Hohenfels (literally ''High Cliffs'') is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

in the district of Neumarkt in the region of Upper Palatinate (german: Oberpfalz) in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. The town is host to the United States Army Garrison Hohenfels, which operates the Joint Multinational Readiness Center for training NATO armed forces.

Military

The German Army founded a training area in Hohenfels in 1938. During World War II there was a POW camp there,

Stalag 383 Stalag 383 was a German World War II Prisoner of War camp located in Hohenfels, Bavaria. History The German Army founded a training area near Hohenfels, Bavaria in 1938. A troop camp for trainees, located in a high valley surrounded by dense wood ...

On April 24, 1945, Major General

Stanley Eric Reinhart Major General Stanley Eric Reinhart (September 15, 1893 – June 4, 1975) was a senior United States Army officer of the United States Army. He figured prominently in World War II as commander of the 65th Infantry Division. Early life and mili ...

's 65th Infantry Division captured Hohenfels. Major General Gustav Geiger, staff and guards surrendered. The POW camp with numerous British inmates was liberated. Later, between 1945-1949 the site became a displaced persons camp.

United States Garrison Hohenfels

In 1951, Hohenfels became a training area for the United States military and was used primarily by United States forces until 1956. In 1955, the German Bundeswehr was founded, and in 1956 the first German unit was stationed in Camp Poellnricht (i.e. Lager Pöllnricht). From 1956 to 1988, the ''Hohenfels Training Area'' was used by NATO forces consisting primarily of American, German, Canadian, and occasionally British and French forces.

Combat Maneuver Training Center

In 1988, Hohenfels became the home of the Combat Maneuver Training Center (CMTC), the mission of which was to provide realistic combined arms training for the United States Army, Europe, and Seventh Army's maneuver battalion task forces in force-on-force exercises. Exercises revolved around the fictional nation of Danubia and its three provinces of friendly Sowenia, hostile Vilslakia, and neutral Jursland. The opposing force was the fictional army of Danubia. The 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment represented the "4th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment". M113A2s were used to replicate Soviet BMP-2 IFVs and M60A3 tanks were used to replicate Soviet T-80 tanks.

Joint Multinational Readiness Center

In December 2005 the CMTC was transformed and officially renamed the Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC), part of the Joint Multinational Training Center (JMTC), which oversees training of all of United States Army Europe (USAREUR).

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