| Original caption: “The Reich Youth Leader visits an artillery school. On Thursday, Reich Youth Leader Axmann visited the artillery school in Jüterbog, where he was shown excerpts from the operational operations and use of the artillery. Our picture shows the Reich Youth Leader inspecting heavy guns together with Knight’s Cross recipient General of the Pioneers Kunze and the commander of the artillery school, Major General Philipp.” Reichsjugendführer (“Reich Youth Leader”) Artur Axmann (February 13, 1913 – October 24, 1996), with General der Pioniere Walter Kuntze (February 23, 1883 – April 1, 1960) and Kommandeur der Artillerischule, Oberst Ernst Philipp (October 13, 1812 – March 16, 2005), inspect a 210 millimeter (8.3 inch) Mörser M18/L31 heavy howitzer and accompanying troops from the Artilleriekaserne Jüterbog (“Jüterbog Artillery Barracks”). The construction of the Jüterbog barracks complex took 3 years, from 1934 to 1937. A railway station was opened, and a food warehouse for the Imperial Deutsches Heer (“Reich Army”) was built in a separate area nearby in the early 1900s. At the time of completion, the name of the barracks was changed from Lager III to Adolf Hitler Lager. Initially, in 1934, a Schutzstaffel SS camp was located here, then a year later it was used as a training base by observation units of the Artillery School of Jüterbog. From the 1940s, an educational center for training drivers of tracked vehicles was established here, including a school for training crews of the armored assault gun Sturmgeschütz III, which was developed in the Jüterbog military area. Artilleriekaserne Jüterbog was founded in 1890; during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, German artillery had surprised the French, which had been considered the best since the Napoleonic Wars. Almost all the German Heer (“Army”) trained here, except for officers from Bavaria. Under Nazi rule, Jüterbog’s army base was further expanded. 3 surrounding villages were demolished to make space for the military training areas. The Jüterbog School influenced the creation of the United States Army Artillery School in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Jüterbog taught Heer officers how to shoot, developed and improved methods of fire, tried new methods, tested materiel, and collected statistical data. It offered 5 courses for officers: 1 for. 2nd Lieutenants who had completed 3 years with their regiments: 1 for captains and senior 1st lieutenants, 1 for field officers and senior captains, 1 for reserve officers, and 1 for junior officers. There were 2 terms a year, each of about 4 months. The reserve officers came 5 times a year, for terms of 42 days. The course for senior 1st lieutenants and captains covered target practice for the battery, battalion, and regiment; tactical use of field artillery, principally the selection and occupation of position, choice of ammunition and methods of fire, ammunition supply service of German and foreign armies; description of German materiel; and field artillery of other armies. Teaching methods were intensely practical in that there were no texts and no recitations. The student officers solved problems or gave lectures themselves. All target practice was divided into school practice and battle practice. In school practice, the object was to bring out and explain every mistake as soon as it was made. Time was no object, and there was no fire for effect. In battle practice, there was fire for effect; the student was not interrupted by the instructor. In judging these problems, the hits obtained and the time and ammunition needed were considered. These courses were not suspended in a vacuum, so to speak, but were carefully coordinated with the unit training program so that they were a continuation and extension of the course given in each regiment during the yearly training program. In comparing this school with the 1 at Fort Monroe, Virginia, 1 would learn to calculate a range table by use of the appropriate formula; at Jüterbog, 1 would learn how to use the range table to get hits. Jüterbog had a Commandant assisted by 2 captains. There were 2 assistant commandants, 4 officers in the research department, and 18 instructors. 9 batteries of school troops did the firing. Sharing the same reservation was a school of heavy artillery, under the Commandant of the School, with a staff of 6, and 4 batteries of school troops. The Heavy Artillery School differed considerably from the Field Artillery School of later years, however. The courses were very largely gunnery and of a fairly simple nature. Indirect heavy artillery fire was neither stressed nor regarded as normal. After the 2nd World War, Jüterbog was part of East Germany and remained an important garrison town of the Red Army. Up to 40,000 Soviet soldiers were housed in imposing Nazi-era barracks and in new buildings in the countryside. The huge garrison, about 4 times larger than the civilian population, strongly disrupted civilian life. After the Red Army left reunified Germany in 1991, the military area, covering 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres), remained closed to the public due to security and environmental hazards. Today Artilleriekaserne Jüterbog is abandoned; some of the buildings were demolished in the 1990s, but most remain. The city hoped to find a buyer to renovate the complex, but so far, a developer is not willing to invest the millions needed to make it habitable. The city is considering leveling the site. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2419.jpg |
| Image Size | 251.22 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1284 x 925 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | Reichskommissariat für die Besetzten Norwegischen Gebiete (“Reich Commissariat for the Occupied Norwegian Territories”) |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | July 23, 1943 |
| Location | |
| City | Jüterbog |
| State or Province | Brandenburg |
| Country | Germany |
| Archive | Riksarkivet (National Archives of Norway) |
| Record Number | RAFA3309_24_2 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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