In my previous post, I mentioned a walk on Wednesday, the 1st of November - a holiday in my part of Germany, and a beautiful day, sunny and very mild.
Because of our schedules, it made more sense for O.K. and me to spend the day each at our own places, and so I went on an urban walk on my own.
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| Crossing the railway tracks separating "my" part of town (Weststadt) from the centre and other parts |
I want to use the occasion to tell you a bit more about the US-American presence in my area, which was rather strong until the early 1990s. With the outbreak of the Gulf War (remember "Operation Desert Storm"?) and having to cope with its aftermath, the US administration's focus lay elsewhere than to maintain their many military posts and other infrastructure in Germany.
Ludwigsburg and the surrounding area was a temporary home for many American soldiers and their families. American cars - easy to spot, since they were bigger and "flashier" than ours - were a familiar sight in my town's streets, as were soldiers in uniform or sports clothes. Many of the larger shops accepted US dollars as well as Deutsche Mark back then.
Family housing areas were erected in and around town from the 1950s, and all former Wehrmacht-Kasernen were converted into US military barracks. On the outskirts of Ludwigsburg, an entire small American town was built: housing blocks, shops, a cinema/theatre, church, elementary school, middle school, high school, dental clinic and more.
It was called Pattonville and has its own wikipedia entry.
As a child, I didn't know anyone who lived there. In my late teens, I had an American piano teacher; her husband taught Spanish at the American High School there, but the couple lived "on the economy", meaning not in one of the designated housing areas for US miliatary, school staff and other personnel.
Later, one of my cousins married an American soldier. Before they eventually moved to the US, for a while they lived in Pattonville, but I did not visit them there.
Still, I found the place always fascinating somehow - probably because when we were kids, our Dad used to drive through Pattonville with us in the weeks leading up to Christmas so that we could admire their Christmas decorations. They were pretty impressive in our eyes - bigger, bolder and brighter than what folks had in our neighbourhood. And Pattonville as such was just so different to what we were used to, with its spacious streets and "exotic" playgrounds.
When no other activity but walking was possible at the start of the Covid pandemic, I re-discovered Pattonville for myself. I have always enjoyed walking and done lots of it, but during that time, it kept me sane and healthy both mentally and physically.
I directed my walks in a star pattern from my home, walking one day in one direction, the next in another, and so on. That way, I made the "Pattonville route" a regular walk.
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| Not Pattonville, but one of the other former US housing areas dotted around town. See the green "thing" in the middle of the houses? Those shelters were a regular sight in the 1970s, and this is the last one I know of that has not been removed. |
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| This leafy path leads in a straight line to Ludwigsburg palace - not where I was headed that day. |
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| Former Ludwigsburg / Stuttgart American High School (SAHS), now Erich Bracher Schule. |
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| A better view of a typical apartment building in the US housing areas around here. Originally, they had no balconies or individual gardens; now almost all of them have had balconies added at the back, and some of the surrounding grounds has been turned into gardens. |
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| Near the train station again - almost home. |
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| No Christmas lights (yet), but colourful nonetheless! |
For one thing, it has been built up more than twice as dense at it used to be. Where there were generous green spaces and playgrounds between the blocks of flats, now there are more apartment buildings with precious little green left. Two of the schools still exist; the building of the former Stuttgart American High School (called Ludwigsburg American High School for some years) now houses a German school, while SAHS has relocated to a modern building in Stuttgart.
Then of course, instead of American soldiers and their families, others now live there: A colourful mix of many nationalities and provenances, popular with families who have (young) children; not many senior citizens live in that area (that's not just my impression - official statistics show it, too).
Shops and other infrastructure are very different now as well: Several large supermarkets have been built at Pattonville's northern entrance and in its centre, and there are many other shops and businesses such as hairdressers, doctors, undertakers, cafés and so on.
I would not call it a place of beauty, but it is unique, and every time I walk there, it feels - at least in parts - a little like time-travelling.
Anyway, last Wednesday was a gorgeous day, and I am glad I had the time and opportunity for a walk.
Addendum:
For comparison, I have added a map of Pattonville from its "American" years and a current picture of Google maps.
Interesting to learn about, and makes me realise that I don't think I ever heard much about the US American precense in Western Germany lasting that long after the war. In my youth there was more talk about the situation in Eastern Germany. But of course the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 must have changed the situation in the West as well as the East.
ReplyDeleteWe still have a US community in the Stuttgart area, but there are far less military and civilians now than there were up until 1991/92; I have not seen a car with a US registration plate in my town in years (that doesn't mean that there aren't any, of course), but we still get American visitors at the palace grounds and other points of interest.
DeleteFor my area, the fall of the Berlin wall meant an influx of people from East Germany settling here, and investors from West Germany grabbing what real estate they could during the first turbulent years.
Meike’s sister: after 9/11 the US military changed their car plates in Germany to local car plates to better blend in.
DeleteThank you for clarifying this, sis - I didn't know.
DeleteIn the 1960s my aunt, uncle, and cousins lived for 3 years at Rheindalen near Dusseldorf where he had a civilian post with the British forces. All I can gather of it is that it was a strange existence.
ReplyDeleteMy friend and "running buddy" and her husband are Americans; they have been living in Ludwigsburg for 20 years or so (but not as part of the military). Her Dad was in the military, and as a kid, she was used to moving every few years from post to post. It must have been a strange existence alright.
DeleteNot sure whether the British forces built housing areas with shops, schools etc. for their families like the Americans did; in O.K.'s area, they had "the French" and Canadians, but those were mostly young single men and not families, according to what O.K. remembers from his childhood and youth.
Well that is fascinating. In all the years I have been reading your blog, I didn't think that I had ever come across Pattonville before. However, using the "search" facility, I see that you have mentioned it before.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have, but not in such detail as today. I was going to add a map of old Pattonville and a google maps picture of today for comparison; maybe I'll do that today.
DeleteThat's so interesting, Meike. I had no idea about that, altho, now that I think of it my oldest son has a friend that is stationed in Germany now. I will have to ask him where she is
ReplyDeleteMost of the US military installations in Germany are in the south (Greater Stuttgart or Bavaria), although Ramstein is still the biggest base, as far as I know. That is in Rheinland-Pfalz, a neighbouring federal state to mine (Baden-Württemberg).
DeletePS: Ellen, I have just done a quick research of Ramstein and discovered that the US community at Kaiserslautern is the largest of Germany with about 52,000 American citizens.
DeleteWhat an interesting narrative on the history of that little community. It is amazing how communities change throughout the decades.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it - thank you for reading and commenting!
DeleteAbsolutely fascinating. I should be able to come up with a lot more but why? It was absolutely fascinating and I enjoed the narrative and the photos.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Graham. I would have liked to write and show much more than what ended up in this post, but I think I managed to convey a bit of my fascination with the place.
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