrince Bishop of Paderborn
In use1945 – 1992 (BAOR)
Garrison information
GarrisonPaderborn Garrison
Sign at the main gate of Horrocks Barracks, Schloss Neuhaus, 1983.
The site of Horrocks Barracks in 1736 (Schloss Neuhaus and Gardens).
Site Plan of Horrocks Barracks (1945 - 1992), located in and around the castle at Schloss Neuhaus, Germany, early 1950s.
Aerial view of the complete site of Horrocks Barracks, late 1960s.
Sign at the main gate of Horrocks Barracks, Schloss Neuhaus, 1983. The Garrison Stables ("Langer Stall") can be seen in the background.
Unit Sign at Horrocks Barracks: HQ 211 MCAG RE, 1978.
Schloss Neuhaus Castle, known as Horrocks Barracks 1945 – 1992, as seen August 21, 2022.

Description

Horrocks Barracks was located in the grounds of Schloss Neuhaus, about four kilometres from the Paderborn city centre, and covered approximately 30 acres (12 hectares) of land. The barracks was bordered by the rivers Pader, Lippe and Alme ("Castle Island") and the Residenzstrasse.[2]

History

1247 – 1802: Beginnings and Palace of the Prince Bishops of Paderborn

Construction of the castle began in 1257 under bishop Simon I. zur Lippe (1247–1277). Around 1370 and after numerous attacks bishop Heinrich von Spiegel (1361–1380) built the still existing part of the castle ("Haus Spiegel") and made it the constant palace of the prince bishops of Paderborn.[3][4] Extensions are:

  • "Haus Braunschweig" (1524–1526)
  • "Haus Köln" (1534) which connected the first two buildings.
  • "Haus Kerssenbrock" (1548–1560)
  • "Haus Fürstenberg" and the four towers (1590–1597)

In 1736 the garden next to the castle was completed. It is now part of the Garden Heritage Network - EGHN.[5]

Additional historic buildings around the castle from that period are:

  • "Marstall" (Stables, 1729–1732/1733)
  • "Schlosswache" (Guard House, 1733)

1802 – 1945: Prussian Use (Schloss-Kaserne)

The Kingdom of Prussia officially annexed the whole site August 3, 1802. In 1804 the Prince Bishop finally left the castle and moved to Hildesheim.

Before being used as a military installation the different buildings served as a cloth factory with 120 to 130 employees (1806-1819, Zurhelle & Delhas, from Lippstadt),[6] a Royal Prussian Field Hospital (1805) and a prison (1810-1814).

The "Schloss-Kaserne" was then home to

  • 4th (Westphalian) Cuirassiers "von Driesen" (October 6, 1820–August 17, 1833)[7]
  • Thüringisches Ulanen-Regiment Nr. 6 (September 1833–March 17, 1848, and October 28, 1848-May 16, 1849)[8]
  • 20th Landwehr-Regiment Berlin (1849-1849)
  • Depot of 3rd Hussars (October 13, 1840–1851)
  • 11th Hussar Regiment (Prussia) (December 22, 1850-1851)
  • the Prussian 8th Hussars (February 24, 1851–1919)[9]
  • Reiter-Regiment Nr. 15 (1921–1945)[10]

The following buildings date back to the Prussian use of the site[11][12]

  • "Kleine Reithalle" (1824, now the "Städtische Gallerie in der Reithalle")
  • "Lange Stall" (1824, Garrison Stables during British use, demolished 1984)
  • "Kompaniegebäude" (1876–1878, HQ 12 PLSU RPC, demolished 1992)
  • "Reithalle mit Stallungen" (1876–1878, NAAFI Shop, now the "Schlosshalle")
  • "Waschhaus"/"Alte Kommandantur" (1883/1884, HQ 211 MCAG RE, now the offices of the Schloss- and Auenpark)
  • "Block 20" (1935/1936, 420 MCLG RPC, now part of GSN Gymnasium Schloss Neuhaus)
  • various buildings used as quarters, stables, stores and garages (NAAFI Bulk Issue Store, demolished in the early 1980s)

1945 – 1992: British Use (Horrocks Barracks)

The site was captured by troops of the U.S. 9th Army April 3, 1945, at 18.00, during the battle of the Ruhr Pocket.[13][14][15] The Battle of the Ruhr Pocket involved the British Second Army, part of the 21st Army Group. These two formations took over command at Neuhaus May 5, 1945, and became British Army of the Rhine August 25, 1945.[16][17]

For use by the British Army, the barracks was named after Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Horrocks. The allocated British Forces Post Office number was 16. Over the years it was home to several units. Among them are:

1957 marked the 700th anniversary of the castle and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II gifted the community a pair of Thames swans,[27] handed over by Major J L Jordan, OC 211 MCAG RE BAOR, in June 1957.

In 1959 the British Forces handed back the Schloss itself to the Federal Republic of Germany. It was then purchased by the City of Paderborn June 25, 1964.[28] and it was officially handed over to the community July 19, 1964.

The NAAFI shop at Schloss Neuhaus was in the spotlight November 28, 1981, when a 2-year-old child, Katrice Lee, went missing during a shopping expedition with her family.[29]

Horrocks Barracks closed, after 47 years, July 20, 1992.

1992 – present: Landesgartenschau 1994

The whole Schloss-area was handed back to the German authorities in 1992 to create what was the "Landesgartenschau 1994". 211 MCAG RE undertook the construction of six twin city partnership gardens as a Military Aid to the Civil Community (MACC) task.[30] The former NAAFI-shop-building was first known as the "Bürgerhaus" and nowadays as the "Schlosshalle".

References
  1. Horrocks Barracks, in: Programme for "Beating the Retreat For 211 MCAG RE at Schloß Neuhaus On Monday March 4, 1996".
  2. Horrocks Barracks, BAOR Locations. Retrieved 09 December 2022.
  3. "Schloss Neuhaus" in "Paderborn von A - Z", page 302, 2006, ISBN 3-89710-332-X.
  4. "Studien und Quellen zur Geschichte von Stadt und Schloss Neuhaus - Band 1", 117 pages, Heimatverein Schloß Neuhaus 1909 e.V., 1994.
  5. European Garden Heritage Network - EGHN: Schloss- and Auenpark Neuhaus, Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  6. "Neuhaus - Geschichte von Schloß und Ort, herausgegeben anläßlich der 900-Jahrfeier" by Dr. Franz-Friedr. Wurm, 1936, pages 71 and 72.
  7. "Militärgeschichte des Paderborner Landes", page 40, 2009, ISBN 978-3-89710-423-5.
  8. as above, page 41
  9. as above, page 47
  10. as above, page 77
  11. "Die 8. Husaren und ihre Garnison in Neuhaus und Paderborn", pages 66–69, 2001, ISBN 3-89710-168-8.
  12. Site Plan dated July 1913 in : "Paderborn in historischen Fotografien 14; Links, zwo, drei vier! - Paderborn als Garnisonsstadt 1813 - 19 45, pages 12–13, 2020.
  13. Chronik der Stadt Paderborn, Band III (1940-1945), pages 527, 533.
  14. in: Daily News, London, April 4, 1945.
  15. in: Dundee Evening Telegraph, Angus, April 6, 1945.
  16. "The British Army in Germany (BAOR and after): An Organizational History 1947-2004", page 3, Graham E. Watson and Richard A. Rinaldi, 2005, ISBN 0-9720296-9-9.
  17. "The British Army of the Rhine", page 17, Peter Speiser for the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, 2016, ISBN 978-025204016-0.
  18. "1st Norfolks now at Paderborn", in: Lynn News & Advertiser, dated August 23, 1946
  19. "1st Norfolks are a crack unit of the Rhine Army", in: Lynn News & Advertiser, No. 10,356 dated December 20, 1946
  20. "Norfolk cadets at Neuhaus schloss", in: Lynn News & Advertiser, dated December 27, 1946
  21. "The Royal Norfolk Regiment" by Tim Carew, page 140, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1967.
  22. "Correspondence - Jubilee Review Sennelager July 1977" by Major D P Aston, OC 211 MCAG RE BAOR, The Royal Engineers Journal, Volume 93, No. 3, page 189, September 1979, ISSN 0035-8878.
  23. "Construction Engineering in BAOR" by Major N Munro, The Royal Engineers Journal, Volume 102, No. 2, pages 106 - 109, August 1988, ISSN 0035-8878.
  24. "1988 Corps Annual General Meeting" address by the Engineer-in-Chief, The Royal Engineers Journal, Volume 103, No. 1, page 4, April 1989, ISSN 0035-8878.
  25. "The History of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Volume XII, 1980 - 2000", page 735, The Institution of Royal Engineers, Brompton Barracks, Chatham, Kent, 2011, ISBN 978-090353039-2.
  26. "Long Serving Regiment Beats Retreat in Schloss", Senne-Times, Vol. 23, No. 3, April 1996, edited and produced by the staff of 41 Army Education Centre on behalf of the Commander Paderborn Garrison.
  27. "German Town's Royal Swans", in: Belfast Telegraph, dated June 21, 1957
  28. "Studien und Quellen zur Geschichte von Stadt und Schloss Neuhaus - Band 2", 279 pages, Heimatverein Schloß Neuhaus 1909 e.V., 2009, ISBN 978-3-00-029618-5.
  29. House of Commons, debate dated November 08, 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  30. Historical Notes, in: Programme for "Beating the Retreat For 211 MCAG RE at Schloß Neuhaus On Monday March 4, 1996".
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