This plaque was on the wall of the Andrews Barracks service club around 1960.
The name under the photo is : Lt General Frank Maxwell Andrews
The text reads:
"The Hauptkadettenanstalt (Andrews Barracks) was constructed in the year 1873 by order of Kaiser Wilhelm I to house the cadet corps of the German Army. All Crown Princes of Germany and many famous and infamous leaders of Germany attended the school. One of the most infamous was Herrmann Goering, Chief of the German Air Force, World War II, under Adolf Hitler.
1922-1932 the barracks were used by the German Government to house a school and later detachments of Berlin City Police.
1933-1945 was the blackest period in the history of the old school. The S.S. Troops moved in. They were called "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler", the personal body guard of the German dictator. Many stories are told of activities behind the high fence but few can be substantiated.
In the year 1945 American occupation troops took control of the area. In 1946 the barracks were named "Andrews Barracks" after the late Lt. General Frank Maxwell Andrews, United States Air Corps. Andrews Barracks are presently occupied by Special Troops, United States Army Garrison Berlin. These are service troops supporting all elements of Berlin Command."
This was on a wall somewhere at Andrews. It may have been the one on the small PX building.
The top plaque says, approximately,
"To the remembrance of the Royal Prussian Main Cadet Section at Grosslichterfelde, 1878-1920, and to the memory of those cadets who fell in both world wars."
The bottom plaque translates, "To the remembrance of the Royal Saxon Cadet Corp at Dresden, 1725-1920, and to the memory of those cadets who fell in both world wars."
Photo by Bruce Ford
I forgot who sent this photo of a plaque on a wall. I don't remember seeing it when I was there. There is a shadowy line at the top, barely legible, that looks like,
"Berlin Memorial."
The rest translates,
Prussian main cadet installation,
1878-1920.
Built from 1872 till 1878, royal school for
youth in the Weimar Republic from
1920-1933. During the Third Reich
barracks of the bodyguard SS "Adolf Hitler.
In June 1934 numerous shootings
in connection with the murder of Rohm and the
fall from power of the SA.
Since 1945 Andrews Barracks of the American
Defense Force.
Assistance with this translation from Douglas St.Denny, who was a 98C21GM FSB vet, and now a Hong Kong photographer, at saint at hkabc.net, and http://www.camprice.com .
The Third Reich was the National Socialist (Nazi) era that Hitler proclaimed would last 1000 years.
Ernst Rome was the leader of Hitler's SA, Sturmabteilung, or special attack section, which were called the "Brown Shirts." They were Hitler's original bully force which persecuted Jews and brought him to power. Hitler had them slaughtered when they proved too inept and corrupt for his purposes. The SS, which stands for Schutz Staffel, the defense staff, had the special unit named Adolf Hitler to be the bodyguard for Hitler. It was notorious for ruthless exterminations. The SS wiped out the SA, and took their place at Andrews.
Note: the wording of the plaque does not capitalize "amerikanischen" because adjectives are not capitalized in the German language. This information thanks to Mike Otto motto at frontiernet.net
Mike Metevelis, of Tulsa, Oklahoma --- metemike at ix.netcom.com, describes the photograph at right:
If you remember the cement platform that was located outside the door of Company B, FS Berlin, there was nothing on it, so we used to sit and drink beer on it. Hitler had his Army steal the Danish lion from Denmark. It was then mounted for all to see at his SS Academy, our Andrews. This picture shows US Army soldiers lifting it off to send it back to the government of Denmark.
