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A chequered history

The story of the South Barracks: SS barracks ● Merell Barracks ● Federal Office 3

From SS barracks to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees

Originally an SS barracks, then Merrell Barracks/South Barracks and today the public building housing the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees and ‘s central customs office. The monumental building‘s architecture still bears witness to the totalitarian National Socialist regime. Designed by architect Franz Ruff as accommodation for the SS, on the occasion of the topping-out ceremony on 2 June 1939, the barracks were described by the Fränkische Tageszeitung – a mouthpiece of the Nazi-allied press – as the „gateway to the party rally grounds“. The Nazi propaganda emphasized Hitler‘s involvement in the design process: „He continually contributed sketches and played an instrumental role in the planning process...“. The barracks never performed their intended task of accommodating SS troops during the Nazi rallies. Instead, it served during the war as a training establishment for the Waffen-SS and a satellite concentration camp. After the war, the American garrison moved in and stayed here for over 40 years.

Since 1996 the main building of the former barracks has been the seat of the Federal Authority for the Recognition of Foreign Refugees, which evolved into the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees in 2005. The west wing has been used by Nuremberg‘s central customs office since 2000.

The main building and the „Z building“ are the only remains of the former barracks to survive to the present day. The „Z building“ was originally planned as quarters for SS ranks and serves today as a culture centre.

The enclosure forming the boundary of the original barracks grounds is still discernible in Tiroler Strasse and Ingolstädter Strasse.

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The original plans for the rally grounds did not The satellite concentration camp at the SS barracks make any provisions for accommodating the Waffen-SS. As 1941 -1945 the SS was assigned guard duty for the rally grounds, however, a suitable location was hurriedly sought in 1936. A building in Frankenstrasse was eventually chosen. On 12 December On 12 May 1941, 58 prisoners were transferred from Dachau 1936, Himmler inspected the construction site together with concentration camp to the SS barracks in Nuremberg. They Nuremberg‘s lord mayor, Liebel, Gauleiter Streicher and were housed in the basement of an annex which served as the architects Speer, Brugmann and Ruff. Urban planning accommodation for non-officers and as a sports and drill hall concerns – the construction site was situated at right-angles (H building). From 16 June 1943 this satellite concentration to the main traffic direction – were swept aside. Numerous camp was allocated to Flossenbürg concentration camp. It business establishments and railway installations had to be remained in existence until 1945. According to the sketchy relocated at considerable cost. Hitler‘s direct influence also transfer lists, the number of prisoners varied between 41 and caused the construction costs to soar to an eventual total of 175. Former prisoners cite numbers between 100 and 300. around 25 million reichsmarks. The prisoners were initially put to work on completing the A new barracks in Frankenstrasse was to provide the SS with barracks. After the air raids on Nuremberg they were also the necessary representation close to the Nazi party rally deployed to clear up bomb damage in the city, particularly at grounds. After the „Rally for Peace“, which was planned to run armaments factories. from 2 to 11 September 1939, was cancelled at short notice without further explanation on account of the invasion of INFO: The fate of the forced labourers has been Poland on 1 September, no further rallies were held during commemorated since 2007. Two information panels in the war. The major project involving the construction of the gatehouse display information compiled by Alexander SS accommodation was nevertheless largely completed as Schmidt from the Flossenbürg memorial foundation the last construction project in the vicinity of the party rally about the system which was in operation at the satellite grounds in 1939/40. concentration camp. The biographies of two prisoners lend a poignant personal note to the story of the forced labourers. The original planning provided for five infantry companies The project was initiated by Peter Hugler to be billeted here, comprising a total of 700 men along ( 2007), a former member of staff at the Federal Office. with intelligence and music corps, motor vehicles, horses, messenger dogs, etc. Reserve capacity was to be kept free for trainees throughout the year and for high-ranking members of the SS during the party rallies. This planning became irrelevant after the war broke out, as no further party rallies were held. The new barracks designed to heighten the prestige of the powers that be was now reduced to the modest status of a training establishment, primarily for signallers, who were dispatched from here to the theatres of war across Europe, and also served as a satellite concentration camp.

Memorial plaque in the entrance area 6 7

Use by the US Army 1945 -1992

On 18 April 1945 the SS barracks were captured by the 45th US infantry division. The barracks are assumed to have acquired the name „Merrell Barracks“ in the course of April 1945. The name stemmed from the 18 year-old American soldier Joseph F. Merrell, who died in the attack on Nuremberg as a member of the 3rd US infantry division Architect Franz Ruff and inspecting the site (1936). on 18 April 1945. He posthumously received the „Medal of Honor“ – the highest American distinction for bravery – for his exemplary, heroic action against the „doggedly resistant German troops“.

During 1945 the barracks were used as a camp for liberated forced labourers, who were cared for their by the municipal department of trade and industry under the command of the military administration.

When vacation of the building appeared imminent at the end of 1945 on account of the repatriation measures which were underway, Nuremberg‘s municipal council resolved on 18 December 1945 „to make the SS barracks available for the purposes of the municipal administration, upon the premises Monumental portal with eagle. The main portal is reminiscent of a becoming vacant.“ triumphal arch. In the centre an eagle was mounted on a .

This was not to be, however, as the US military government appropriated the site for its Nuremberg garrison. Following complete vacation of the camp in 1948, the US army used the barracks. It served to accommodate the troops of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment for 40 years, from 1952 until 1992.

Parade ground behind the building. The men‘s mess and a gymnasium were housed in the building visible in the background (H building). The H building was demolished in the summer of 2000. 8 9

Conversion and use by the Federal Office

Plans by Nuremberg‘s municipal authorities to remove the remnants of the military past in Frankenstrasse in order to create space for new urban development measures at the site of the barracks were thwarted by Bavaria‘s policy on the protection of historical monuments. The main building was listed as „the most significant barracks of the Third “.

The South Barracks after the end of the war. On 18 April 1945 the SS Against the background of the exceptional political challenge barracks was captured by the 45th US infantry division. The building posed by an influx of 438,000 asylum seekers in 1992, the survived the war largely undamaged. Federal Office came into play as a user of the building. One consequence of the reform of asylum law was a substantial increase in the size of the workforce at the Federal Office. In addition to the property in Zirndorf, seven properties were in use throughout Nuremberg at one time in order to accommodate the personnel. A headquarters of adequate size was urgently sought for the Federal Office. As a federally owned building, the South Barracks was an obvious choice.

The initial planning assumed that office space would be required for a staff of 1500. This figure was revised in the course of the conversion phase, however, as the reform of asylum law took effect and the numbers of asylum applicants dropped rapidly. The staffing level for the new office building The Americans took over the entire site of the barracks for their Nuremberg garrison. was now reduced to 1,000. The required volume was reduced by 25% and the resultant surplus space was earmarked for the federal customs administration.

Nuremberg‘s department of building construction commissioned the Grabow and Hofmann architectural firm to plan the conversion. In this connection, Gerhard Seidel from the department of building construction noted in the concise guide to the day of the open heritage site in 2000: „The conversion of buildings formerly used for military purposes not only requires to be approached from a technical, functional and design standpoint but also calls for their history to receive due consideration and treatment.“

The monumental portal after the last renovation by the Americans in 1990. 10 11

Aerial photograph of the barracks (2004) 12 13

In 2005, the Federal Authority for the Recognition of Foreign Refugees evolved into the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. Following the entry into force of the Immigration Act, in addition to providing protection for victims of political persecution the authority was also assigned extensive tasks in the field of integration and migration.

Art incorporated in the architecture The building‘s impressive entrance area: Artist Manuel Franke From 1993 has created a „bridge“ between the Nazi era, the post-war era and present-day use. At the time, the Federal Office‘s staff considered it highly incongruous that an authority with an emphatically humanitarian remit should be taking up residence in a former SS barracks. The artwork incorporated in the architecture focuses on this essential contradiction.

Düsseldorf artist Manuel Franke‘s work merges the past with the present in the new two-storey entrance hall which follows on from the former gateway that was originally manned by the military guard. It is a work of art which requires explanation. The old pavement has been relaid as the first „time-shifting“ element, evoking the usage by the SS: some visitors say that they can still hear the din of the marching The paving evokes the 1930s, while the light blue paintwork on the wall brings the period in which the building was used by the Americans back columns‘ boots. to life. The unplastered reinforced concrete elements visualise the radical changes that the building has witnessed and embody the modern era. The second time-shifting element – the „blue wall“ – alludes to the usage by the US army. One of the first measures undertaken by the Americans was to coat all the walls and door frames with oil paint. This was first and foremost for hygienic reasons, as a means of thoroughly disinfecting everything. At the same time, different colours were used to indicate the areas of the different military units. Manuel Franke evokes this period by means of a wall with a coating of blue oil paint in the entrance hall – he interprets the coloured paintwork as an attempt by the American soldiers to provide the building with a new skin.

Artwork incorporated into the architecture also employed National Socialist symbols. The Americans removed the SS rune from Max Körner‘s ceiling mosaic, for example. 14 15

The third element of Franke‘s work is a concrete pillar which, in contrast to the original planning, has not been plastered or painted white. In this way, the undertaken architectural measures are accentuated and the radical changes in the form of use for the building – most recently from a military property to an administrative building – are highlighted. The contrast between the monumental National Socialist architecture and the steel and glass elements of the modern- day office building becomes particularly apparent.

Exterior main entrance. The Federal Office 1996

The Federal Office was established in 1953 as the Federal Department for the Recognition of Foreign Refugees. Following adoption of the 1953 Geneva Convention on Refugees, applications for asylum were initially handled at the site of the so-called Valka Camp (in the present-day Langwasser district of Nuremberg).

In 1960 /1961 the authority was relocated to Zirndorf. On the Aliens Act entering into force on 28 April 1965, the federal authority was renamed „Federal Authority for the Recognition of Foreign Refugees“. In the given historical context, the As an open and modern public body, the Federal Office occasionally offers artists an opportunity to display works relating to the Office‘s adjective „foreign“ was employed here with the aim of activities. differentiating asylum seekers from refugees of German nationality, in particular from the „Soviet-occupied zone“ and the former „eastern German territories“.

The Federal Office‘s subsequent course of development reflects global political developments since the 1960s and their effects on German refugee and asylum policy. From the modest beginnings in the 1950s with an initial staff of 40, the workforce initially grew moderately to 60 in the wake of the Prague Spring in 1968. The military coup in Turkey in 1974 resulted in a substantial rise in the number of asylum applications, with 100,000 being reached for the first time in 1980, including 55,000 asylum seekers from Turkey. The staff increased in size to 240. Foyer in front of the large conference hall. 16 17

The disintegration of the Warsaw Pact and the collapse of the Soviet Union triggered an influx of migration which peaked at approximately 438,000 asylum seekers in 1992. The large number of people applying for asylum led to extensive organisational changes. The asylum process was decentralised and a total of 48 branch offices were established in the respective federal states. At one point, the total workforce exceeded 4,000. The asylum compromise of 1993 and Germany‘s new geopolitical situation at the heart of a free Europe led to a significant drop in the number of asylum Prestigious main entrance to today‘s modern administrative building. seekers.

The entry into force of the Schengen (1995) and Dublin (1997) treaties strengthened the European influence on the Member States‘ migration and asylum policy. The Federal Authority for the Recognition of Foreign Refugees underwent extensive restructuring in the wake of these developments. Following implementation of the Immigration Act in 2005, the Federal Authority for the Recognition of Foreign Refugees became the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.

In addition to the asylum process, the Immigration Act also allocated the authority a comprehensive remit in the field of integration and migration. This set the Federal Office on course for development into a competence centre for The former monumental hall was used by the Americans initially as a migration and integration. The Federal Office is represented central function room and later as a chapel. The Federal Office uses this room today as a conference hall. in the federal states by branch offices. Of the approximately 8,000 employees, around 2,000 work at the headquarters in Nuremberg.

The Federal Office now has a room with the atrium with high-quality technical equipment for example. Presentations, videoconferences or interactive workshops. 18 19

Today…

... the Federal Office‘s headquarters in Frankenstrasse are owned by the Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben, a federal institution which emerged from the Federal Property Administration in 2005. It administrates the Federation‘s property holdings as a federal body within the sphere of responsibility of the federal ministry of finance. The head office at Frankenstrasse 210 was adopted into this uniform federal property management setup in 2009.

In addition to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees Imprint as the main user, the building also houses Nuremberg‘s Publisher: central customs office, a section of the Federal Office of Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge Administration, the representation of the United Nations High Frankenstr. 210, 90461 Nürnberg Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) . [email protected] www.bamf.de The Federal Office deals with the history of the monumental Tel. +49 911 943 - 0 Fax +49 911 943 - 1000 building in Frankenstrasse in an open manner. New staff are regularly acquainted with their workplace‘s chequered history Date: on historical tours of the building. Corresponding tours of März 2019 the building are also organised for interested members of the Print: public on open days. Silber Druck OHG, Lohfelden Layout: Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge Frankenstr. 210, 90461 Nürnberg Photo: Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge, Titelblatt, 5, 10, 11, 12,15,16 Archiv Geschichte für Alle e.V., 6 O´Connell, Collection, 9 Stadtarchiv Nürnberg, 6, 9 Text: Sigurd Ilek, ehemaliger Mitarbeiter, Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge

Internet: www.bamf./publikationen

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