Patch Barracks is a U.S. military installation in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is named after U.S. Army General Alexander M. Patch (1889–1945).

History

Patch Barracks was renamed from the German ''Kurmärker Kaserne'' in 1952; it was originally built for use by the German Army (Heer) in 1936–1937. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it served as the headquarters and barracks for the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

's 7th Panzer Regiment, with associated unit shooting ranges and training areas located at the nearby Panzer Kaserne (literally "tank barracks"). After the Second World War, Kurmärker Kaserne was temporarily occupied by French colonial troops. Subsequently, American troops took over the facility, which hosted the

U.S. Constabulary The United States Constabulary was a United States Army military gendarmerie force. From 1946 to 1952, in the aftermath of World War II, it acted as an occupation and security force in the Allied Occupation Zones in Germany, U.S. Occupation Zone ...

during the multilateral occupation of Germany following the war. The Seventh Army was headquartered here from 1950 until 1967, when EUCOM was relocated to Patch from Camp-de-Loges near

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and the 7th Army relocated to

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

Current units assigned

* U.S. European Command (EUCOM), the

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

Unified Combatant Command for Europe and Northern Asia. * Special Operations Command, Europe (SOCEUR), which commands

US Special Operations Forces United States special operations forces (SOF) are the active and reserve component forces of the United States Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force within the US military, as designated by the Secretary of Defense and specifically organized ...

units in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. *

Defense Information Systems Agency The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), known as the Defense Communications Agency (DCA) until 1991, is a United States Department of Defense (DoD) combat support agency. It is composed of military, federal civilians, and contractors. D ...

* Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization * NSA/ CSS Representative Europe office (NCEUR)

Education

DODEA (formerly DoDDS) operates Patch Middle School for the dependents of service members. High school students attend Stuttgart High School (SHS), opened in 2015, on Panzer Kaserne in

Böblingen Böblingen (; ) is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, seat of Böblingen (district), Böblingen District. Sindelfingen and Böblingen are Geographic contiguity, contiguous. History Böblingen was founded by Count Wilhelm von Tübingen-Bö ...

. Patch Barracks hosted Patch American High School (PAHS) from 1979 to 2015, Another predecessor, Stuttgart American High School (SAHS), began in 1953 at Robinson Barracks, relocated to Pattonville two years later, and closed in 1992.

Recent history

AFRICOM was started as a cell within EUCOM and then separated and assigned to nearby Kelley Barracks. The main community PX was relocated to nearby Panzer Kaserne in 2007 due to a lack of parking for both EUCOM staff and the PX shoppers. Other recent activity includes renovations to the housing on base. A highly conspicuous radio tower, familiar to generations of staff and visitors, was dismantled in May 2009. In 2022 Patch Barracks hosted the International Donors Co-ordination Cell (IDCC), the joint international effort to supply

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

with military equipment to defend itself during the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

US European Command

Home page of the US Army Garrison Stuttgart

General Information about the Stuttgart Military Community

Official Stuttgart Military Community Newspaper

Stuttgart VVS public transit map for the Patch area

Installation Guide for the Stuttgart Military Community

Stuttgart Community Spouses Club

Stuttgart Subjects at Toytown Germany- an English-language community website for Germany.

Barracks of the United States Army in Germany Military installations established in 1952 Military installations of the Wehrmacht United States military in Stuttgart