HISTORY CLASS FOR TODAY

The First Nazi: Erich Ludendorff, The Man Who Made
Hitler Possible

by Will Brownell

General Erich Ludendorff was one of the most important military individuals of the last century, yet today, one of the least known. One of the top two German generals of World War I, Ludendorff dominated not only his superior—General Paul von Hindenburg—but also Germany’s head of state, Kaiser Wilhelm II. For years, Ludendorff was the military dictator of Germany.

Ludendorff not only dictated all aspects of World War I, he refused all opportunities to make peace; he antagonized the Americans until they declared war; he sent Lenin into Russia to forge a revolution in order to shut down the Russian front; and then he pushed for total military victory in 1918, in a rabid slaughter known as “The Ludendorff Offensive.”

Shortly after losing the War in 1918, Ludendorff created the murderous legend that Germany had lost this war only because Jews had conspired on the home front. He soon forged an alliance with Hitler, endorsed the Nazis, and wrote maniacally about how Germans needed a new world war, to redeem the Fatherland. This savage man had staggering designs to build a gigantic state that would dwarf even the British Empire. Simply stated, he wanted the world.

In 1846 Kornwestheim got itself a train station. None of us were there at that time. We were back home in America trying to decide if we like Democracy, or not. We still do that today. Meanwhile over in Germany . .. . to accomodate increasing Frieght traffic in Kornwestheim a Frieght Shed was built in 1865.

To relieve pressure on Stuttgart Central Station a Frieght bypass was built in Kornwestheim with a Frieght Yard. By 1907 the Yard was overloaded and had to be expanded. With the construction of the railroad line Stuttgart - Ludwigsburg - Heilbronn and the national switch yard in Kornwestheim in the years of 1913-1919 made Kornwestheim thee railway node in southern Germany.

Kornwestheim became a City in 1935 and Suburban Service Line soon followed. After WWl as part of the German re-armament starting in 1934 the Ludendorff barracks were built as tank units and Kornwestheim became a garrison town in 1935. On April 21 in 1945, the US troops took over the Ludendorff barracks, up until 1993. The new train Station Building was inaugurated in 1992. It houses shops, offices and apartments. It would be really cool to live there now.

I was on a active duty tour in Belgium in 2017. One fine day I drove a rental car through Luxembourgh and then over to Stuttgart and I went to Kornwestheim, looking for Ludendorff. Unfortunately Ludendorff Kaserne was torn down, without a trace. It is now apartment buildings. Nobody remembers me.

BREAKING: An Army engineer brigade was reactivated Thursday in Europe after a 31-year absence. The 7th Engineering Brigade was stood up at the Army's Bavarian post in Ansbach under the command of Col. Kyle Moulton.
The unit was founded in 1944 based in Kornwestheim at the Ludendorff Kaserne near Stuttgart. After moving to multiple locations in Europe, the Pacific theater and Virginia, it was deactivated in 1992.

Reactivated the 7th Engineering Brigade is now the Army's only forward-stationed engineering brigade and will fall under the supervision of the Kaiserslautern-based 21st Theater Sustainment Command. It will support the U.S. Army in Europe and Africa as well as NATO-driven missions. The brigade is tasked with bridge construction, barrier clearing, demolition and other engineering missions.

Since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. has rotated thousands more troops into Europe as part of a mission to reassure NATO allies.