Husterhoeh Kaserne - Construction

Construction

Originally built in place of an apple orchard, the Husterhoeh Kaserne covered a large plateau to the North of the city of Pirmasens, as well having an extremely large underground system of caves and tunnels that ran to adjacent townships. The facility was initially started by the Germans during the 1930s; above-ground facilities were built to house Wehrmacht soldiers manning the Siegfried Line along the French border. and included tunneling extensive underground facilities. Work was stopped in 1941 due to the war needs for personnel and resumed minorly in 1944. The facility was captured on 21 March 1945 by the 71st Infantry Division, used as a war materials storage center, then was expanded by additional construction from the late 1950s through mid 1970s; in 1976 it was officially created as a full army base of its own right (US Military Community, Pirmasens). The last construction under US Military control was construction of replacement motor pool facilities for the 59th MP Co, in 1986-1987. Since return to German control of the majority of the base, additional construction, removal and modification of existing buildings has occurred.