Conception The Heuberg training area originated from the requirements of the
XIV Army Corps in 1885, which had expressed a need for a new maneuver area that was large enough for
military exercises according to the new military principles. In August 1899 the
Grand Duchy of Baden's Ministry of Finance was informed by the General Command in
Karlsruhe of the requirements for a future training area. In addition to many other criteria, the future area should not have a high elevation, should have a railway terminal and should be as circular as possible. The agency assigned to conduct the search (
Domänendirektion) quickly determined that the wishes of the military could not be met by any of the candidates. In 1905, the interest of the agency focused on the Heuberg. Since both the terrain and the purchase presented the fewest difficulties, the site was chosen, despite the fact that the future training area was only one-third in Baden and would not have a railway connection. Plans for a military station below the outer firing position Blumersberg in Meßstetten were worked out in detail for 8000
gold marks. From 1908 on purchase negotiations were held for the areas in
Baden,
Württemberg und
Prussia, which dragged on for some time. In some cases forced
expropriations by the Reich Treasury was necessary, since not all prospective sellers were in agreement with the land prices offered by the military.
Construction and commissioning By 1910 the first military exercises by the XIV Army Corps could take place at the training course, which was only partially purchased at this time. Because there were not enough fixed accommodations, the soldiers were housed in tents or quartered in the surrounding communities. for example, Harthof and Lenzenhütte— also called Glashüttehof— in Straßberg,
Ochsenkopf and Waldhof in
Kaiseringen, Knobelhof in Heinstetten,
Sebastiansweiler with the Sebastian Chapel and Weinitz and Hardt in
Frohnstetten. A special challenge was supplying water for 6000 soldiers in training and 2500 horses. For this purpose, on February 19, 1910, the National Military Treasury acquired the so-called Hammermühle, an old ironworks in Thiergarten in
Beuron with channel and weir from the
House of Fürstenberg for 35.000
Reichsmarks. They also bought a water source, Rainbrunnenquelle, which originated in between
Neidingen and . After the demolition of the Hammerschmiede a pumping station was erected at its place. Along the more than higher training area three elevated tanks and a pressure line were built from 1909. In 1912 a power plant was built, which supplied the training ground with electricity via a power line from Thiergarten. In 1911 the planning of a wastewater treatment plant began; the construction took place 1912 to 1914, and in 1914 it was able to go into operation. 1925 Stetten was connected to the sewage treatment plant with the western center part, 1981 the district Glashütte was added. To build and supply the facility, a freight
funicular was inaugurated in 1912. It went from train station in
Kaiseringen to the Alb plateau with a length of , and from there an additional of railroad, of which only some concrete remains. After many repairs the railroad, completed in 1915, continued to suffer may accidents and was soon abandoned. At the end of
World War I in 1918 the training ground could initially no longer be used because of the
Treaty of Versailles. This treaty demanded the demilitarization of military proving grounds. The funicular was decommissioned in 1921 and never rebuilt. In 1985 a tank loading facility was built on the Zollernalb Railway (
Tübingen–Sigmaringen railway) in Storzingen.
First and Second World War In May 1914, shortly before the war began, the training area was opened. The
Prussian Ministry of War. gave careful consideration to the naming of the training area. In addition to the proposals as "Truppenübungsplatz Stetten", "Truppenübungsplatz Heuberg" was ultimately selected and approved by the Minister of War. In both World Wars a
prisoner-of-war camp was established at the site. At the beginning of 1933 the existing buildings on the Heuberg north of the facility were used as one of the first
concentration camps of the
Nazi regime. Up to 2,000 people, mostly political opponents of the regime, were taken in
protective custody. After nine months, Concentration Camp Heuberg was dissolved. Most prisoners were then deported into larger concentration camps, such as
Dachau. On March 1, 1945, on the Ochsenkopf about from the Camp Heuberg, 23-year-old Luftwaffe test pilot
Lothar Sieber made the initial (and only) test flight of the
Bachem Ba 349 "Natter"— the world's first manned flight of a vertical take-off
rocket plane. He was killed shortly after take-off in a crash near Nusplingen, in Stetten am kalten Markt. In March Sieber was buried with military honors in the cemetery of Stetten am kalten Markt. The grave is still there today; also still to be seen at the launch point are the concrete launch pad and the wooden stump of the launching ramp.
Postwar years until today From 1945 to 1959 the site was under French administration. The last
French army unit moved from Camp Heuberg in 1997. In 1966 the Bundeswehr expanded in Stetten am kalten Markt with the construction of the Albkaserne. Missiles were stationed here during the
Cold War. In 1995 the city of Meßstetten reacquired the former "Blumersberg" artillery site. Used chiefly for the armored corps until the end of the twentieth century, Heuberg is now used in many ways besides — practicing Army force basic training,
bomb disposal,
military police,
Technisches Hilfswerk,
professional fire,
Federal Police,
customs and police,
CBRN defense. ==Nature and landscape protection==