Ordruf

The history of Ordruf goes back to the Benedictine monastery , which was founded here in 724 by Anglo-Saxon monks under the leadership of St. Boniface , christianizer Germans and Frisians .

In 1695, Johann Sebastian Bach , having been orphaned, moved here in the care of his elder brother Johann Christoph. Bach worked in the church of sv. Michael; 5 years later, on March 15, 1700, he left the city. This church survived the fire in 1753 and was restored, but as a result of the bombing in 1945, it was completely destroyed ^[2] .

In 1938, an underground communications center was built here to serve OKW during the Sudeten crisis , which later remained unused and was not used until the end of World War II ^[3] .

The Ordruf death camp was the first concentration camp liberated by American forces during World War II (April 4, 1945) ^{[4] [5]} . German historian Rainer Karlsch in his book, published in 2005, writes that Ordruf could be one of two places where the Nazis conducted experiments in a nuclear project , killing prisoners under SS supervision, but this assumption is not shared by many other historians.

Earlier, in Ordruf there was a mass of buildings from the times of Kaiser Wilhelm II (located on the territory of the Soviet military garrison), such as: Offizierskasino, Trafohäuschen, Postgebäude, Theater. All of these historic buildings were demolished after the withdrawal of Soviet troops.

The Ordruf military training ground was founded in 1906 and at various times was used for its intended purpose - the training of troops. Only the troops were different. First - the troops of Germany, the Wehrmacht , then - the Soviet troops of the State Guard Group after the division of Germany, and since 1991 - the troops of the Bundeswehr . Landfill closed for free access. A unique, untouched for the last 65 years man, nature has been preserved.

From 1949 to 1991, the 39th Guards Motor Rifle Division of the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army ( GSVG , ZGV) was stationed in Ordruf.
Parts of the division located in Ordrūf:

• Division management (headquarters) (military unit 38865);
• The 120th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment (military unit PP 83066);
• The 585th guards motorized rifle regiment (until 1989 the 15th guards tank regiment (military unit 83086);
• The 915th anti-aircraft missile regiment (military unit p. 38866);
• The 154th separate guard battalion of communications (military unit 38844);
• The 305th Separate Chemical Protection Battalion (military unit 17442) was formed in 1971, the call sign is NITROZNIK. The first commander is Major Mikulsky S.
• 1128th Separate Battalion of the Department 442 (military unit PP 17445);
• 49th Separate Repair and Repair Battalion (military unit PP 19620);
• The 33rd separate medical battalion (military unit p. 38835).

And:

• The 390th Artillery Brigade (military unit 17439, subordinated to the control of the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army ).

• Manfred Ständer - Peter Schmidt "100 Jahre Truppenübungsplatz Ohrdruf. 1906—2006 ”(History of the Ordruf landfill), Germany, 2006

• ohrdruf.de (it.) - the official website of the city Ordruf
• Ordruf video