Universitätspark Schwäbisch Gmünd, Educational park and cultural monument in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany.
Universitätspark Schwäbisch Gmünd is a seven-hectare grounds in Schwäbisch Gmünd with 19 buildings that combine educational and office spaces with landscaped areas. The layout includes pathways connecting structures, open spaces for sitting, and various facilities that support the daily functioning of the campus.
The grounds were built between 1911 and 1914 as Bismarck-Kaserne to house the 10th Württemberg Infantry Regiment and were later taken over by the US Army. After the war, the site served multiple military and civilian functions before being transformed into an educational center.
The site's name comes from the University of Maryland College, which used the grounds from 1992 to 2002 before closing for financial reasons. Since 2004 the Landesgymnasium für Hochbegabte, a state school for gifted pupils, has occupied the former barracks, and the Campusmuseum opened in 2012 to document the grounds' history.
The seven-hectare site lies in the Oststadt district east of the old town, where the barracks were built at the then eastern edge of the city. The grounds are flat, with the school, adult education centre and Kolping foundation housed in converted and newly built structures. The Campusmuseum, run by the Landesgymnasium, documents the site's history since 2012.
The Pershing II missiles were not kept on the grounds themselves but on the nearby Mutlanger Heide; the Bismarck-Kaserne housed the headquarters of the 56th Field Artillery Command, which was responsible for them from 1983 under the NATO Double-Track Decision. The site had already survived both world wars undamaged, which is why displaced persons were housed there after 1945.
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