Casting US depot

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US depot in Giessen
Map of the depot

The US depot Gießen was located on the eastern edge of the central Hessian city ​​of Gießen between Gießener Ring and Rödgener Straße. The operating company of the depot was the state Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) with headquarters in Dallas , Texas . After the Second World War, the depot was set up on the site of the Gießen Airport, which was built in 1929 .

Only a few traces of the airport are visible today, including the Bauhaus-style reception building that served the military police for many years.

The US depot in Giessen was the central goods distribution center of the American armed forces in Europe until mid-2007 . From here, mainly civil goods such as food, clothing, furniture, hi-fi equipment, etc. for members of the American stationing forces were sent to the “PX” stores (PostExchange) of the US Army and Air Force in Western Europe and to crisis areas . In the Bosnia conflict as well as in the two Gulf Wars, the US depot played an important strategic role in supplying the soldiers and their families.

With over 500 employees, the US depot was one of the most important employers in the low-wage sector in the Gießen district .

The US depot was closed in late August 2007. The official closing ceremony took place in the presence of various local politicians on September 28, 2007. The civil part of AAFES operations was completely discontinued on March 31, 2017 in Gießen and relocated to the new location in Germersheim . The property was returned to the city of Giessen.

Around 400 employees were affected by the closure at the end of March 2017. The Helmut von Bracken School is to move into the former premises of the American elementary school in order to curb the large lack of space on the school premises, which is shared with the East and Korczak School.

On the northern edge of the site there was a Lance missile position and the special ammunition depot in Gießen from 1974 to 1988 , which kept tactical nuclear warheads for the Lance missiles in well-secured bunkers. This northern area is now part of the National Natural Heritage and is not open to the public.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Planes, trains, automobiles - 45 years and still moving (Giessen Courier (Giessen MILCOM newspaper), August 15, 1990)
  2. ↑ USAREUR Installation Maps, Giessen 1982
  3. ↑ http://www.giessen.army.mil/sites/local/ ( Memento from August 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ [_http: //www.giessener-anzeiger.de/lokales/stadt-giessen/nachrichten-giessen/2016-endet-us-praesenz-in-giessen_14166321.htm] (Giessener Allgemeine, June 24, 2010)
  5. ^ Gießener Allgemeine from October 28, 2008: City buys federal American elementary school

See also

Coordinates: 50 ° 35 ′ 45.1 ″  N , 8 ° 43 ′ 25.9 ″  E