Barracks Ambiorix Tongeren

The new barracks, which had only been inaugurated in 1939, were requisitioned by the Germans and further completed during the occupation from 1940 to 1945.

The specially trained snipers of the Maschinengewehr-Scharfschützen-Ausbildungs-commando West were trained there.

The barracks were miraculously saved from the heavy war bombardments during the Second World War.

The military domain covered an area of ??125 ha.

Shortly after the war, the barracks were used as a prison, hospital and shelter for Hungarian refugees. . . .

Prison: The Tongeren prison was overcrowded and a few other buildings, such as the boarding house in the Kielenstraat, where collaborators and alleged "blacks" were held, could not cope with the influx. That is why the Ambiorix barracks were set up as a temporary prison.

Hospital: The Allies set up a hospital in the barracks with about 1000 beds.

On August 8, 1948, a fire destroyed a large part of the Air Force Technical School in Saffraanberg. The city of Tongeren then became the garr

Do you have more information about this location? Inform us!

Source

• Text: Rudi Triki
• Photos: Rudi Triki (1, 3, 4), Het Belgisch Militair Vastgoed (2)
• Het Belgisch Militair Vastgoed sinds 1830 – Ludo Michielsen