maenicure1981.netlify.com

1. Kaiser Wilhelm Kaserne Amberg
2. Kaiser Wilhelm Kaserne
3. Kaiser Wilhelm Ii Wwi
4. Kaiser Wilhelm Kaserne Frankfurt

Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kaserne was built in Mannheim in 1901. When these photos were taken ca. 1936, the post was the home of Artillerie-Regiment 69. Interestingly, the father of a college friend of mine was stationed at Kaiser Wilhelm Kaserne for a period while in the German army in World War I. He was later wounded in France but recovered. The family moved to the US in the 20's. He passed on several years ago. Turley Barracks before World War I.

Displaced Persons -

This web site is to honor your parents and grandparents, tormented and abused by dictators and their wars.

Aachen, Ukrainian

Dear Olga, In Spring 1945, the 658th Field Artillery Battalion (my father's unit) was located at Aachen, Germany and assigned security guard duties, including control of Displaced Persons (DP) Camps there. I would be interested in any additional information on camps Camp Brand, Camp Alsdorf, Camp Hertzogenrath, Camp Mine, Camp Telebinden, and Camp Zopp. Thank you, Bill Mullen

There are dozens of pages about the American occupation of Aachen und the whole area in: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/other/us-army_germany_1944-46_ch10.htm#b3, Greetings from Germany, Wolfgang Strobel, author of Post der befreiten Zwangsarbeiter - Displaced Persons Mail Paid in Deutschland 1945 - 1949.

City archive- Stadtarchiv
http://www.aachen.de/DE/kultur_freizeit/kultur/geschichte/stadtarchiv/index.html

Write to Aachen for Slave labor - 25 pages of research abbreviations, archives, list of books written in German about slave labor, catalogue references in archives

Kreishaus Aachen
Zollernstrasse 10
52070 Aachen
Tel: 0241/5198-0
Kostenloses Bürgertelefon: 0800/5198000
Fax: 0241/533190
E-Mail: info@kreis-aachen.de

Historisches Institut der RWTH Aachen
Abteilung Hochschularchiv
Kopernikusstr. 16
52056 Aachen

Phone: (0241) 80-6386
Fax: (0241) 80-8888-357
E-mail: archiv@rwth-aachen.de
Web site: http://www.rwth-aachen.de/zentral/dl_archiv.htm


Book: Author: Müller, Thomas Title:Zwangsarbeit in der Grenzzone. Der Kreis Aachen im Zweiten Weltkrieg. (Aachen in the 2nd World War
http://abcatalog.net/buchtipp/wirtschaftsgeschichte/3832213015.html

Achterwehr, #1209; Schleswig Holstein Region, (British zone); mostly Poles;

Aglasterhausen, near Heidelberg

Endel Taks was in the Aglasterhausen camp. Endel write us and tell us your story. Picture was in Getty Images and is no longer there.

3/24/05
Hello, I am curious to find out if you know anything about a place in germany called 'Aglasterhausen Childrens Center'. It is where I was placed at 10 days of age. I understand that it was used previously as a place to euthanize children with deformities. Any insight you could give me would be appreciated. Thank You, Vicki

'We arrived in Aglasterhausen with the rest of the children in about two hours travelling time. It was situated in a small town Neunkirchen, 100 km from Heidelberg. The place we were in had been used as a home for retarded children. In 1937 all these children were put to sleep by injections, as was the custom in the Third Reich administration.

The camp consisted of about 200 children, from 12 months to 18 years old. Most of the children were Jewish from all over Europe: Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Romania, also non-Jews from Ukraine, Yugoslavia, Estonia, Germany, and Lithuania. The surrounding areas around the camp were just like in a dreamland. Beautiful, tall birch trees covered most of our front and back courts. On one side of the home was a meadow with a small river flowing. The most beautiful birds were buzzing all over us.' For entire text see: http://migs.concordia.ca/memoirs/smilovic/part_7.html

2/15/007 Mrs. Kaczmar,
In 1947, my father, Konstanty Proniewicz, was transferred to the Children's Center here from Prien as an unaccompanied minor. He has told me that he remembers that there were people there from the USSR looking for Russian children. He lived here until 1948, when he was transferred to Bad Aibling. Any information on this location would be greatly appreciated. Max Monclair, Omaha, NE
http://maxmonclair.blogspot.com

Ahlen - is a town in the district of Warendorf, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approx. 10 km north-east of Hamm; mostly Poles, life today and museum, -14 camps (British zone). Krs. Beckum

Civilian work camps:

Lager Warendorfer Strasse, 500 persons
Lager Schuetzenhof, established 1942, 70 men and women
Lager Wiegard, 70 persons
Lager Tovarwerke, 60 persons
Lager Gasthof (Guesthouse) Quante (60 persons
Lager Fischer Mehring, 100 persons
Lager Theresienhof, 60 persons
Lager Koervers, 120 women in 1942
Lager Gasthof (Guesthouse) Rolf, 50 persons

9/2/07 Hello Olga,

Many thanks for your website - I was born in Ahlen - My mother told me there was a hospital* there but I cannot find anything about it. Anka KowalczykOzzpol88@yahoo.com.au

9/22/07 Reply:

Hello, Anka,
I saw your request for information on the hospital in Alhen, Germany. I was there in 1996; I was inside the hospital and I took a picture of it. The name of the hospital is on the picture - I think it's St. Fransiskus - *St. Franziskus - Hospital Ahlen http://factpartner.de/6648.html My mother has the photographs, and I'll take a look at them when I get home tonight and let you know if that's it or not, but the hospital is there.
My parents were in the DP Camp in Ahlen also. In 1996 we went to visit Ahlen in honor of their 50th Wedding Anniversary. We saw the house where my mother lived (it now houses Gypsies), we saw the barrack where my father lived (it's now a storage building). And we saw the coalmine where they (and maybe your parents) worked. I took a picture over the fence and couldn't see what I was photographing, but when the pictures came back, I saw that I had photographed the wagons of coal with the numbers on them, and my mother said that that was EXACTLY the way the coalmine looked when they worked there; same wagons and same numbers; nothing changed in 50 years!
There is a street in Ahlen just before the woods that has a path leading to the hospital. My parents lived in a house on that street. They said that the Germans were forced to leave their homes on that street after the War, and the DP's got to live there for a few months. Beyond the hospital, there is a mill that still exists. We saw that too. When we were there, my father walked up to the front desk at the hospital and asked them if the nurse he worked there with in 1945 was still there - and they said that she had just retired! We visited the house of someone my parents knew in Germany, but have not been in touch with since 1946, and the lady recognized my father right away before we even told her who we were!
Oksana Melnyk ukrphoto@aol.com
Chicago, Illinois

12/11/08 Hello Olga,

Ainring Jewish site (U.S. zone),

Oct. 1, 2013

Hanna Abaszidze (nee Trebert) 1916-1950
Hanna was born in Warsaw, and married in 1937 to Wachtang Abaszidze, a Captain of the 13th Division of the Polish Army. She is a distant relative of my wife, whose family history I am researching. I hope this post may generate some additional info about Hanna.
Wachtang was Georgian, having fought in the Russian Civil War 1917-20 on the White Russian side, and escaped via Constantinople to be recruited into the new Polish Army. Captured in September 1939, he was released in December 1939. Hanna and Wachtang passed the war in Warsaw, but so far as one can gather they drifted apart towards the end. Hanna managed to get away from Warsaw before the Uprising broke out on 1st August 1944, and at the end of the war found herself in the area east of Munich. As she spoke several languages fluently, she quickly found herself employed by the American forces as an interpreter, and then soon joined the International Refugee Organisation as a welfare officer (see photo below).

She worked in various camps from 1945 to 1950, so far as I can identify, as follows: Hammerau, Murnau, Freilassing, Laufen, Ainring and Bad Reichenhall. She was employed at Bad Reichenhall twice, and this was her last posting when on Saturday 13 May 1950 she drowned in a river above Bad Reichenhall trying to save the dog of a friend which had fallen into the river. She had a very large funeral, and people came long distances to attend. She would have been very well known in the camp network, being an outgoing and gregarious personality. She was buried at St Zeno Church in Bad Reichenhall, where a stone on her grave was maintained by someone until about 2006. I found the site of her grave a few years ago.
I have asked for this information to be posted on the Dpcamps website in the hope that it may ring bells with people interested in any of the camps listed. Maybe fragments of information exist here and there which will help me build up a richer picture of this young woman whose life was cut off so prematurely.

Eamonn Judge ejjudge@googlemail.com

City archives
Seminarstrasse 26
31061 Alfeld
Tel: 05181/703-181
Fax: 05181/703-216
Email: museum.alfeld@t-online.de

Third Armored Division Association Archives Alfeld is Sheet #4024

My husband's family were in camp in Alfeld and Westfalen. Can you help with information in english please. I really find your sight informative. thanks Linda Juda

Alsdorf (See Aachen)

http://www.alsdorf-online.de/de/geschichte/zwangsarbeit/

List of slave laborers: http://www.zweitausendeins.de/pdf/ZA.pdf

Alt-Garge, #255, Land Niedersachsen (British zone)

Altenstadt DP camp page photos and e-mails

Amberg Assembly Area No. 4, http://www.amberg.de/

1945-50 Amberg wächst durch den Fiüchtlingszustrom um fast 12,000 Einwohner
1945-50 Amberg by the Fiuechtlingszustrom grows by nearly 12,000 inhabitants

Hi Olga, On review of the documents I have, it appears as if my wife's parents' identiy cards were issued by IRO Wurzburg in February of 1948. In February,1949 they got married while living in Assembly Area No. 4 in Amberg. Can you suggest any sources for information about these locations? Thanks, Alan Steinfeld Scarsdale, NY

City archive:
Stadtarchiv Amberg
Postfach 2155
92224 Amberg

http://www.stadtarchiv.amberg.de/


State archive: Staatsarchiv Amberg
Archivstr. 3
92224 Amberg

Phone: (09621) 307-270
Fax: (09621) 307-288

BERG On the Katharinenfriedhof are three mass graves of different groups of LV victims with own in each case Gedenksteinen. The 46 victims a large tomb thinks of the LV law in the penintentiary Amberg. Between in each case 23 names is as inscription: 'to the memory of concentration camp prisoners and political convicts of the penal establishment Amberg 1933-1945 the Himmli judge blank rejects wrong terrestrially court again shines your honour!' Over the mass grave for 300 Soviet prisoners of war is a stone with the following inscription: 'see our wrong bury the controversy 300 member of the USSR' further one to 293 victims of the LV state intends a tomb with the inscription: 'buries the hate the senseless controversy Gebeine of 293 humans from the east hears our call the flehenden cry. Victims of the war Mahner to the peace 'on Israeli tables the cemetery, at the end of the Philipp Melanchthon road, are single and row graves for 16 victims of a concentration camp. Sources: Flat, Norbert, trace safety device. Amberg and the district under the swastika. A signpost/guide to places of fascist suppression and the anti-fascist resistance in the district Amberg Sulzbach and in the city Amberg, wet living 1989. 23 names finds. Computer translated text from http://www.schmal-andreas.de/ I am looking for a camp that I believe that my parents were in after the war. The name of the camp is Kaiser Wilhelm Kaserne. My parents were there in the time frame of around 1949-1950. Thanks you, E. Hutchins

Kaiser Wilhelm Kaserne in Amberg, plus more:

Ansbach has its own page now. (US zone) Ukrainian, Jews

US army installations in Ansbach and Kasserns, map, photos, history, etc.:
http://www.usarmygermany.com/USAREUR_City_Ansbach.htm

Arolsen (U.S. Zone)

Dr. Stefan Schroeder's report, Greven archives in German

City archive: Stadtarchiv Arolsen (Waldeck)
Anschrift: Grosse Allee 26, D-34454 Arolsen

Aschaffenburg camp info & photos (U.S. zone), mostly Ukrainian,

Spessart Park, between Würzburg & Aschaffenburg; another site
Visit Shevchenko Scientific Society Library for camp records.

Stadt- und Stiftsarchiv Aschaffenburg, Schönborner Hof
Wermbachstr. 15
63739 Aschaffenburg
Tel: (06021) 330-6213
Fax: (06021) 29540

Hello, Olga. I know that we were in a camp in Czechoslovakia, where my sister died; Wurzburg; Kleinheubach/Lowenstein; and Aschaffenburg, where we lived in a room on the first floor of the administration building which was right by the main gate and also contained the jail. I was trying to research the DP camps, especially the one in Aschaffenburg. I've found references to the Ukrainian camp but have not found any to the Estonian camp. I know it existed because I spent over two years there after the end of the war, and it was our starting point when we emigrated to the US. Can you give me any info/URL's which would lead me to sites where I might learn more about the Estonian camp? Tonu & Nancy

-----------------

Arnsberg (British zone), mostly Yugoslavs

Ascheberg - 5 camps (British zone)

Aschendorf-Hummling - Try Hannover archives

City archive:
http://www.stadtarchiv-hannover.de

http://www.hannover.de/deutsch/kultur/vera_kul/lndermus/lnzwisch/lndmuebe/lnstadta.htm
Am Bokemahle 14-16
30171 Hannover
Tel: 05 11 - 16 84 21 73
Fax: 05 11 - 16 84 65 90
Email: karljosef.kreter.47@hannover-stadt.de
Web: http://www.nananet.de/institut/stadtarchiv/index.html

5 Jun 2010 Hello,
My parents were displaced people from Poland, and were in a camp in Germany where I was born as well as my three brothers. I believe it was Aschendorf-Hummling, don't know much about it, my parents never talked about it. We came to the U. S. in 1951 lower East side. They are not living now and would like to find out about the past. I have old documents and photos, the documents are in German as well as the passport. They were helped by the International refugee organization. I have a letter telling my parents where they will be living in N.Y. and his job as a janitor.
My question is how do I go about finding out more information about the camp they were in? If there is a list of DP camps to confirm? I am doing this for my grand children so they know the family history.
Appreciate your Help, Monica Honjune@aol.com

Asperg

The internment camp in Asperg issued money in denominations of 50 pfenning (pennies) and 05, 1 and 2 reichsmarks. Typed and rubber-stamped the notes appear with and without a stamped expiration date of Mar 3 or March 10, 1947. From Displaced Persons Camp Money by Frank Passsic and Steven A. Feller.

Assen, Holland (British zone)

Asten now has its own page.

Auerbach German site; another site:http://www.cityalbum.de/germany/auerbach.htm

Auermühle / Auermuehle, #2521, Land Niedersachsen (British zone)

Augsburg - has new page

Augustdorf, #3130, #33/130, N. Rhine-Westphalia, (British zone), half Polish, Balts, Yugoslavs

Augustdorf is too small to be a city, but they have a communal adminstration, website:
http://www.augustdorf.de/
Augustdorf on this map:
http://www.augustdorf.de/aug-gemeindeportrait/lage-und-anreise/

The history content (submenu 'Geschichte') offers a lacking awareness for the DP camp history. But you may send an email to them with the email contact sheet on
http://www.augustdorf.de/aug-buergerservice3cbr-3erat---verwaltung/kontakt/
But: you have to fill in the math question at the end (a spam filter!)

If you wish to contact them by ordinary mail:

Gemeinde Augustdorf
Pivitsheider Straße 16
32832 Augustdorf
Germany
(You may address it directly to the mayor: Bürgermeister Dr. Andreas J. Wulf)

Records may also be held by the International Tracing Service
http://www.its-arolsen.org/en/homepage/index.html

German regional archives:
http://www.archive.nrw.de/LandesarchivNRW/abteilungOstwestfalenLippe/index.html
Maybe you should try to contact this archives via email first; they are more professional than Augustorf administration.
Best wishes,

Dr. Stefan Schröder stefan.schroeder@stadt-greven.de

Aurich, #211, Land Niedersachsen (British zone)

Niedersächsisches Landesarchiv
Am Archiv 1
30169 Hannover

Tel.: (+49) 511 120 66 01
Fax: (+49) 511 120 66 39

E-Mail: poststelle@nla.niedersachsen.de
Web site: https://www.nla.niedersachsen.de/startseite/standorte/standort_aurich/standort-aurich-134234.html

Hello Olga,
I hope you can help me with a conformation that my family were in the Aurich DP camp for approx 4 months from May to August 1950. Prior to that, we had been in at least 3 other camps in Italy Cinecitta, Versa and BagnoliÉ. I think. We left in 1950 from Bremenhaven on the Skaugum lll for Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia. But the ship kept breaking down soooooo we were off loaded in Fremantle, Western Australia. Then sent to a DP in Northam, Western Australia.

Names: Father: MRAMOR Quirino was born in Yugoslavia and listed as stateless. Mother: MRAMOR Rosa was born in Italy (Verona)

I think we were so very lucky to have been left in Perth Western Australia, I love it here. I would like to have the history to pass on to my family. Whatever you can help me with I would appreciated. Thank you in advance. Take care for now. Orietta Corbett. Australia

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Bad Kreuznach, Germany

Bad Kreuznach [known as 'B.K.'], once home to roughly 2,300 soldiers and the 1st Armored Division headquarters, has effectively shut down. The division and many of its soldiers now reside in Wiesbaden, a community in the midst of a $50 million-plus overhaul.

Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen announced Feb. 15, 2000 that the Department of Defense would end operations at two overseas locations as the 25th round of base closures. Headquarters US Army Europe ceased operations in Bad Kreuznach, Germany, and returned six facilities to host nation control. They are the Bad Kreuznach Family Housing Area, the Army Air Field, the Hospital Kaserne, the George C. Marshall Kaserne, the Moersfeld Storage Point and Rose Barracks.

Kaiser Wilhelm Kaserne Amberg

While the decision to close Bad Kreuznach was announced in February 2000, the idea has been 'kicked around for about four years. All of the studies pointed to the closure of Bad Kreuznach. The only question was what would be the final disposition of the units.

US Army Europe ceased operation in Bad Kreuznach and moved the 1st Armored Division to Wiesbaden by December 2001. In the summer of 2000, the 12th Aviation Brigade, 5-158 Aviation Battalion and the 3-58 Aviation Battalion (ATC) relocated to Giebelstadt Army Airfield. Also in the summer of 2000, the V Corps Artillery relocated to Heidelberg, the 212th MASH and 254 Combat Stress Detachment relocated to the Miesau Army Depot and the 527th MP Company relocated to Giessen. For the summer of 2001, the 1st AD Headquarters, DISCOM, and 141 Signal Battalion relocated to Wiesbaden Army Air Field. The 1st AD DIVENG moved to Giessen and the 102nd Signal moved to Hanau. During the summer of 2001 the 1st Armored Division headquarters relocated to Wiesbaden Army Airfield [WAAF] and by the end of the year, the 410th Base Support Battalion closed up shop in Bad Kreuznach, returning the American military installations to German control.

Prior to closure, the population assigned-served was: Active Duty Officer/Enlisted (BK/DX): Combined-approx 2650 Family Members: 2312 Civilian Employees: 354.

Community

Bad Kreuznach, located in the Nahe Valley, 12 miles from the junction of the Nahe and the Rhine, is a beautiful old city with a population of 40,000. The city dates back to Roman times. It is famous as a health resort and wine-producing area and is rapidly becoming an important industrial city. It is 7 minutes from the Mainz/Wiesbaden autobahn and 1 hour from Frankfurt.

Bad Kreuznach is centrally located between many Army and Air Force bases; Mainz, Weisbaden, and Frankfurt are just a short drive north of Bad Kreuznach and Kaiserslautern and Ramstein are about an hour south. Bad Kreuznach is centrally located within Germany, 50 minutes southwest of Frankfurt and about 35 minutes southwest of Wiesbaden and Mainz. The community is medium sized and offers a wide variety of activities to meet the needs of the military community. Bad Kreuznach is surrounded by vineyards and was built around the beautiful Nahe River valley. The city of Bad Kreuznach is located on the Nahe River at the foot of Kauzenburg Hill. For over a hundred years, the city has had a widespread reputation as a health spa. The natural springs are said to have great healing power due to high contents of salt and radium.

Around Bad Kreuznach there are swimming pools, riding stables, and many parks and places of historical interest. The cities of Mainz, Wiesbaden, and Frankfurt offer good opera seasons, orchestra series, and visiting artists. In the Bad Kreuznach area, the U.S. Army maintained education centers, which offer language courses and advanced studies. Several universities offer graduate programs in Wiesbaden and the surrounding areas.

Bad Kreuznach is the home of the Schneider Optic Factory, whose cinematographic, photo, and projection lenses are world famous. This factory is over 100 years old, and along with another long time resident, the Seitz Machine and Filter Works, and the Michelin Tire Factory, forms the backbone of the city's industry. The other major industry of the region is the world renown wine production of Nahe Valley.

History

Since its earliest recorded history, Bad Kreuznach has had a legacy of military influence that has shaped its character to present day. Bad Kreuznach was a Celtic settlement under the name of Crucinacum. There is evidence, however, of settlements as far back as the stone age, 4,000 years ago.

In 50 B.C. the first Roman Legionaries came to build a fortress near Lammerbrucke. During the 400 years of occupation, the Romans gave the local people their monetary system, laws, progress in agriculture, administration, trade and business. The Romans latinized Kreuznach's Celtic name of Crucina to Crucinacum and colonized the region. They introduced many arts and crafts, established manufacturing plants, demonstrated new methods of horticulture and farming, and most importantly, they brought the vine. The Roman troops withdrew from this area near the end of the 4th century A.D. and returned to protect their Italian homeland. As one result of the Roman influence, wine has become a major business along the Nahe River.

The Germanic tribes were next to occupy the area, followed by the Franks who reigned over the Nahe region and made it part of the Frankish Empire. Their realm ultimately encompassed much of what is now France, Switzerland, western Germany and northern Italy. Under East Frankish rule, central government gave way to local feudal control. By the year 900, the feudal era, although just beginning, had taken its toll on the existing town.

After the Roman occupation, the fortress became a Franconian Royal Palace, and was given, along with the city of Kreuznach, to the Bishop of Speyer. The Count von Sponheim then built a castle on Kauzenburg, along the river, to care for the needs of his nobles. This formed the medieval Neustadt. The inhabitants of the old Kreuznach began building in this direction for protection purposes.

The village of Crucinacum, located on the right bank of the Nahe River in the vicinity of the present-day Bahnhof (train station), was nearly wiped out as a result of a devastating fire in 1183. Meanwhile, a flourishing settlement grew along the opposite bank of the Nahe River under the patronage of the Sponheims. The Counts of Sponheim are regarded as the founders of the 'new' Kreuznach, which consisted of today's Altstadt (old city) and Neustadt (new city).

In 1241, the two towns were united by a bridge over the river, and walls were constructed around the town. The terms Altstadt and Neustadt (Old and New City), were then used only to identify the parts of the town of Kreuznach. Between 1291 and 1301, the wooden bridge was replaced by a stone bridge -a remarkable structure, spanning the river on eight piers. At the end of the 15th century, the 'Bridge Houses,' or Brückenhäuser, were built on this bridge.

During this time, the Sponheims also began constructing a fortified castle on top of the hill overlooking the town. It was given the name 'Kauzenberg' in the late 15th century. Kreuznach remained the seat of the Sponheim dynasty until 1437, when the family died out. Following the Sponheim era, Kreuznach changed hands many times.

The mounting tensions between the Protestants and the Catholics resulted in the Thirty Years' War (1618 to 1648). Germany became the focal battleground for religious and political forces from all over Europe. The Kreuznach area was entangled in the fighting. During the period of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), Kreuznach was alternately French, Swedish, Spanish, and German. The castle was stormed twice during the Thirty Years' War, and weathered attacks by Spanish, Swedish and Imperial troops with little damage.

While the town was struggling to overcome the ravages of war, a plague struck in 1666, claiming the lives of 1,400 Kreuznachers. Immediately thereafter, this area, referred to as the Palatinate, fell victim to the dynastic ambitions of King Louis XIV of France. Between 1667 and 1697, the region's landscape was devastated in three wars of conquest. In 1689 the troops of France's King Louis XIV blasted and burned it to ashes during the War of Conquest. The town was almost completely destroyed during this time, and the population was decreased by one-third due to hunger, poverty, fires and plundering. By the turn of the 17th century, Kreuznach was left in total ruin. Its buildings, fortified walls, towers and churches were destroyed. The castle was never rebuilt. Instead, a modern hotel and restaurant were erected in its place.

During the French Revolution (1789 to 1799) and the ensuing wars of Napoleon, the Palatinate again succumbed to French control. A French municipal government was set up in Kreuznach after 1795.

With the defeat of Napoleon at Leipzig and Waterloo, the Rheinland-Palatinate, and with it the town of Kreuznach, came under the control of the rising German superstate of Brandenburg-Prussia. With the Treaty of Vienna in 1815, Kreuznach became a part of Prussia.

In 1817, the mineral baths were discovered, and new life was given to the city. The area became a resort for the wealthy of Europe, due to the healing qualities of the natural baths. The name of the city was changed to Bad Kreuznach in order to take advantage of the natural baths in the area. During the nineteenth century, Bad Kreuznach was the playground to the royal families of Europe. Before the outbreak of World War I, a local pharmacist discovered that the briny waters of the springs contained radium. The success of these medical investigations became the foundation of the town's development as a spa and health resort.

During both World Wars, Bad Kreuznach was major headquarters for the German High Command. As such, many of the leading generals of the German Army were in residence in many of the resort areas, including the Kurhaus, or health resort hotel.

With the outbreak of the First World War, the recently constructed Kurhaus became the command center for the German Supreme Headquarters of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1917 and 1918. After Germany's defeat in 1918, General Marquin, commanding general of the 10th French Army, and his staff set up headquarters in the Kurhaus. French troops occupied Bad Kreuznach and the rest of the Rheinland until 1930. They built the town's first barracks, the Des Gouttes Kaserne, later renamed John W. Minick Kaserne under American administration.

Bad Kreuznach was badly damaged by a number of air raids during the last months of World War II. In March 1945, elements of Gen. George Patton's Third Army took Bad Kreuznach. The American units, however, were replaced by French occupation troops in June and July of that year.

Following the second World War, first French, and then American forces have been continually based in the city. After World War II, the resort facilities were returned to civilian use and the town won back its position as a health resort of international acclaim.

Kaiser Wilhelm Kaserne

In 1945, the political division of occupied Germany into four zones made the town of Bad Kreuznach part of the newly formed state of Rheinland-Pfalz, then part of the French zone of occupation. In 1951, after political boundaries between the three western zones had been eliminated, and a new self-governing German Federal Republic had been created, the US Army returned to Bad Kreuznach. The US 2nd Armored Division took over what was once Hindenburg Kaserne, and renamed it Maurice Rose Kaserne in honor of Maj. Gen. Maurice Rose, a hero of World War II. In 1957, the 2nd AD was replaced by the 8th Infantry Division. On Jan. 17, 1992, the 8th ID cased its colors and was redesignated as the 1st Armored Division.

Kaiser Wilhelm Ii Wwi

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Kaiser Wilhelm Kaserne Frankfurt