A couple of weeks before I went to Germany to visit family and friends last year I received an e-mail from Sebastian, a reader of this blog. He told me about exploring a rather recently closed US Army base in Darmstadt – half an hour away from where I was staying for my vacation. I really love abandoned military installations, so we continued talking via e-mail and agreed to meet up to have a look at the Cambrai-Fritsch-Kaserne (CFK) together.
The Cambrai-Fritsch-Kaserne (Cambrai-Fritsch Barracks) in Bessungen, now part of Darmstadt-Eberstadt, was built from 1936 to 1938 as two barracks next to each other – the southern part was known as Cambrai-Kaserne (named after the French city of Cambrai where Paul von Hindenburg had his headquarters during World War I and where the first tank battle in history took place in 1917), the northern part was called Freiherr-von-Fritsch-Kaserne (named after Generaloberst Werner von Fritsch, Nazi Germany’s Commander of the Army at the time). Most of the buildings on the premises were named after locations where famous WWI battles took place, like Verdun or Flandern.
The Fritsch-Kaserne opened on October 12th of 1938 and was home to the 1st Battalion of the 33rd Artillery Regiment, part of the 33rd Infantry Division. Later that month the 3rd Battalion moved into the Cambrai-Kaserne.
During the final days of World War II the US Army took over the Cambrai-Fritsch-Kaserne in March of 1945, making it the home of the 22nd Signal Brigade, the 233rd Base Support Battalion and the 440th Signal Battalion. Lots of service and recreational institutions were located at the CFK in the decades to come – AAFES Food Court, American Red Cross, Andrews Federal Credit Union, Darmstädter Catering Center, PX (post exchange), SATO Travel, Shopette, U.S. Post office, USO and standard facilities like a motor pool, a gym, a movie theater, a sports field and a bowling center.
When I met Sebastian on a warm, sunny summer day he told me right away that the CFK was closed, but not really abandoned. The high barbed wire fences were in exceptionally good condition 3 years after the Cambrai-Fritsch-Kaserne was shut down in 2008 – and Sebastian also mentioned that security guards were still patrolling the outskirts of the premises a couple of evenings per week. Well, we met in the morning, so what could happen, right? Let’s get this infiltration started! Like the *Federal Armed Forces Depot Pfeddersheim* the CFK is now the responsibility of the Institute for Federal Real Estate (Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben / BIMA) – they have to decide what to do with the 25 hectare (250.000 square meters or 2,7 million square feet) big area. Most likely it will be reconverted into housing for 2500 people, but German bureaucracy is slow and of course nothing has been decided yet. Not in summer of 2011 and AFAIK not in late spring of 2012. But while the BIMA obviously doesn’t care anymore about the depot in Pfeddersheim they seem to smell money when it comes to the CFK – housing for 2500 people, that’s serious real estate! And that’s why the keep the area in good shape by hiring gardeners and plumbers to take care of the premises. All the buildings we tried to enter were locked, hardly any of them were damaged by vandalism or graffiti.
It’s an absolutely mind-blowing experience to explore closed US army barracks, especially with a rather tight security system like this one. The weather was amazing that day and the video material I shot turned out to be nice, too. It was a perfect exploration until… well, we were less than 30 meters away from our top secret entrance / exit when it became clear that infiltration is for pros and neither of us was Solid Snake. I will spare you the details, but like running into security at *Nara Dreamland* this wasn’t exactly a fun experience. No legal consequences since we could convince the people involved that we were just harmless photographers, but this was pretty much the day I realized that urban exploration and urban infiltration are two different things – and I decided that I will limit myself to UE and abandon UI.
Sebastian and I were lucky that day, but entering the Cambrai-Fritsch-Kaserne without permission can have serious, serious consequences, so I highly recommend to stay away or to take photos through the fence.
To all the American (ex-)soldiers reading this article, most of them probably stationed at the Cambrai-Fritsch-Kaserne: When I was a pupil in the 80s my elementary school was way ahead of its time and had a friendship program with the Benjamin Franklin Village in Mannheim. I have nothing but pleasant associations with that exchange program and I consider this exploration a “Thank you!” for the kindness I experienced during that time (I think we went bowling as a big group and then had lunch at our exchange partner’s home, which is a pretty big thing when you are 8 or 9 years old and barely understand each other’s languages!) – I hope I was able to bring back some fond memories of your time in Germany!
(If you don’t want to miss the latest article you can *follow Abandoned Kansai on Twitter* and *like this blog on Facebook* – and of course there is the *video channel on Youtube*…)
Habe sehnlichst darauf gewartet dass du es Online stellst
Spannende Info’s von denen ich selbst bisher nichts wusste. War ein cooler Tag, auch wenn wir ‘erwischt’ wurden 
Schöne Fotos hast du gemacht, würde mich freuen wenn du mir dein *Bonusmaterial* noch zuschicken würdest! Ansonsten weiterhin viel Spaß bei deinen Ausflügen und solange du auf der sicheren Seite bleibst kann ja nichts passieren 
Kommt zum Hotel auch bald ein Eintrag?
Hi Sebastian,
ich dachte schon, du würdest nicht mehr mitlesen…
Ja, hat etwas gedauert, aus den unterschiedlichsten Gründen. Der Hotel-Artikel ist in Arbeit und kommt hoffentlich nächste Woche. Aber auf jeden Fall bald. Ein paar Extrabilder kann ich dir gerne zuschicken, allerdings kann auch das etwas dauern, da ich derzeit extrem im Stress und froh bin, den Blog regelmäßig updaten zu können; erinnere mich bitte ggf. in ein paar Wochen noch mal dran, falls du nichts mehr von mir hörst.
Nice Post.
Quite interesting, what this CFK still looks like. Normally i just see the buildings with fences in front of me.^^
Thanks!
Not a lot of people dare to enter the CFK and I think I’m the only urban explorer who published a video. It’s an awesome place, but not one I recommend going to…
Thanks!!
I was stationed @ CFK from 90-93 and i always wondered what became of this place. Your video brought back alot of good memories. Thanks again and keep the videos comming they are very interesting.
My pleasure!
For now I only have two videos of CFK, but I’ll be in Germany for vacation soon – there are lots of abandoned military installations on my “to visit list” and if I pass through Darmstadt again I might have another look…
Not to far away from cfk there was a place called kelly barracks…just a thought.
I actually saw the Kelly Barracks, but there was lots of traffic on the premises. I guess reconstruction already began…
I see…Thats to bad I was there a time or two and i was told it was a panzer kasern in WW2. Ok my friend take care and I will check out some of your other videos in the near future. Thanks for shooting the CFK video, It really brought back good memories.
My husband and I lived on CFK from 05-07, we were the last ones to live in our apartment there, one of the last few families left right before they shut down. Our apartment was directly across from the chapel, third floor corner. The army hotel was right next door. We also lived at another now closed down military base called Leighton Barracks and Harvey Barracks in Kitzingin. We actually lived off base in an apartment in Grosslingheim, from 98-01. I sure do miss living in Germany.
I had no idea that CFK had an army hotel – and I miss living in Germany, too. It’s actually a pretty great country overall…
My friends and I just had a mini 440th Signal Battalion reunion and were talking about our time on CFK (85-88). Didn’t see any pics of that section but the view of the old MP HQ was reminiscent, our HQ was in that building and I spent three years working on the 2nd floor. TYVM for the memories.
It’s my pleasure – thanks a lot for your feedback!
My wife and I were stationed at CFK from late ’75 thru May ’76 following the transfer of 32d AADCOM HQ’s and HHC 11th Sig from K-town. (Kapaun Bks., Vogelweh) We lived in leased housing, brand new apartments about a 15-20 minute ride from work. I don’t remember the town. It looks like they added to the kaserne since we were there, we didn’t recognize too much. Even some of the other pictures that have been posted at other sites don’t seem familiar, but that could be CRS kicking in. What is amazing is the overall condition of everything. Plop CFK down in the USA and it wouldn’t be very long before the windows would be busted and the graffiti artists leave their mark.
Thanks for sharing these photos and video! We enjoyed our time in Germany very much. It’s kind of strange, we met there, married since ’74, and found out if not for Army service, we would have never met, even though we lived 100 miles from each other. I’m from NE Pa., Aleida’s from Brooklyn, NY.
Hey Les,
Thanks a lot for sharing your memories – it’s always great to get feedback from people who really knew the places I visit now that they are abandoned. I guess the good condition CFK is in is due to the fact that the city of Darmstadt wants to privatize the area soon and CFK isn’t really abandoned. There are almost always security and gardeners on the premises…
This is cool I was stationed there from jan 02-04 (A Co 440th Sig) when we came back from deployment we came back to renovated barracks, then I left and a couple years later I heard they closed the whole kaserne down, it’s sad to see how it looks now
Hopefully the place will see new life soon!
If you every go back could you take photos of the front Gate That on the other side of the base by the big tower I live in that bbks right beside the tower when I was 17 years old Im now 58.
Dale Wagner
skywire4@yahoo.com
I might go back next year and I’ll make sure to take some photos of the front gate – since I entered “unconventionally” I missed the obvious places to take pictures of.
Very nice! Tell me when you do go back. I might be there again for a few days between my studies. Surely there’s a lot left to explore in the area!
Maybe summer 2013 – but who knows? Still busy times… I wish I had more time to travel!
I was stationed at CFK from 88-91. I was with HHC 32nd aadcom. I loved that place. Thanks for the memories.
You’re welcome – I hope I’ll be able to go back in summer and see what happened to the CFK.
I spent Dec 1985 thru Jun 1986 in the building you zoomed in on the name. Back then it was HQ for HHC and B Company 440 Signal Battalion. My platoon room was in the left entrance just down the stairs on the left. I lived on all four floors. Gino’s was the name of the bar/eatery out the north gate, and the BOQ was out the south gate. The Eagle’s Nest was the name of the bar on base and I played a lot of raquetball on the gym courts. My parent’s still have the coo-coo clock I bought for them at the PX. The MARS station (Military Affiliate Radio System) was where I found out I had been accepted to West Point’s prep school. Thank you for the memory.
Thank you for stopping by and sharing some information about yourself and the CFK. That’s one of the reason I like abandoned military bases so much, especially American ones – you guys are so proud about your service and always willing to share memories and addition information. I really appreciate that!
I was stationed here 1969-1972 with the 6910th USAFSS on Dog Flight. I would love to visit the base again. Enjoyed the videos. Thanks for the memories.
My pleasure! It’s been almost two years since I went there, so I hopefully will be able to go back in summer and have a look if the conversion into a housing project already began.