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117-634: Logistics Operation Undertone , also known as the Saar-Palatinate Offensive , was a large assault by the U.S. Seventh , Third , and French First Armies of the Sixth and Twelfth Army Groups as part of the Allied invasion of Germany in March 1945 during World War II . A force of three corps was to attack abreast from Saarbrücken , Germany, along a 75-kilometre (47 mi) sector to
234-467: A " Barbarossa city ". Local legends claim in 1497, a nearly 6 m long pike was caught in a lake, the Kaiserwoog, with a ring saying it was placed by Emperor Frederick II , personally in 1230, later finding its way onto the city's coat of arms. The Stiftkirche , Kaiserslautern's oldest church, was constructed in 1250–1350. As the population of Kaiserslautern grew, King Rudolf von Habsburg chartered
351-610: A Roman Catholic church, whilst the highest structure in all Kaiserslautern is the television tower in the suburb of Dansenberg, southwest of the city centre. Kaiserslautern's large botanical gardens feature a Japanese-style garden. Another unusual feature is the Waschmühle (also known as "Wesch"), an enormous 160-metre (520 ft) public swimming pool that is the largest in Europe. There are several pedestrian-only shopping zones with numerous and varied restaurants and bars located in
468-475: A U.S. Air Force F-86 fighter jet crashed into the district office in the Burgstrasse / Maxstrasse area. In addition to the pilot, two civilians were killed, and numerous wounded. With the incorporation of the previously independent communities of Dansenberg, Erfenbach, Erlenbach, Hohenecken, Mölschbach, Morlautern and Siegelbach on 7 June 1969, Kaiserslautern became a city. The University of Kaiserslautern
585-472: A battalion of the 103rd Infantry Division (Maj. Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe ) ran into a counterattack, but the reaction it prompted was more precautionary than forced. Having entered Uttenhoffen , northwest of Hagenau, the battalion encountered such intense small arms fire and shelling from self-propelled guns that the regimental commander authorized withdrawal. When German infantry soon after nightfall counterattacked with support from four self-propelled pieces,
702-619: A dense wood, the Pfaelzer Forest , the region was crossed literally by only one main highway, by a secondary highway close behind the Siegfried Line, and by a few minor roads and trails. The natural difficulties posed by these twisting, poorly surfaced routes already had been heightened by a mass of wrecked vehicles as American fighter pilots relentlessly preyed on hapless targets. Using the authority granted by Kesselring on 17 March to pull back units threatened with encirclement,
819-550: A few months before the Kristallnacht . A memorial archway was constructed at the site in 2002. Between 1950 and 1955, Kaiserslautern developed into the largest US military community outside of the United States. For this reason Kaiserslautern is also referred to as "K-town"; a term coined by the early American military population who had difficulty pronouncing the name. The Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC)
936-517: A glancing blow from Milburn's XXI Corps. Having recently given up the 559. Volksgrenadierdivision to the 7. Armee , Knieß had only two divisions, one of which was tied down holding Siegfried Line positions northwest of Saarbrücken. Southeast of the town, with boundaries roughly coterminous with those of Haislip's XV Corps, stood the XIII SS Korps ( SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS Max Simon ) with three divisions. Extending
1053-521: A joint drive to sweep the Saar-Palatinate . Assigned a target date of 15 March, the offensive was to begin only after the 21st Army Group had reached the Rhine. It was to be designed both to draw enemy units from the north and to provide an alternate line of attack across the Rhine should the principal Allied drive in the north fail. The main effort, SHAEF planners contemplated, was to be made by
1170-549: A matter of logistics as of actual fighting before all divisions of the Seventh Army would be battling to break the concrete barrier into the Saar-Palatinate; but as more than one German commander noted with genuine concern, whether any real fight would develop for the Siegfried Line was not necessarily his to determine. That responsibility fell to those units, decimated and increasingly demoralized, which were opposing
1287-693: A matter of time. Yet just as had been the case in the zones of the XXI Corps and the XV Corps, it was less the hard fighting of the VI Corps that would determine when the Siegfried Line would be pierced than it was the rampaging thrusts of the Third Army's XX Corps in the German rear. The divisions of the VI Corps had been probing the pillbox belt less than 24 hours when Walker, leaving the task of gaining
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#17327724932011404-621: A point southeast of Hagenau , France. A narrow strip along the Rhine leading to the extreme northeastern corner of Alsace at Lauterbourg was to be cleared by a division of the French First Army under operational control of the Seventh Army. The Seventh Army's main effort was to be made in the center up the Kaiserslautern corridor. In approving the plan, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower asserted that
1521-420: A point southeast of Hagenau . A narrow strip along the Rhine leading to the extreme northeastern corner of Alsace at Lauterbourg was to be cleared by a division of the French First Army under operational control of the Seventh Army. The Seventh Army's main effort was to be made in the center up the Kaiserslautern corridor. In approving the plan, Eisenhower asserted that the objective was not only to clear
1638-613: A second position protected by a minefield. Disregarding the mines, Herrera also charged this position but stepped on a mine and lost both feet. Even that failed to check him. He brought the enemy under such accurate rifle fire that others of his platoon were able to bypass the minefield and take the Germans in flank. The 3d Algerian Division meanwhile got across the Moder with little enough trouble but then encountered intense house-to-house fighting. Despite good artillery support made possible by
1755-528: A series of strongpoints. On the corps left wing, the 42nd Infantry Division (Maj. Gen. Harry J. Collins ) overcame the added obstacle of attacking along the spine of the Lower Vosges by avoiding the roads and villages in the valleys and following the crests of the high ground. Pack mules—already proved in earlier fighting in the High Vosges—provided the means of supply. As with the 3rd Division,
1872-552: A seven-stepped letter "A," steps in yellow with the center in scarlet. On 8 November 1942, General Patton was in command of the Western Task Force (a temporary redesignation of I Armored Corps for tactical deception), the only all-American force landing for Operation Torch , code name for the Allied invasion of French North Africa . I Armored Corps then began to drive east which complemented British forces driving from
1989-495: A work of the U.S. Army that is in the public domain. The material was extracted from Chapter XII, "The Saar-Palatinate", pp. 236–265. Anticipating early completion of operations to clear the west bank of the Rhine north of the Moselle , Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower on 13 February 1945 had told his two American army group commanders—Generals Omar Bradley and Jacob L. Devers —to begin planning for
2106-543: Is a football stadium that accommodates 48,500 fans. In June 2006, after renovation, the stadium was one of 12 to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup . It is also home to 1. FC Kaiserslautern , which won the Bundesliga four times and the wheelchair basketball team FCK Rolling Devils . Kaiserslautern Zoo The Kaiserslautern Zoo was founded in 1968 and is located in Kaiserslautern's Siegelbach neighbourhood. It
2223-468: Is a combined community consisting of Army and Air Force components. The KMC consists of Army facilities at Kleber 32nd Air Defense HQ and Signal Corps, Panzer, Dänner-Kaserne, Landstuhl , Miesau , Einsiedlerhof, Pirmasens , Sembach , Baumholder, Rhine Ordnance Barracks and Pulaski Barracks along with Air Force facilities located at Ramstein Air Base , Vogelweh, and Kapaun Air Station . Kaiserslautern
2340-508: Is classified as a " Cfb " (Marine West Coast Climate/ Oceanic climate ) by the Köppen Climate Classification system. On 16 September 2020 the temperature reached 38,2 ° and reached the highest temperature since 1901. Modern-day Kaiserslautern is a centre of information and communications technology, home to a well-known university , a technical college and many international research institutes located throughout
2457-477: Is home to many different animals including some nearly extinct regional species. Other places of interest in Kaiserslautern, and the surrounding area, are: Kaiserslautern has a broad-based commercial economy. Among the big companies located in the city are: The largest church is St. Mary's ( Marienkirche ), a Roman Catholic church. There is also the historic Protestant Church of the Apostle ( Apostelkirche ). At
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#17327724932012574-421: Is the scorched earth." In Zweibrücken, with the entire business district razed, only about 5,000 people of a normal population of 37,000 remained, and they were hiding in cellars and caves. Fires burned uncontrolled, neither water nor fire-fighting equipment available to quench them. No local government existed. Thousands of released slave laborers and German soldiers who had changed into civilian clothes complicated
2691-664: The Brenner Pass into Italy by 4 May, followed shortly by war's end on VE-Day , 8 May 1945. The predecessor of Seventh Army was the I Armored Corps , which was activated on 15 July 1940 at Fort Knox , Kentucky . With the goal of stopping German expansion in Europe and Africa, it was decided that the first operation for United States Army forces would be to assist the British in driving German forces from North Africa. On 15 January 1942, Major General George S. Patton Jr. assumed command of I Armored Corps and began planning for
2808-678: The British Eighth Army , commanded by General Sir Bernard Montgomery , Patton's rival. Patton commanded the Seventh Army until early 1944. The Seventh Army landed on several beaches in southern Sicily on 10 July 1943 and captured the Sicilian capital of Palermo on 22 July and, along with the British Eighth Army, captured Messina on 16 August. During the fighting, the elements of the Seventh Army killed or captured thousands of enemy soldiers, mainly Italians. During
2925-698: The European Theater between 1942 and 1945. Originally the I Armored Corps under command of Lieutenant General George S. Patton , it made landfall at Morocco during Operation Torch as the Western Task Force , the first all-U.S. force to enter the European war. Following successful defeat of the Wehrmacht under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in North Africa, the I Armored Corps was redesignated
3042-613: The German counteroffensive . On the army's right wing, Brooks's VI Corps—farthest of all from the Siegfried Line—first had to get across the Moder River , and one of Brooks's divisions faced the added difficulty of attacking astride the rugged Lower Vosges Mountains . Two German corps and part of a third were in the path of the impending American drive. At Saarbrücken, the left wing of General Knieß′ LXXXV Korps would receive
3159-606: The Holy Roman Empire from 1155 until 1190. The small river Lauter made the old section of Kaiserslautern an island in medieval times. Ruins of Frederick's original castle, built 1152 –1160, can still be seen in front of the Rathaus (city hall). A second castle, Nanstein Castle , was built at Landstuhl to guard the western approach to the city. Barbarossa's influence on Kaiserslautern remains today, in its nickname as
3276-596: The Luftwaffe sent approximately 300 planes of various types—including jet-propelled Messerschmitt Me 262 —to attack the Third Army's columns, but to little avail. Casualties on the American side were minor. Anti-aircraft units—getting a rare opportunity to do the job for which they were trained—shot down 25 German planes. Pilots of the XIX Tactical Air Command claimed another eight. In the face of
3393-579: The Saar -Palatinate but to establish bridgeheads with forces of the Sixth Army Group over the Rhine between Mainz and Mannheim . The U.S. Third Army of the 12th Army Group was to be limited to diversionary attacks across the Moselle to protect the Sixth Army Group's left flank. Eisenhower approved on 8 March, the same day that General George S. Patton obtained approval from General Bradley for
3510-478: The Sixth Army Group 's Seventh Army , which was to be augmented by transferring one armored and three infantry divisions from the U.S. Third Army . During the first week of March, Devers at Sixth Army Group approved a plan (Operation UNDERTONE) prepared by General Alexander Patch ′s Seventh Army. A force of three corps was to attack abreast from Saarbrücken along a 75-kilometre (47 mi) sector to
3627-415: The invasion of southern France . The invasion was originally given the code name of "Operation Anvil", but was changed to " Operation Dragoon " before the landing. In March 1944, Major General Alexander Patch , a highly experienced and competent commander, was assigned to command the Seventh Army, which moved to Naples , Italy , the following July. On 15 August 1944, elements of the Seventh Army assaulted
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3744-587: The 'Dino Park' because of its lifesize dinosaur models, the Gartenschau is open from April through October and is popular with families. Having begun as a series of botanical displays and enjoying success at the first State Garden Exhibition of Rhineland-Palatinate in Kaiserslautern in 2000, this 54-acre (220,000 m ) park has been transformed into one of the most multi-dimensional cultural centres in Germany. Fritz-Walter-Stadion The Fritz-Walter-Stadion
3861-516: The 1. Armee ′s Foertsch authorized withdrawal by stages of his westernmost troops, those of Knieß′ LXXXV Korps . Over a period of three days, units of the corps were to peel back from west to east, redeploying to block the main highway leading northeast through the Kaiserslautern Gap. Unfortunately for Foertsch's plan, the principal threat to the Kaiserslautern Gap came not from west or southwest but from northwest where Walker's XX Corps
3978-533: The 10th Armored Division's drive, the word to the westernmost units of the XC Korps to begin falling back went out late on the 20th, and when the 42nd Division—in the mountains on the left wing of the VI Corps—launched a full-scale assault against the Siegfried Line late the next day, the attack struck a vacuum. Soon after dawn the next morning, 22 March, a regiment of the 42nd cut the secondary highway through
4095-573: The 23rd, the 14th Armored broke through the Siegfried Line at Steinfeld and began its advance on Germersheim . Seventh United States Army The Seventh Army was a United States army created during World War II that evolved into the United States Army Europe (USAREUR) during the 1950s and 1960s. It served in North Africa and Italy in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and France and Germany in
4212-497: The 7. Armee actually had left the XIII SS Korps the stronger. In addition to two Volksgrenadier divisions, Simon's corps had the 17th SS Panzergrenadierdivision , at this point not much more than a proud name, but a unit possessing considerably more tanks and other armored vehicles than were to be found in the entire adjacent corps. The American main effort thus aimed at the stronger German units, though at this stage of
4329-424: The 9th century. It is 459 kilometres (285 miles) from Paris, 117 km (73 miles) from Frankfurt am Main , 666 kilometers (414 miles) from Berlin , and 159 km (99 miles) from Luxembourg . Kaiserslautern is home to about 100,000 people. Additionally, approximately 45,000 NATO military personnel are based in the city and its surrounding district ( Landkreis Kaiserslautern ). Prehistoric settlement in
4446-670: The Allied forces coming south from Normandy . In the process, the Seventh Army had liberated Marseilles , Lyon , Toulon and all of Southern France. The Seventh Army then assaulted the German forces in the Vosges Mountains and broke into the Alsatian Plain . During the Battle of the Bulge in late December, it extended its flanks to take over much of the area that had been the responsibility of U.S. Third Army then under
4563-552: The American units of the VI Corps and reached the Lauter along a 10 mi (16 km) front, de Lattre had no difficulty pressing his ambition on the Sixth Army Group commander, Devers. Using the 3rd Algerian Division and a combat group from the 5th French Armored Division , again to be attached to the VI Corps, the French (organized as Task Force ( Groupement ) de Monsabert) were to continue northward some 19 km (12 mi) beyond
4680-603: The Austrian emperor's army plundered the city, killing 3,000 of its 3,200 residents. It would not be repopulated for about another 160 years. Conflict did not end with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The Elector of the Pfalz had difficulty with many of his subjects and ordered all castles, including Nanstein, destroyed. The French repeatedly invaded and occupied the area, residing in Kaiserslautern in 1686–1697. Nevertheless, after
4797-441: The French military government under General Marie-Pierre Kœnig . Little reconstruction took place until the currency reform of 1948. The pace of the economy remained slow until 1952, when construction for newly established garrisons of American troops brought economic growth to the area. Unexploded ordnance from WWII continues to be discovered in and around Kaiserslautern. In May 2012 an unexploded 250-pound (110 kg) Allied bomb
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4914-530: The German frontier, scarcely more than a stone's throw from the outposts of the Siegfried Line, and the 100th Division, relieved at Bitche by a follow-up infantry division, had begun to come abreast. Fighter-bombers of the XII Tactical Air Command again were out in force. Even though the Germans appeared to be falling back by design, in reality they intended a deliberate defense. Although corps commanders had begged to be allowed to withdraw into
5031-517: The German frontier. Then an infantry battalion from the 17. SS Panzergrenadierdivision , supported by nine assault guns, struck back. The Germans quickly isolated the American infantrymen but could not force them from the village. Supported by a platoon of tank destroyers and the regimental antitank company organized as a bazooka brigade, another of the 7th Infantry's battalions counterattacked. The men knocked out four multiple-barrel 20 mm (0.79 in) FlaKwagen s and seven assault guns and freed
5148-416: The Germans were fighting no more than a delaying action increased everywhere except, again, on the two flanks. It seemed particularly apparent in the zone of the XV Corps, where all three attacking divisions improved on their first day's gains. Mines, demolitions, and strongpoints usually protected by a tank or an assault gun were the main obstacles. By nightfall, both the 3rd and 45th Divisions were well across
5265-559: The Lauter River, thereby gaining limited Rhine River frontage inside Germany. The subsequent French advance pushed through the Bienwald , a large forested expanse just north of the Lauter through which bunkers, trenches, and other obstacles of the Siegfried Line were emplaced. In the ensuing clash, elements of the German 257th Volksgrenadier and 905th Infantry Training Divisions were forced to retreat northward in fighting dominated by
5382-488: The North African campaign onward, the regiments of the 3rd Division (Maj. Gen. John W. O'Daniel ) were making the main effort in the center of the XV Corps in the direction of Zweibrücken and the Kaiserslautern corridor. Although a company of supporting tanks ran into a dense minefield, disabling four tanks and stopping the others, a battalion of the 7th Infantry fought its way into the village of Uttweiler, just across
5499-533: The Palatinate became a Bavarian province and remained so until 1918. After World War I , French troops again occupied the Palatinate for several years. In World War II , Allied bombing destroyed more than 85% of Kaiserslautern. Today 25 % of Kaiserslautern is made up by buildings from before 1945. The railway and several main roads were primary targets, with the heaviest attacks occurring on 7 January 11 August, and 28 September 1944. On 20 March 1945, as
5616-500: The Pfaelzer Forest and cut the escape routes; and a third from the fighter bombers of the XII Tactical Air Command. It was the last that was most apparent to the rank and file of the retreating Germans. Since speed was imperative, the men had to move by day as well as by night, virtually inviting attack from the air. Since almost everybody, including the troops of the motorized 17. SS Panzergrenadierdivision , had to use either
5733-408: The Pfaelzer Forest was in keeping with the pattern almost everywhere. So long a target of both artillery and aircraft, the drab towns and cities in and close to the Siegfried Line were a shambles. "It is difficult to describe the destruction," wrote the 45th Division commander, General Frederick. "Scarcely a man-made thing exists in our wake; it is even difficult to find buildings suitable for CP's: this
5850-473: The Pfaelzer Forest. A column of the 10th Armored had moved astride the main highway through the woods and emerged on the Rhine flatlands at Landau. Any Germans who got out of the forest would have to do so by threading a way off the roads individually or in small groups. By nightfall of 22 March, the Germans west of the Rhine could measure the time left to them in hours. In the Siegfried Line on either side of Wissembourg, Petersen's XC Korps continued to fight in
5967-753: The Protestant nobility of the Electoral Palatinate were subdued by the Catholic princes. Count of the Electoral Palatinate Johann Casimir , came to Kaiserslautern during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). Spanish occupation in 1621–1632 ended when Protestant Swedish armies liberated the area. The city would fall to invading forces again in an especially violent incident in 1635. Croatian troops within
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#17327724932016084-422: The Rhine to the 12th Armored Division and of actually capturing Kaiserslautern to an infantry unit, turned the 10th Armored Division south and southeast into the Pfaelzer Forest. By nightfall of 20 March, two of the 10th Armored's columns stood only a few hundred yards from the main highway through the forest, one almost at the city of Pirmasens on the western edge, the other not far from the eastern edge. A third
6201-521: The Seventh Army after fighting across France with the Third Army. A third corps, the XXI (Maj. Gen. Frank W. Milburn ), was relatively new, having joined the army in January. As the Seventh Army offensive began, the basic question was how stubbornly the Germans would defend before falling back on the Siegfried Line. Only Milburn's XXI Corps—on the Seventh Army's left wing, near Saarbrücken—was fairly close to
6318-627: The Seventh Army had advanced over 1,000 miles and for varying times had commanded 24 U.S. and Allied divisions, including the 3rd , 36th , 42nd , 44th , 45th , 63rd , 70th , 100th , and 103rd Infantry Divisions . The Seventh Army was inactivated in March 1946, in Germany, reactivated for a short time at Atlanta, Georgia , then inactivated again. It was reactivated by the United States European Command (EUCOM) with headquarters at Patch Barracks , Stuttgart -Vaihingen, Germany, on 24 November 1950 and assigned to command
6435-523: The Seventh Army on 10 July 1943 while at sea en route to the Allied invasion of Sicily as the spearhead of Operation Husky . After the conquests of Palermo and Messina the Seventh Army prepared for the invasion of France by its Mediterranean coast as the lead element of Operation Dragoon in August 1944. It then drove a retreating German army north and then east toward the Alsace , being absorbed into
6552-737: The Seventh went into the Saar , assaulted the Siegfried Line , and reached the River Rhine during the first week of March, 1945. In a lead role in Operation Undertone , the Seventh Army fought its way across the Rhine into Germany, captured Nuremberg and then Munich . Finally it crossed the Brenner Pass and made contact with Lieutenant General Lucian Truscott 's U.S. Fifth Army at Vipiteno – once again on Italian soil. In less than nine months of continuous fighting,
6669-478: The Siegfried Line even before the American offensive began, General Foertsch at 1. Armee and General Hausser at Army Group G had been impelled to deny the entreaties. The new Commander-in-Chief West— Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring —remained as faithful as his predecessor to the Hitler-imposed maxim of no withdrawal anywhere unless forced. As events developed, no formal order to pull back into
6786-423: The Siegfried Line on either side of Wissembourg . There, Petersen's XC Korps was charged with holding the fortifications and denying access to the flatlands along the Rhine. In the Seventh Army's original plan, the attached 3rd Algerian Division on the right wing of the VI Corps along the Rhine was to have been pinched out after it reached the Lauter River at the German frontier. The planners had not reckoned with
6903-539: The Siegfried Line, while other units were as much as 32 km (20 mi) away. Making the army's main effort in the center, Haislip's XV Corps faced what looked like a particularly troublesome obstacle in the town of Bitche . Surrounded by fortresses of the French Maginot Line , Bitche had been taken from the Germans in December after a hard struggle, only to be relinquished in the withdrawal forced by
7020-441: The Third Army that overran German lines of communication, Operation Undertone cleared Wehrmacht defenses and pushed to the Rhine in the area of Karlsruhe within 10 days. General Devers' victory—along with a rapid advance by the U.S. Third Army—completed the advance of Allied armies to the west bank of the Rhine along its entire length within Germany. The bulk of the text in this article is taken directly from The Last Offensive ,
7137-406: The advance of Walker's troops that all worthwhile objectives in Milburn's sector beyond the Siegfried Line already had fallen. Milburn and his XXI Corps had achieved a penetration but had no place to go. Patch seized on the situation to provide a boost for his army's main effort, the attack of the XV Corps through Zweibrücken toward the Kaiserslautern Gap. In two days of hammering at XIII SS Korps ,
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#17327724932017254-406: The area of what is now Kaiserslautern has been traced to at least 800 BC. Some 2,500-year-old Celtic tombs were uncovered at Miesau , a town about 29 kilometres (18 miles) west of Kaiserslautern. The recovered relics are now in the Museum for Palatinate History at Speyer . Kaiserslautern received its name from the favourite hunting retreat of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa who ruled
7371-404: The army fed into jump-off positions. This meant to Patch that the Seventh Army could not attack before the target date, 15 March. All along the Moselle, from Koblenz to Trier, the German 7. Armee on 17 March was in peril, if not from direct attack, then from the flanking thrust against the right wing of the 1. Armee by General Walton Walker ′s XX Corps . Collapse of the 7. Armee clearly
7488-442: The arts in Germany are significantly subsidized by the government, its ticket prices are reasonably low. Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern hosts the Else-Lasker-Schüler-Preis awards for German literature. The Kammgarn The Kammgarn is classified as a historical site. It served as a spinning factory before being transformed into the cultural heart of Kaiserslautern. This renovation has preserved its historical character while incorporating
7605-401: The aspirations of the French and their First Army commander, General Jean de Lattre . Assured of support from the provisional head of the French state, General Charles de Gaulle , de Lattre was determined to acquire a zone along the Rhine north of the Lauter in order to assure a Rhine crossing site for the final drive into Germany. As the Algerians matched and sometimes exceeded the strides of
7722-436: The battalion pulled back another few hundred yards to better positions on the edge of a copse. In the sector of the 36th Infantry Division (Maj. Gen. John E. Dahlquist ), the day's fighting produced a heroic performance by a rifleman of the 142d Infantry , Pfc. Silvestre S. Herrera . After making a one-man charge that carried a German strongpoint and took eight prisoners, Herrera and his platoon were pinned down by fire from
7839-454: The beaches of southern France in the St. Tropez and St. Raphael area. On 15 September, the Seventh was put under the field control of the 6th Army Group , under Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers . The 6th Army Group also included the French First Army . Within one month, the Seventh Army, which by then employed three American divisions , five French divisions and the 1st Airborne Task Force , had advanced 400 miles north and joined with
7956-457: The besieged battalion. On the Seventh Army's right wing, pointed toward the Wissembourg Gap, divisions of Brooks's VI Corps experienced, with the exception of the 3rd Algerian Division, much the same type of opposition. Although all four attacking divisions had to overcome the initial obstacle of a river, either the Moder or a tributary, they accomplished the job quickly with predawn assaults. The Germans were too thinly stretched to do more than man
8073-456: The chance to sample dishes from across the world. Kaiserslautern is located in one of the largest contiguous forested areas in Central Europe, the Palatinate Forest , which offers numerous hiking trails and lakes to visitors. Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern Local theatre Pfalztheater employs more than 300 people and features plays, operas, ballets, concerts, and musicals. The first German performance of West Side Story took place there. As
8190-402: The city centre surrounding the old city ( Altstadt ). In the Altstadt you will find the "Kaiserbrunnen", a large ornamental fountain with symbols of the city's history such as a sewing machine, as produced by the Pfaff company in the city, a football representing the city's football club and various animals that children can climb. Kaiserslautern has a diverse culinary sector, offering visitors
8307-407: The city. Kaiserslautern is a popular destination for tourists, offering a range of attractions, and sites for tourists to visit. Town Hall Kaiserslautern is one of the tallest buildings and is located in the city centre. The bar and coffee shop on the top floor provides a panoramic view of the city and surrounding countryside. The tallest building in the centre of Kaiserslautern is St. Mary's,
8424-563: The city. The fact that the 63rd Division early hit the Siegfried Line provided ready explanation for the stanch opposition there. The other was on the extreme right wing where an attached 3rd Algerian Infantry Division (3e Division d'Infanterie d'Algerie ) was to clear the expanse of flatland between Hagenau and the Rhine. There an urban area closely backing the Moder River defensive line and flat ground affording superb fields of fire for dug-in automatic weapons accounted in large measure for
8541-586: The command of Patton, which allowed the Third to relieve surrounded American forces besieged at Bastogne . In mid-January 1945, the Seventh engaged in pitched battle seeking to regain ground lost to Germany's Operation Nordwind New Year's offensive. Along with the French First Army, the Seventh went on the offensive in February 1945 and eliminated the Colmar Pocket . After capturing the city of Strasbourg ,
8658-628: The commander of the United States Seventh Army was "dual hatted" as the Commanding General, United States Army Europe . Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern ( German pronunciation: [ˌkaɪzɐsˈlaʊtɐn] ; Palatinate German : Lautre ) is a town in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest . The historic centre dates to
8775-466: The commanders of the two armies—Third and Seventh—to deal directly with each other rather than through their respective army group headquarters. Facing the undented fortifications of the Siegfried Line, the Seventh Army commander planned a set-piece attack, preceded by an extensive program of aerial bombardment. Before the attack could begin, supplies had to be accumulated, division and corps boundaries adjusted, some units shuffled, and new divisions joining
8892-412: The day, but early in the evening the defense collapsed. General Franz Beyer 's LXXX Korps , transferred from the 7. Armee to plug the hole from the north alongside the Rhine, had hardly anything left to prevent the 12th Armored Division from driving southward from Ludwigshafen toward Speyer . By nightfall of the 22nd, a column of the 12th Armored stood only 10 km (6.2 mi) from Speyer, and on
9009-471: The divisions of the XV Corps still had opened no hole through the Siegfried Line for armored exploitation. Send a combat command, Patch directed the XV Corps commander, Haislip, to move through the 63rd Division's gap and come in on the rear of the Siegfried Line defenders facing the XV Corps. That the Americans would exploit the withdrawal was too obvious to escape the 1. Armee commander, Foertsch. During
9126-419: The effect of opening a path through the Siegfried Line for the left wing of the U.S. Seventh Army. Despite a stubborn rear guard, the 63rd Division of Milburn's XXI Corps broke through the main belt of fortifications near St. Ingbert late on 19 March. Had events moved according to plan, Milburn then would have sent an armored column northward to link with Walker's XX Corps near St. Wendel ; but so swift had been
9243-549: The end approved the plan. He and Bradley agreed on a new boundary that afforded the Third Army a good road leading northeast from Saarlautern to headwaters of the Nahe River, some 56 km (35 mi) northeast of Saarlautern, thence along the valley of the Nahe to the Rhine at Bingen . This boundary gave the Third Army responsibility for clearing the northwestern third of the Saar-Palatinate. Bradley and Devers also authorized
9360-425: The fighter-bombers and the mediums and heavies of the 8th Air Force . The latter hit Siegfried Line fortifications and industrial targets in cities such as Zweibrücken and Kaiserslautern. The weather was clear, enabling the aircraft to strike at a variety of targets, limited only by range and bomb-carrying capacity. Among the German casualties were the operations officers of two of the three XC Korps divisions. Of
9477-508: The following year. From that time forward the Seventh Army has been the headquarters for all Army units under the European Command . Its major subordinate elements were the V Corps and VII Corps (Inactivated 1992.) From 1 December 1966 to present, the commander of Seventh Army has been "dual hatted" as Commanding General, United States Army Europe . The Seventh Army was deactivated on 17 April 2010. Note - Starting in 1966,
9594-469: The forested terrain. The adjustment meant that the Siegfried Line assault by the four American divisions of the VI Corps was to be concentrated in a zone less than 32 km (20 mi) wide. Since the German XC Korps had only the remnants of two volksgrenadier divisions and an infantry training division to defend against both Americans and French, a breakthrough of the fortifications was but
9711-416: The fortifications ever emerged above corps level. Beginning the night of 16 March, commanders facing the U.S. XV Corps simply did the obvious, ordering their units to seek refuge in the Siegfried Line whenever American pressure grew so great that withdrawal or annihilation became the only alternatives. The next day, commanders facing the U.S. VI Corps adopted the same procedure. It became at that point as much
9828-553: The fortifications while Patton's forces took them from the rear. The Seventh Army numbered among its ranks several relatively inexperienced units but retained a flavoring of long-term veterans. The VI Corps (Maj. Gen. Edward H. Brooks ), for example, and three divisions—the 3rd, 36th, and 45th—had fought at length in the Mediterranean theater, including the Anzio beachhead. The XV Corps (Maj. Gen. Wade H. Haislip ) had joined
9945-698: The ground and service forces of United States Army Europe (USAREUR). For over a decade the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra performed in support of the United States Army's cultural diplomacy initiatives throughout Germany and Europe in the aftermath of World War II (1952–1962). On 30 November 1966, the Seventh Army was relocated from Patch Barracks to Heidelberg . Following French disagreements with certain NATO policies, United States European Command relocated from Paris
10062-514: The heart of the city is the large and old Stiftskirche (also Protestant). All three have large pipe organs and occasionally host concerts. In Kaiserslautern there is an Islamic Centre for the Muslim communities situated in the centre of the city. The Ditib Fatih Camii is a Turkish mosque in Kaiserslautern. There is also a university prayer room at the University of Kaiserslautern. The city
10179-559: The invasion of North Africa. On 6 March 1943, following the defeat of the U.S. II Corps by the German Afrika Korps , commanded by Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel , at the Battle of Kasserine Pass , Patton replaced Major General Lloyd Fredendall as Commanding General of the II Corps and was promoted to lieutenant general. The Seventh Army arm patch was approved on 23 June 1943: On a blue isosceles triangular background,
10296-411: The issue for military government officials. In more than one city, particularly Homburg, looting and pillage were rampant. Running the gantlet of American fighter aircraft through the Pfaelzer Forest, the amorphous mass of retreating Germans faced still a fourth American threat—Brooks's VI Corps, which had followed closely the German withdrawal from northeastern Alsace and on 19 March had begun to assault
10413-476: The last of the 1st Army crossed the Rhine at Remagen , the U.S. 80th Division , 319th Infantry, part of the 3rd US Army , seized Kaiserslautern without resistance. The city became part of the French occupation zone after the Second World War. The establishment of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate was ordered on 30 August 1946 as the last state in the western occupation zones by ordinance No. 57 of
10530-418: The latest sound and lighting technologies. The Kammgarn stands among the top venues in Germany and serves as a first-call club for rising groups and performers as well as established jazz, rock, blues and pop artists in Europe. Performances have included international stars B.B. King , Manfred Mann's Earth Band , Pat Metheny , Uriah Heep and Jan Garbarek. Gartenschau (garden exhibition) Better known as
10647-572: The line to the Rhine was the XC Korps ( General der Infanterie Erich Petersen ) with two volksgrenadier divisions and remnants of an infantry training division. Although the Germans worried most about a breakthrough in the sector of Petersen's XC Korps into the Wissembourg Gap rather than through Simon's XIII SS Korps into the Kaiserslautern corridor, the shifts and countershifts made in preceding weeks to salvage reinforcements for
10764-472: The main east–west highway through the forest or the secondary road close behind the Siegfried Line, American fighter pilots had only to aim their bombs, their cannon, and their machine guns in the general direction of those roads to be assured of hitting some target. An acute gasoline shortage added to the German difficulties. Almost every foot of the two roads soon became clogged with abandoned, damaged, or wrecked vehicles, guns, and equipment. The destruction in
10881-482: The momentum of the 3rd Division's advance picked up accordingly. The German problem was to get the survivors of both the LXXXV Korps and the XIII SS Korps through the Pfaelzer Forest despite three dire threats: one from the closely following troops of the U.S. Seventh Army; another from the 10th Armored Division of Walker's XX Corps, which at Kaiserslautern was in a position to swing south and southeast through
10998-563: The more difficult fighting. Elsewhere, local engagements sometimes were vicious and costly but usually were short-lived. Anti-personnel and anti-tank mines abounded. German artillery fire seldom was more than moderate and in most cases could better be classified as light or sporadic. That was attributable in part to a campaign of interdiction for several days preceding the attack by planes of the XII Tactical Air Command (Brig. Gen. Glenn O. Barcus) and by D-day strikes by both
11115-564: The newly created Sixth United States Army Group in mid-September. In January 1945 it repelled a fierce but brief enemy counter-offensive in the Colmar Pocket south of Strasbourg during the German Operation Nordwind , then completed its reduction of the region by mid-March. In a lead role in Operation Undertone launched 15 March, the Seventh Army fought its way across the Rhine into Germany, capturing Nuremberg and then Munich . Elements reached Austria and crossed
11232-472: The night of the 19th, he extended the authority to withdraw to the west wing of the XIII SS Korps . Thus, hardly had the American combat command begun to move early on 20 March to exploit the 63rd Division's penetration when the 45th Division of the XV Corps also advanced past the last pillboxes of the Siegfried Line near Zweibrücken. During the night of the 20th, the rest of the SS korps also began to pull back, and
11349-604: The objective was not only to clear the Saar - Palatinate but to establish bridgeheads with forces of the Sixth Army Group over the Rhine between Mainz and Mannheim . The U.S. Third Army of the Twelfth Army Group was to be limited to diversionary attacks across the Moselle to protect the Sixth Army Group's left flank. Opposing commanders were U.S. General Jacob L. Devers , commanding U.S. Sixth Army Group, and German SS General Paul Hausser , commanding German Army Group G . Significantly assisted by operations of
11466-509: The onrush of U.S. Third Army troops from west and northwest into the German rear. As the breakthrough of Walker's XX Corps developed in the direction of Kaiserslautern, concern had mounted in the 1. Armee lest those units in the Siegfried Line around Saarbrücken and Zweibrücken be trapped. Once Kaiserslautern fell, the only routes of withdrawal left to those troops led through the Haardt Mountains south of Kaiserslautern. Covered by
11583-481: The operation the Seventh and Eighth Armies came under the command of the 15th Army Group , under General Sir Harold Alexander . The headquarters of the Seventh Army remained relatively inactive at Palermo, Sicily, and Algiers until January 1944, when Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark , then commanding the U.S. Fifth Army on the Italian Front , was assigned as commander and the Seventh Army began planning for
11700-429: The outskirts of the fortress town of Bitche. Perhaps aided by the fact that they had done the same job before in December, they gained dominating positions on the fortified hills around the town, leaving no doubt that they would clear the entire objective in short order the next day, 16 March. The only counterattack to cause appreciable concern hit a battalion of the 3rd Division ′s 7th Infantry . Veterans of combat from
11817-527: The owner of Nanstein Castle. He became a Protestant , and in 1522 Nanstein was a stronghold for local nobles favouring the Reformation . Sickingen and the local nobles began their battle against the Archbishop of Trier ; but the attack was unsuccessful, and they retreated to Nanstein. Nanstein was then besieged by cannon -armed German Catholic princes. Sickingen died after the castle surrendered, and
11934-537: The pillboxes in a manner that belied the futility of their mission. The 14th Armored Division (Maj. Gen. Albert C. Smith) attacked into the Wissembourg Gap on 20 March and then fought Germans of the XC Corps over the possession of Steinfeld for the next two days. Both at Neustadt and at Landau, remnants of two divisions of the XIII SS Korps , including the 17. SS Panzergrenadierdivision , had held through
12051-423: The plan prepared by the Third Army staff for a major attack across the Moselle. The 12th Army Group commander in turn promoted the plan with Eisenhower. Noting that the Germans had given no indication of withdrawing from the Siegfried Line in front of the Seventh Army and that Patch thus might be in for a long, costly campaign, Bradley suggested that the Third Army jump the Moselle near Koblenz , sweep south along
12168-508: The river. Aided by searchlights, they bypassed strongpoints, leaving them for reserves to take out later. As night came, the 45th Division had driven almost 5 km (3.1 mi) beyond the Blies to match a rate of advance that was general everywhere except in the pillbox belt near Saarbrücken and on the flatlands near the Rhine. On the right wing of the XV Corps, men of the 100th Infantry Division (Maj. Gen. Withers A. Burress ) drove quickly to
12285-472: The town an imperial city in 1276. St. Martin 's Church was built in the 14th century, originally as a Franciscan monastery church. Today a section of the original city wall still stands in the courtyard of the church. By 1375, the city of Kaiserslautern was pledged to Electoral Palatinate and therefore became subsequently part of the Wittelsbach inheritance. In 1519, Franz von Sickingen became
12402-449: The treaty of Utrecht it was restored to be part of the Palatinate. During the unquiet episodes in the 18th century, the Palatinate was the scene of fighting between French and German troops of different states. In 1713, the French destroyed Barbarossa's castle and the city's wall towers. From 1793 until Napoleon 's defeat at Waterloo in 1815, the area was under French administration. As French power declined after 1815, Kaiserslautern and
12519-469: The units of the outsized (six divisions) XV Corps, only a regiment of the 45th Infantry Division (Maj. Gen. Robert T. Frederick ) faced a water obstacle at the start. That regiment had to cross the Blies River at a site upstream from where the Blies turns northeast to meander up the Kaiserslautern corridor. Yet even before dawn men of the regiment had penetrated the enemy's main line of defense beyond
12636-493: The unlimited visibility of a clear day, grazing fire from automatic weapons prevented the Algerians from crossing a stretch of open ground facing the buildings of a former French Army frontier post. A welter of mines and two counterattacks, the latter repulsed in both cases by artillery fire, added to the problems. As night fell, no Algerian unit had advanced more than 1.6 kilometres. On the second day, 16 March, indications that
12753-420: The war strength in regard to German divisions was but a relative term. As Patch's Seventh Army attacked before daylight on 15 March, the apparent answer on German intentions was quick to come. Only in two places could the resistance be called determined. One was on the left wing, where the 63rd Infantry Division (Maj. Gen. Louis E. Hibbs) sought to bypass Saarbrücken on the east and cut German escape routes from
12870-439: The west bank of the Rhine to cut the enemy's supply lines, and at the same time press from its previously established Saar-Moselle bridgehead near Trier to come at the Siegfried Line fortifications from the rear. Eisenhower approved the plan without qualification. Although Devers was briefly reluctant to endorse Third Army operations south of the Moselle lest the two forces become entangled with their converging thrusts, he too in
12987-579: The west. The result was that Axis forces were trapped in Tunisia and were forced to surrender in May 1943. After succeeding in North Africa, Patton, now promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General , became commander of the newly formed Seventh Army, which was formed at midnight on 10 July 1943 by the redesignation of the I Armored Corps. The Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943, was conducted in conjunction with
13104-409: Was but a question of time. Soon the German 1. Armee , too, would be in dire straits, for the U.S. Seventh Army two days earlier, on 15 March, had launched a drive against General Hermann Foertsch ′s army along a 110 km (68 mi) front from the vicinity of Saarlautern southeastward to the Rhine. Even if that offensive failed to penetrate the Siegfried Line, it might tie the 1. Armee troops to
13221-475: Was found, buried deeply and reportedly covered by water pipe, during a construction project in the downtown area of the city. On 5 September 2013, another WWII bomb was found during construction near the train station in Enkenbach-Alsenborn. In the late 1940s, Kaiserslautern area became the largest U.S. garrison outside the United States ( Kaiserslautern Military Community ). On 14 November 1956,
13338-407: Was founded in 1970. Industry flourished around the time of the first oil crisis (1973). In the 1970s, many industrial companies went through a crisis. In 1981, the spinning mill went bankrupt; Pfaff and Opel fired employees. The downsizing of the American garrison and the withdrawal of the French garrison cost more jobs. Kaiserslautern has a moderate climate with adequate rainfall year-round. It
13455-410: Was nearing Neustadt , farther north beyond the fringe of the forest. The 12th Armored meanwhile was approaching the Rhine near Ludwigshafen . Not only were the withdrawal routes through the Pfaelzer Forest about to be compromised but a swift strike down the Rhine plain from Neustadt and Ludwigshafen against the last escape sites for crossing the Rhine appeared in the offing. In desperation, on 20 March
13572-568: Was once the site of the magnificent Moorish Revival Kaiserslautern synagogue. Built in 1886, the synagogue's great dome could be seen from across the city skyline. The Nazi government forcibly demolished the synagogue on 31 August 1938. The reason provided for the synagogue's demolition was to create a route for a Nazi parade, but the event served as an example of the Nazis' underlying intentions including ethnic cleansing in The Holocaust , even
13689-410: Was pouring unchecked through General Walther Hahm 's LXXXII Korps . The 10th Armored Division ′s arrival at Kaiserslautern itself on 20 March meant not only that the gap was compromised by a force well in the rear of Knieß′' formations but also that the only way out for both Knieß′ troops and those of the adjacent XIII SS Korps was through the Pfaelzer Forest. As Knieß′ withdrawal progressed, it had
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