'' Former US Army facility is home to Germany’s national garden show''

stripes.com/living/europe_travel/quick_trips/2023-07-07/quick-trip-buga-mannheim-10584569.html

Michael Abrams

Flowers bloom in front of large letters that spell out “Mannem,” the slang name for Mannheim, Germany. The building behind it was once a U.S. Army warehouse at the former Spinelli Barracks. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Where U.S. Army tanks, trucks, supplies and other gear once were repaired, shipped and stored, millions of flowers now bloom and thousands of trees grow.

Spinelli Barracks in Mannheim, Germany, has been transformed from a giant military logistics hub into the home of the Bundesgartenschau, or federal horticulture show.

Known as BUGA, the show takes place every two years in a different location. This year’s is in Mannheim and runs until Oct. 8.

A vintage photo displayed at the Bundesgartenschau in Mannheim, Germany, shows the U.S. Army’s Spinelli Barracks, with its warehouses and military vehicles. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

''The barracks, named after Pfc. Dominic Spinelli, an Army medic killed in World War II, were turned over to the German government when the Americans left in 2012 after 64 years there.''

The question was what to do with the more than 200-acre expanse of buildings, warehouses and motor pools. Besides building residential areas on its periphery, officials decided to leave most of it as a nature preserve and a fresh air corridor for the city — and in 2023, to hold the BUGA on its grounds.

A fountain sprays a watery mist at the Bundesgartenschau, or BUGA, in Mannheim, Germany. The building surrounding it, known as the U-Halle, was a warehouse at what used to be the U.S. Army’s Spinelli Barracks. The German federal horticultural show being held there runs until Oct. 8, 2023. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Millions of plants and flower bulbs were put in the ground, along with 2,023 trees. A giant old warehouse, called the U-Halle because of its shape, was built back partially to its steel girders and now houses BUGA exhibits and gastronomy.

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The most impressive new structure in Spinelli Park is the Panoramasteg, or panorama walkway, a 143-foot-long footbridge that just ends hanging over the Augewaesser, a small lake.

The Panoramasteg, or panorama walkway, seen from the BUGA cable car. It is a 143-foot long footbridge over the Augewaesser, a small lake. After the horticultural show ends Oct. 8, 2023, the bridge is to be expanded over the lake, to connect the nature preserve there with the one that was once the U.S. Army’s Spinelli Barracks. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

After the show concludes in October, it will be expanded over the lake to connect the nature preserve there with the park.

The entrance to the BUGA is on the site of what was once a motor pool. The U-Halle with its exhibits is behind it. Pass through or around it and you come to various gardens and tree nurseries.

Most of the trees planted for the show are to be replanted post-BUGA in other parts of Mannheim in need of shade.

A display at the Bundesgartenschau in Mannheim, Germany, shows a sustainable way to grow herbs and vegetables. The focus of Germany’s federal horticulture show is gardens, flowers, sustainability and the environment. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Along with the flowers and the gardens, the focus of this year’s BUGA is climate, environment, energy and food security. Among the exhibits is one on sustainable ways to grow herbs and vegetables. Another shows how covering a building’s facade with plants can help to keep the building and the environment cooler.

But not everything is serious here. There are playgrounds, a disc golf area and a giant rope jungle gym that features a slide where you can glide from the top to the bottom.

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Children play on a huge rope jungle gym at the Bundesgartenschau, the German federal horticultural show in Mannheim, Germany, in June 2023. While probably more interesting for adults, there is plenty for the kids to do on the shows expansive grounds. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Even with all these features, Spinelli Park is still a huge expanse of nature. Two towers offer great views of the grounds. If you get tired walking, a hybrid-powered train circles through the park, with stops at various spots along the way.

A cable car takes visitors to the Bundesgartenschau, or BUGA, in Mannheim, Germany, from the Luisenpark, seen here, to the show’s other location at Spinelli Park and back again. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Visitors can walk through the plant show house, a hot house that features flora and fauna from South America or watch the park’s Humboldt penguins swim in their new enclosure and birds fly through a giant aviary.

The rose garden is one of many flower gardens at the Bundesgartenschau, or BUGA in Mannheim, Germany. The federal horticultural show runs until Oct. 8, 2023. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Beds of perennials, along with peonies, camellia, rhododendrons and fuchsias add color to the park, and visitors can relax on one of the Luisenpark’s grassy meadows.

The cable car ride back across the river offers a good view of the Spinelli Barracks buildings that escaped the wrecking ball.

The Bundesgartenschau has a lot to see, do and learn in a park named after a soldier who received a Silver Star for his bravery.

A cable car (to be dismantled after the show) takes visitors across the countryside and over the Neckar River to the BUGA’s second site, the Luisenpark. Built for the 1975 Bundesgartenschau, it has been incorporated into this year’s show. Its center has been remodeled and upgraded.

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The entrance to the Bundesgartenschau, or BUGA, in Mannheim, Germany, was once a motor pool at the former U.S. Army Spinelli Barracks. Germany’s federal horticultural show runs until Oct. 8. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

On the QT

Directions: There is no public parking near the BUGA. Visitors arriving by car should park at the Maimarktgelaende, where there is a park-and-ride stop. Plug Wilhelm-Varnholt-Allee into your navigation system and then follow the signs. Arriving by train at Mannheim’s main station, a BUGA-Express takes you to the grounds. The ticket is included with admission.

Times: There are ticket desks at both Spinelli-Park and the Luisenpark. They are open from 9 am to 7 p.m. The park stays open until sundown, longer when there is evening entertainment.

''Costs: Admission is 28 euros for adults age 25 and up; 11 euros for young adults and free for children up to age 15. Two-day and season tickets are available. You can buy tickets online. Parking is 9.50 euros. The hybrid train costs 4 euros. You can get on and off at the stops while traveling one time around.''

Food: Restaurants are spread through the park, including a food truck courtyard that serves burgers, pizza and Asian street food.

Information: Online: buga23.de. On sunny days, don’t forget to bring sunscreen. There is very little shade at Spinelli Park.

''General George S. Patton's car accident occurred in Mannheim, Germany on December 9, 1945, at a railroad crossing where his car collided with a turning Army truck; he was severely injured in the accident and died 12 days later on December 21, 1945. ''

Key details about the accident:

Location: A railroad crossing near Mannheim, Germany.

Date: December 9, 1945.

Cause: Collision with a turning Army truck while crossing the railroad tracks.

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/lightenupfrancis/sets/72157624799275370/comments/

On the morning of December 9, 1945, General George S. Patton started out on a pheasant hunting trip in the vicinity of Mannheim, Germany. While driving through Mannheim, General Patton's vehicle collided with a US Army truck and he sustained serious, life-threatening injuries in the accident. On December 12, 1945, General Patton died from these injuries at the US Army hospital at Heidelberg.

Years later, then-PFC Horace Woodring, Patton's driver during the accident, provided accounts of his memory of the crash. PFC Woodring's versions of the event were consisent through the years and his narratives did not vary, especially with regard to the accident location.

One of Woodring's most detailed accounts appeared in Denver Fulgate's article, "The End of the Ride: An Eyewitness Account of General Patton's Fatal Accident," published in the November/December, 1995 edition of Armor Magazine, a publication of the US Army Armor Center at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

In his narrative, PFC Woodring described the events preceding the crash as well as details about the accident's location.

This series of photographs follows PFC Woodring's description of the collision site in Mannheim.

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/lightenupfrancis/4916518537/in/album-72157624799275370/

Approaching General Patton's Accident Site, Mannheim, Germany

''Tech Sergeant Thompson's view as he drove eastbound along Kaefertaler Strasse (old Highway 38).'' One can see the red billboard marking the site of the former railroad crossing where General Patton's limousine waited for the train to pass.

Sergeant Spruce's jeep had already crossed and was most likely somewhere between the crossing and the camera's location. Tech Sergeant Thompson was eastbound and may have been in the area of the camera's position when the General's limousine cleared the crossing and continued westbound.

PFC Woodring reported that he first saw Tech Sergeant Thompson's truck from that crossing long before it reached the quartermaster depot's driveway and kept the truck under observation as the two vehicles drove toward each other, so this indicates that visibility was good that morning.