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Fulda Gap

Coordinates: 50°37′N 9°25′E / 50.617°N 9.417°E / 50.617; 9.417
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Terrain near the central German 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. The concept of a major tank battle along the Fulda Gap was a predominant element of NATO war planning during the Cold War, and weapons such as the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter were developed with such an eventuality in mind.

Strategic location

Fulda Gap terrain features.

Close to the Fulda Gap, the loss of Frankfurt, West Germany's 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.

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.

It is roughly the same route Napoleon chose to withdraw his armies after defeat at the Battle of 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.

The Fulda Gap in the Cold War

Theoretical attack routes through the Fulda Gap; the southeastern is Fulda, the northwestern is Alsfeld.
Soldier of the U.S. 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment on duty in the Fulda Gap during the Cold War.

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. Part of this Armored Cavalry 7th Army unit acted as a V Corps screening force in the Fulda Gap. 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.

The armored cavalry's (heavy, mechanized reconnaissance units equipped with tanks and other armored vehicles) 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].

The V Corps' principal adversary was the Soviet 8th Guards Army, which was to be followed by additional armies (including the 4 armored divisions and 1 mechanized infantry division of the Soviet 1st Guards Tank Army), 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.

As stated, 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.

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

From 1979 onwards, the first V Corps unit detailed to move to the Fulda Gap in the event of war (other than most of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR) which was stationed in the Fulda Gap) was the 8th ID's 1st Battalion, 68th Armored Regiment (1-68 Armor), stationed at Wildflecken, south of the Gap. The mission of 1-68 Armor was to establish a defensive line across part of the Gap, providing a shield behind which other V Corps units could advance and defend.

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, but it remains a powerful symbol of the Cold War.

See also

  • Observation Post Alpha - a Cold War observation post that overlooked the Fulda Gap, now the site of a Cold War memorial.

Further reading


50°37′N 9°25′E / 50.617°N 9.417°E / 50.617; 9.417

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