Terrain near the town of Fulda.

The Fulda Gap is a region of lower elevation between the former East German border and Frankfurt, (West) Germany. Named for the town of Fulda, the Fulda Gap was strategically important during the Cold War. "Gap" refers to a corridor of lowlands (between the Hohe Rhön and Knüllgebirge mountains, and between the Spessart and the Vogelsberg mountains), which is suitable for operations by large-scale armored forces. The Fulda Gap was one of two obvious routes for a hypothetical Soviet tank attack upon West Germany from Eastern Europe, especially East Germany; the second route was the North German Plain, and the third, less likely, route was up through the Danube River valley in Austria. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1600x1200, 527 KB) Photo taken by W. B. Wilson. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1600x1200, 527 KB) Photo taken by W. B. Wilson. ... This article is about the state which existed from 1949 to 1990. ... Frankfurt am Main [ˈfraŋkfʊrt] is the largest city in the German state of Hessen and the fifth largest city of Germany. ... , Fulda (IPA: ) is a city in Hessen, Germany; it is located on the Fulda River and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (Kreis). ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... The Rhön Mountains are a group of low mountains in central Germany, located in the state of Hesse, close to its borders with Bavaria and Thuringia. ... Knüllwald is a community in the Schwalm-Eder district in Hesse, Germany. ... The Spessart is a hill chain in northwestern Bavaria and southern Hesse, Germany. ... The Vogelsberg Mountains are a group of low mountains in central Germany, located in the middle of the state of Hessen. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Armoured warfare. ... This article is about the state which existed from 1949 to 1990. ... The North German Plain is a lowland region extending from the North Sea and Baltic Sea southward to the uplands of central Germany. ... Length 2,888 km Elevation of the source 1,078 m Average discharge 30 km before Passau: 580 m³/s Vienna: 1,900 m³/s Budapest: 2,350 m³/s just before Delta: 6,500 m³/s Area watershed 817,000 km² Origin Black Forest (Schwarzwald-Baar, Baden- Württemberg, Germany...

Strategic location

Fulda Gap terrain features.

Close to the Fulda Gap, the loss of Frankfurt, West Germany's industrial and financial heart, would have been a serious German and NATO loss as it was also home to two large airfields that were designated to receive U.S. reinforcements had war broken out. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (780x641, 606 KB) Made by W.B. Wilson with MapCreator 1. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (780x641, 606 KB) Made by W.B. Wilson with MapCreator 1. ... For other uses, see Frankfurt (disambiguation). ... This article is about the military alliance. ...

The high ground between the two routes are the Vogelsberg Mountains. Perhaps more important, the land between the Fulda Gap and the river Rhine was less rugged, offering favourable terrain for Soviet forces to reach and cross the Rhine before NATO could prevent it. The Fulda Gap route was less suitable for mechanized troop movement than was the North German Plain, but offered an avenue of advance direct to the heart of the U.S. military in West Germany. The Vogelsberg Mountains are a group of low mountains in central Germany, located in the middle of the state of Hessen. ... For other uses, see Rhine (disambiguation). ... The North German Plain is a lowland region extending from the North Sea and Baltic Sea southward to the uplands of central Germany. ...

It is roughly the same route Napoleon chose to withdraw his armies after defeat at Leipzig. Napoleon succeeded in defeating a Bavarian-Austrian army under Wrede in the Battle of Hanau not far from Frankfurt; he safely escaped home to France. The route was also used by the U.S. XII Corps during World War II to advance eastward in late March and early April, 1945. For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... Leipzig ( ; Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk from the Sorbian word for Tilia) is, with a population of over 506,000, the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. ... For other uses, see Bavaria (disambiguation). ... Prince Karl Philipp von Wrede (1767-1838), Bavarian field-marshal, was born at Heidelberg on the 29th of April 1767, and educated for the career of a civil official under the Palatinate government, but on the outbreak of the campaign of 1799 he raised a volunteer corps in the Palatinate... Combatants First French Empire Bavaria Austria Commanders Napoleon I Karl Philipp von Wrede Strength 17,000 43,000 Casualties ~4,500[1] 9,000 In the Battle of Hanau (October 30-31, 1813) Wredes Austro-Bavarian corps attacked Napoleons retreating French army a few miles to the east... Route of march of the U.S. XII Corps. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

The Fulda Gap in the Cold War

Theoretical attack routes through the Fulda Gap; the southeastern is Fulda, the northwestern is Alsfeld.

Strategists on both sides of the Iron Curtain understood the Fulda Gap's importance, and accordingly allocated forces to defend and attack it. Its defence was primarily by the US V Corps. The actual East-West border in the Fulda Gap (see US Army Border Operations in "External links" below) was guarded by the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR) from 1972 to 1994. Before 1972, the 14th ACR patrolled the Fulda Gap for twenty-four years, and before them, the duties had been performed by the 3rd Constabulary Regiment and the 1st Constabulary Brigade. Image File history File links Germany_topo_Fulda_Gap. ... Image File history File links Germany_topo_Fulda_Gap. ... , Fulda (IPA: ) is a city in Hessen, Germany; it is located on the Fulda River and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (Kreis). ... Alsfeld [] is a town in the center of Hesse. ... For the fall of the Iron Curtain, see Revolutions of 1989. ... Unit crest of the United States Army V Corps, the Victory Corps. ... Shoulder sleeve patch of the United States Army 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, the Blackhorse Regiment. ... The 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment is an armored cavalry regiment of the United States Army. ... The United States Constabulary was the United States Armys paramilitary gendarmerie type occupation and security force in the U.S. Occupation Zone of West Germany immediately after World War II, from 1946 to 1952. ...

The armored cavalry's (heavy, mechanized reconnaissance units equipped with tanks and armored personnel carriers) mission in peace was watching the East-West border for signs of pre-attack Soviet army movement. The armored cavalry's mission in war was to delay a Soviet attack until other units of the U.S. V Corps could be mobilized and deployed to defend the Fulda Gap. The armored cavalry would have also served as a screening force in continuous visual contact with the Warsaw Pact forces, reporting on their composition and activities. The divisions assigned to defend the Fulda Gap were the 3rd Armored Division [3rd AD], and the 8th Infantry Division (Mechanized) [8th ID]. Mixed reconnaissance patrol of the Polish Home Army and the Soviet Red Army during Operation Tempest, 1944 Reconnaissance is the military term for the active gathering of information about an enemy, or other conditions, by physical observation. ... East German BRDMs on parade during celebrations of the 40th anniversary of East Germany in 1989 Armoured personnel carriers (APCs) are light armoured fighting vehicles for the transport of infantry. ... -1... The 3rd Armored Division —nicknamed the Spearhead Division— was an armored division of the United States Army. ... The U.S. 8th Infantry Division was a military formation of the United States Army during the 20th Century. ...

The V Corps' principal adversary was the Soviet 8th Guards Army, which was to be followed by additional armies, making the Fulda Gap a key entry route for the Soviet Bloc to western Europe in any hypothetical battle in Cold War Europe; both armies were well-equipped and held high-priority for receiving new equipment. The Soviet 8th Guards Army was an army of the Soviet Army, disbanded finally in the early 1990s. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ...

Defending the Fulda Gap from a Warsaw Pact invasion would have been the 3rd Armored Division and the 8th Infantry Division of the US V Corps. As the principal defense force their mission, along with the 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division (1976–1984), would have been to fight and stop invading forces, not delay them. From 1979 onwards, the first V Corps unit detailed to move to the Fulda Gap in the event of war was the 8th ID's 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment (1-68 Armor), stationed at Wildflecken, south of the Gap. The mission of 1-68 Armor was to establish a defensive line across the Gap, providing a shield behind which the 3rd AD and the 4th Brigade, 4th ID, and other 8th ID units could advance and defend. Wildflecken, founded in 1524, is a small town in the district Bad Kissingen at the border between northeastern Bavaria and Hessen. ...

With the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, the reunification of Germany in 1990, and the subsequent withdrawal of Soviet forces, the Fulda Gap lost its former strategic importance yet remains a powerful symbol of the Cold War. View in 1986 from the west side of graffiti art on the walls infamous death strip Walls poster in memory of the fall. ... This article is about the 1990 German reunification. ...

See also

11th ACR memorial at the former Downs Barracks, Fulda, Germany.

* Observation Post Alpha - a Cold war observation post that overlooked the Fulda Gap, now the site of a Cold War memorial. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1200x1600, 531 KB) Photo taken by W. B. Wilson. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1200x1600, 531 KB) Photo taken by W. B. Wilson. ... NATO Observation Post Alpha, watchtower Observation Post Alpha, OP Alpha or Point Alpha ( ) was a Cold War observation post located between Rasdorf, Hessen, West Germany and Geisa, Thuringia, East Germany. ...

Further reading

• Faringdon, Hugh. Strategic Geography: NATO, the Warsaw Pact, and the Superpowers. Routledge (1989). ISBN 0-415-00980-4.
• Fulda Gap: The First Battle of the Next War. Designed by James F. Dunnigan , Simulations Publications, Inc., 1977. Board Game

James F. Dunnigan (born 1943) is an author and wargame designer currently living in New York City, notable for his matter-of-fact approach to military analysis. ... Simulations Publications, Inc. ...

External links

• US Army Border Operations 1948-83
• 14th Cavalry Association
• Squadrons, 14th CAV
• US Army Germany.com
• 14th Cav at US Army Germany site
• 11th Cav at US Army Germany site
• From Fulda Gap button, one of 3 Fulda Gap pages at 1st Battalion 33rd Armor.org
• 1st Bn 68th Armor at Wildflecken was a Fulda Gap screening force
• Wildflecken Veterens.com