Patton Barracks
Heidelberg, Germany
Patton Barracks is no longer strictly US; rather it is a joint, international base with detachments from a number of countries.

The 26th Area Support Group supports a diverse group of United States military communities in Germany, serving as a forward-deployed power-projection platform. It consists of the military communities in Heidelberg, Kaiserslautern, Mannheim, Worms, Darmstadt, Babenhausen, the Frankfurt area, Schwetzingen and Germersheim. Headquarters for the 26th ASG is on Patton Barracks in Heidelberg.

US Army Patton Barracks is just a few minutes' walk from the Heidelberg train station, and only five minutes' drive from the autobahn. The front gate is on Kircheimer Weg, and the rear gate (not always open) is on Speyer Strasse.

Recently, the US Government was forced to take higher security measures due to the events of the world. As a result, the installations aren't usually open to the public anymore. Anyone with a US Government ID card or a US passport may enter freely. Everyone else must be sponsored by someone with an ID card.

After World War I the Versailles Treaty of 1919 restricted the defeated German nation to a small self-defense force limited to not more than 100,000 personnel. The National Socialist regime came to power in January 1933 when Adolf Hitler became Chancellor. The new Government lost no time in taking steps to disregard what it perceived as unjustified terms of the 1919 treaty. In October 1933 Germany gave formal notice of its withdrawal from the League of Nations. In March 1935 compulsory military service was reinstated and a major buildup of the German armed forces began.

As part of the buildup, the 110th Infantry Regiment was activated in May 1936 and scheduled for stationing in Heidelberg. The existing Grenadier-Kaserne (now Patton Barracks) was not large enough to accommodate the regiment. Accordingly, a new installation was built in 1937 on what was then farmland on the southern outskirts of Heidelberg near the suburb of Rohrbach. When completed, the new Kaserne in Heidelberg became the home of the 110th infantry Regiment's headquarters, its 1st Battalion, and its two regimental support companies. The regiment's 2d Battalion was stationed at Loretto-Kaserne (Hammonds Barracks) in Seckenheim, and the 3d Battalion at Grenadier-Kaseme (Patton Barracks).