Nachrichtenhelferinnen / school in Gießen

[Heimatschuss]

Hello,

the Heeresschule für Nachrichtenhelferinnen was transferred from Gießen to Coburg on 30 Oct 1944.
[Allgemeine Heeresmitteilungen 1944, p.342, No.641]
(Absolon, 1995, p.836)

Actually Oct 30th can only be the date the transfer of the Heeresschule to Coburg was completed. There's testimony of several army signals auxiliaries that they were housed in Coburg already in September 1944 after their retreats from occupied countries. By then Coburg already seems to have been a kind of collecting point for such Helfs because the barracks in Gießen were totally overcrowded.
Accounts of:
- Hilde Kerer in http://issuu.com/brixmedia/docs/brixner-196---2006-mai (pp.12)
- Helga Th. in Killius (2003, p.153)

References:

Absolon, Rudolf
Die Wehrmacht im Dritten Reich.
Vol.VI: 10 Dezember 1941 bis 9 Mai 1945
Harald Boldt Verlag; Boppard; 1995

Helga Th.
Mit 18 habe ich mir keine Gedanken gemacht.
in
Killius, Rosemarie
Frauen für die Front. Gespräche mit Wehrmachtshelferinnen.
Militzke Verlag; Leipzig; 2003; p.148-154

Best regards
Torsten

[Heimatschuss]

Hello,

found this nice bird's eye view of the Verdun Barracks in Gießen where the Heeresschule für Nachrichtenhelferinnen was stationed from 1940 - 1944 at http://2nd92ndfa.tripod.com

The photo seems to be from the early 1950s when the complex had been renamed Rivers Barracks and was used by the US Army. Note the camouflage pattern that is still visible on several roofs. A plan of the barracks during WWII is here http://www.meissler.de/lageplan_der_ver ... agen_.html As you see the general situation is still the same but several buildings between the accomodation blocks and the garages had already been removed by then.

The four barn-like buildings with steep gables on the right are actually the command bunkers Hansa I (2 blocks on the right) and Hansa II ( 2 blocks on the left) which were built in 1939/40 to house the Army High Command (OKH) during the 1940 campaign in the West. Gießen had been chosen because it was close to Hitler's HQ Adlerhorst at Ziegenberg. Behind Hansa II, on the other side of the road, you can faintly see another smaller gable of a bunker called Gisela (or Giesela or Amt Sachsenburg or Amt Ida, designations vary). It contained the corresponding communications centre. Actually most of Gisela is under ground and just the entrance building is visible.

Some photos of Gisela today from http://www.thirdreichruins.com :




After construction work in Gießen had already begun Hitler decided to conduct operations from Bad Münstereifel, 150 kilometers further to the west. The complex Hansa/Gisela was finished only when the western campaign was already over. Nonetheless Gisela became an important commmunications hub in the Wehrmacht signals network during WWII.

Since summer 2009 the accomodation blocks are housing major parts of the Gießen County administration while the garage area has been converted into a sales ground for a number of car dealers.
[map zoom=16]Riversplatz,Giessen,Germany|Former Verdun-Kaserne - Rivers Barracks[/map]

Sources:
http://www.uni-giessen.de/staniczek/MUK ... ichte.html (in German)
http://www.forum-der-wehrmacht.de/threa ... tid=160584 (in German)
http://www.geschichtsspuren.de/forum/vi ... hlight=ida (in German)
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nachrichtenbunker_Gisela (in German)
http://tinyurl.com/3pf3wpr (in German)

Best regards
Torsten

[Matt Gibbs]

I only just noticed that aerial photo of the barracks at Giessen. I would say from the look of them several of the photos in my album almost certainly come from there.
thanks!
Matt

[UYoung]

Read with interest your conversation on another post relating to Clare Varner-Rassmann with regard to her transfer from a School in Giessen to the Island of Rügen at the end of WW II, to be retrained. You mention an album of photos (from Gießen and Rügen.) and was wondering if they belonged to Ms Varner which you had bought? She is my aunt (passed away in 2012) and finding out any online history of her time as a Nachrichtenhelferinnen is very interesting to me. Any information you may have, would be much appreciated.

[Helge]

http://www.zeitgut.com/leseprobe/AlsFrauen.htm#oben

[UYoung]

Thank you, Helge! That is very kind of you to research and include a link.

[Matt Gibbs]

UYoung - I have replied to your private message.
The album I had belonged to a woman called Gerda, who married a Fallschirmjäger during the war.

Many thanks.