Benjamin Franklin Village, also called BFV, was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

installation in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

- Käfertal,

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 opened in 1947 after

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 ...

and was named after

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

. It was closed as part of the restructuring of US forces in Europe. The last soldier and their family moved out in September 2012. The Mannheim military community was composed of several posts within a relatively small area in and around Mannheim. Sullivan Barracks, Taylor Barracks, and Funari Barracks, Benjamin Franklin Village housing and the military shopping area were all located within walking distance of one another. The approximate total population in Mannheim assigned prior to closure was 15,000 which consists of: Army active duty, 4,000; Air Force active duty, 200; Army family members, 6,484; Air Force family members, 197; civilian employees and family members, 3,266 and US military retirees, 727. The closure of Mannheim and

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 ...

Kasernes is estimated to save the US $112,000,000 per year in operational costs starting in 2016.

Redevelopment

Benjamin Franklin Village and the other Army Kasernes in Mannheim are scheduled to be returned to the German government after the US removes all of its property from the site. Planning for redevelopment of the real estate is already ongoing. Parts of the buildings were used to host some hundred asylum seekers and refugees starting September 2015.http://www.swr.de/landesschau-aktuell/bw/rhein-neckar/mannheim-fluechtlinge-benjamin-franklin-village-landeserstaufnahmestelle/-/id=1582/did=16178924/nid=1582/1ejlh79/index.html

References

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External links

Photos of Benjamin Franklin Village shopping area and Sullivan Barracks in 1964

* ttp://www.freewebs.com/504thsignal/BFV_Germany.jpg Aerial view of Benjamin Franklin Village in the 1990s Installations of the United States Army in Germany Cantonments Buildings and structures in Mannheim Military history of Mannheim

Redevelopment

See also

References

External links