Ready for the war of the future

The Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) practices urban combat / 2016 – 2017

By the middle of the 21st century, most people will live in urban areas or megacities. For many warring parties, this means that if they want to win, they must first and foremost control the cities. European armies are therefore increasingly preparing for urban combat in their manoeuvres and rehearsing worst-case scenarios. Between 2012 and 2017, for example, the Bundeswehr has built the combat city Schnöggersburg in Saxony-Anhalt. It contains around 520 buildings, a motorway, an artificial river, a stadium, a school and an underground tunnel for practising urban warfare. The former village of Bonnland in the Hammelburg training area also serves as a Bundeswehr training village with 120 abandoned houses. There, German soldiers prepare for their missions abroad.

In 2016, Johanna-Maria Fritz took part in a training programme for journalists run by the Bundeswehr in Bonnland to prepare them for missions in war zones. The resulting photographs are being exhibited for the first time.