Baumholder
Encyclopedia
Baumholder is a town in the Birkenfeld
Birkenfeld (district)
Birkenfeld is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Sankt Wendel , Trier-Saarburg, Bernkastel-Wittlich, Rhein-Hunsrück, Bad Kreuznach and Kusel.- History :...

 district
Districts of Germany
The districts of Germany are known as , except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where they are known simply as ....

 in Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, in the Westrich, an historic region that encompasses areas in both Germany and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. The town of Baumholder is the administrative seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde
Baumholder (Verbandsgemeinde)
Baumholder is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district of Birkenfeld, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Baumholder....

, a state-recognized tourism resort and, according to state planning, a middle centre
Central Place Theory
Central place theory is a geographical theory that seeks to explain the number, size and location of human settlements in an urban system. The theory was created by the German geographer Walter Christaller, who asserted that settlements simply functioned as 'central places' providing services to...

.

Location

Baumholder lies between the Hunsrück
Hunsrück
The Hunsrück is a low mountain range in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the river valleys of the Moselle , the Nahe , and the Rhine . The Hunsrück is continued by the Taunus mountains on the eastern side of the Rhine. In the north behind the Moselle it is continued by the Eifel...

 to the north and the North Palatine Uplands to the south, right on a height that marks the latter’s northern boundary. This area is also known as the Westrich. Baumholder lies roughly 10 km south of Idar-Oberstein
Idar-Oberstein
Idar-Oberstein is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As a Große kreisangehörige Stadt , it assumes some of the responsibilities that for smaller municipalities in the district are assumed by the district administration...

.

The countryside around Baumholder is marked by many meadows, fields and woodlands, both broadleaf and mixed. A great part of the Baumholder Troop Drilling Ground abutting the town serves as a refuge for many plant and animal species that have become rare, for example the Common Kingfisher, the Lynx
Lynx
A lynx is any of the four Lynx genus species of medium-sized wildcats. The name "lynx" originated in Middle English via Latin from Greek word "λύγξ", derived from the Indo-European root "*leuk-", meaning "light, brightness", in reference to the luminescence of its reflective eyes...

 and the Badger, some of which are on the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...

.

Climate

Precipitation diagram


Yearly precipitation
Precipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...

 in Baumholder amounts to 884 mm. At 76% of the German Weather Service’s weather station
Weather station
A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for observing atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, wind speed, wind...

s, lower figures are recorded. The driest month is April. The most rainfall comes in December. In that month, precipitation is twice what it is in April. Precipitation varies only slightly. At 46% of the weather stations, lower seasonal swings are recorded.

Middle Ages to 19th century

In 1156, Baumholder had its first documentary mention as Bemondula, then held by the Bishop of Verdun
Verdun
Verdun is a city in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is the slightly smaller city of Bar-le-Duc.- History :...

. By the 14th century, it had ended up under the Counts of Veldenz, until 1444, when it was acquired by Palatinate-Zweibrücken
Palatinate-Zweibrücken
Palatinate-Zweibrücken is a former state of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Zweibrücken.-Overview:→ History before 1394 see main article County of Zweibrücken→ History before 1444 see main article County of Veldenz...

. Until the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

, Baumholder was the seat of a Zweibrücken Schultheiß
Schultheiß
In medieval Germany, the Schultheiß was the head of a municipality , a Vogt or an executive official of the ruler.As official it was...

erei
. The Duke of Zweibrücken gave Baumholder leave in 1490 to fortify the market town.

Although town rights were never explicitly granted Baumholder, the town acquired a number of privileges over the ages that have more or less amounted as much.

From 1816, Baumholder, along with the rest of the Principality of Lichtenberg
Principality of Lichtenberg
The Principality of Lichtenberg was a small state of the German Confederation owned by a branch of the Saxe-Coburgs which was sold to Prussia and incorporated into the Rhine Province in 1834...

, belonged as an exclave to Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
The Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was one of the Saxon Duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin Dynasty. Established in the 17th century, the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield line lasted until the reshuffle of Ernestine territories that occurred following the extinction of the Saxe-Gotha line in...

. The Principality was sold in 1834 to Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

 and came to form the geographical centre of the Sankt Wendel district, whose bounds to this day define most of the bounds of the Evangelical
Evangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...

 church district of Sankt Wendel.

20th century

With the formation of the Territory of the Saar Basin
Saar (League of Nations)
The Territory of the Saar Basin , also referred as the Saar or Saargebiet, was a region of Germany that was occupied and governed by Britain and France from 1920 to 1935 under a League of Nations mandate, with the occupation originally being under the auspices of the Treaty of Versailles...

 in 1919, Baumholder was split from the district seat of Sankt Wendel
Sankt Wendel
St. Wendel is a municipality in northeastern Saarland. It is situated on the river Blies 36 km northeast of Saarbrücken, the capital of Saarland, and is named after Saint Wendelin of Trier.- Geography :...

 by the newly drawn border and thereafter became the seat of the Restkreis (roughly “remnant district”) of St. Wendel-Baumholder. Its designation as a Restkreis arose from its being what was left of the Sankt Wendel district on the Prussian side of the border once the Territory of the Saar Basin had been formed under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...

. It was run as a rural district (Landkreis), however. Once the Saar area was returned to Germany in 1935, though, the district remained separate. On 1 April 1937, the Restkreis was merged into the Birkenfeld district.

In the 20th century, Baumholder became a garrison town when the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

 built its barracks and troop drilling ground here. To do this, several thousand inhabitants were moved. Between 1941 and 1945, the troop drilling ground was the location of a prisoner-of-war camp
Prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...

 for Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

, Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 and other prisoners
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...

.
After the Second World War, after a short occupation by the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

, French soldiers were stationed in Baumholder for a few years. These left the garrison when the Americans came back.

The United States Army built the troop drilling ground beginning in 1951 into one of its biggest garrisons in Germany, which also brought Baumholder a considerable upswing in its economy in the 1950s: bars opened, as did dancehalls and music halls. In this small community, there were about 50 taxis. The town’s “sinful” nightlife, financed by the Americans’ buying power in this time, led to news reports read throughout West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

. In the areas around the town, countless sex trade workers offered their services, sometimes even in tents pitched for that purpose. The West German government at that time described the region as a “moral disaster area”.

On 1 January 1994, the municipality of Gutsbezirk Baumholder (Gutsbezirk means “estate area”) was amalgamated with Baumholder, although not wholly, for parts of the area were also shared out to other neighbouring municipalities in both the Birkenfeld and Kusel
Kusel (district)
Kusel is a district in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Birkenfeld, Bad Kreuznach, Donnersbergkreis, Kaiserslautern, Saarpfalz and Sankt Wendel .-History:The district of Kusel was created at the beginning of the 19th century...

 districts. The municipality of Zaubach had already been merged into Gutsbezirk Baumholder on 1 January 1978.

On August 10, 2005 a group of US Army soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...

s engaged in a crime spree within the town of Baumholder, burgling several US Government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...

 buildings in Smith Barracks. The soldiers stole computer equipment, robbed
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....

 a local German taxi
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...

 driver, and ended their spree early the next morning by setting fire
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...

 to the Town Hall (Rathaus).

Later that day, German law enforcement
Law enforcement in Germany
Law enforcement in Germany is constitutionally vested solely with the states, which is one of the main features of the German political system. Therefore, unlike France, Italy, the United States, Canada or many other countries, Germany has no federal police force comparable to the Italian...

 took into custody two US Army soldiers and were seeking a third for questioning. Investigators eventually questioned as many as 20 persons, both American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 nationals, for information about the crime spree. Private First Class
Private First Class
Private First Class is a military rank held by junior enlisted persons.- Singapore :The rank of Private First Class in the Singapore Armed Forces lies between the ranks of Private and Lance-Corporal . It is usually held by conscript soldiers midway through their national service term...

 Zachary Watson and Specialist
Specialist (rank)
Specialist is one of the four junior enlisted ranks in the U.S. Army, just above Private First Class and equivalent in pay grade to Corporal. Unlike Corporals, Specialists are not considered junior non-commissioned officers...

 Samuel Bell were arrested by German authorities in connection to the crimes which totalled more than
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

1.5 million in damage. The soldiers were eventually handed over to US officials. Watson was eventually sentenced to 15 years in prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...

 at court-martial
Court-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...

. In a separate court-martial proceeding, Bell was sentenced to seven years in prison, dishonourable discharge, demotion to private
Private (rank)
A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...

 and forfeiture of all pay and allowances.

Town council

The council is made up of 20 council members, who were elected by proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...

 at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.

The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
  SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...

 
CDU  FDP
Free Democratic Party
Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party that is ideologically based around liberalism...

 
FWG
Free Voters
Free Voters is a German concept in which an association of persons participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it is a locally organized group of voters in the form of a registered association . In most cases, Free Voters are active only at the...

 
LFB Total
2009 8 2 2 4 4 20 seats
2004 8 6 2 4 20 seats

Mayor

Baumholder’s mayor is Peter Lang (SPD), and his deputies are Michael Röhrig (LFB), Christian Flohr (SPD) and Klaus Dessauer (SPD).

Coat of arms

The German blazon reads: Das Wappen der Stadt Baumholder zeigt im silbernen Schilde einen aus grünem Dreiberg aufwachsenden grün belaubten Holder- (Holunder-) baum. Neben dem Stamm desselben erscheint an nach außen gebogenen grünen Stielen rechts und links je eine vergrößerte, naturfarbene (weiße) Blüte des Holderbaums. Auf dem Schilde ruht die dreitürmige steinfarbene Mauerkrone.

The town’s arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

 might in English heraldic
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...

 language be described thus: Argent issuant from a mount of three vert in base an elder tree leafed of the same between two elder blossoms proper, also issuant from the mount, the dexter with stem embowed to dexter and the sinister with stem embowed to sinister, the shield ensigned with a mural crown with three towers masoned and embattled proper.

The arms were designed in 1907 by the Berlin heraldic artist Prof. Hildebrandt, and go back to town seals and arms borne in the 16th and 17th centuries. The arms have been borne since 8 February 1909 when they were approved, with a signature on the watercolour
Watercolor painting
Watercolor or watercolour , also aquarelle from French, is a painting method. A watercolor is the medium or the resulting artwork in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle...

 original, by Wilhelm II, King of Prussia.

Town partnerships

Baumholder fosters partnerships with the following places: Warcq
Warcq, Ardennes
Warcq is a commune in the Ardennes département in northern France.-Geography:The Sormonne River flows through the commune before flowing into the Meuse River.-Population:...

, Ardennes, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, since the 1960s

Buildings

The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....

’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
  • Evangelical
    Evangelical Church in Germany
    The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...

     parish church, Kirchstraße 19 – Baroque
    Baroque architecture
    Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...

     aisleless church
    Aisleless church
    An Aisleless church is a single-nave church building that consists of a single hall-like room. While similar to the hall church, the aisleless church lacks aisles or passageways either side of the nave separated from the nave by colonnades or arcades, a row of pillars or columns...

    , 1748-1750, architect Friedrich Hartmann Koch, Kusel; west tower Late Gothic
    Gothic architecture
    Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

  • Saint Simon’s
    Simon the Zealot
    The apostle called Simon Zelotes, Simon the Zealot, in Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13; and Simon Kananaios or Simon Cananeus , was one of the most obscure among the apostles of Jesus. Little is recorded of him aside from his name...

     and Saint Jude’s Catholic Parish Church (Pfarrkirche St. Simon und Judas Thaddäus), Hinterm Turm/corner of Hinter Haselweg – Gothic Revival
    Gothic Revival architecture
    The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...

     hall church
    Hall church
    A hall church is a church with nave and side aisles of approximately equal height, often united under a single immense roof. The term was first coined in the mid-19th century by the pioneering German art historian Wilhelm Lübke....

    , 1882-1885, architect P. Kontzen, Deggendorf
    Deggendorf
    Deggendorf is a town in Bavaria, capital of the district Deggendorf.The earliest traces of settlement in the area are found near the Danube, about 8,000 years ago. Both Bronze Age and Celtic era archeological finds indicate continuous habitation through the years...

    , Bavaria
    Bavaria
    Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

    ; furnishings
  • Town fortifications – built in the 16th century, only two towers preserved:
    • Dicker Turm (“Fat Tower” or “Thick Tower”) – full-round, quarrystone, partly reconstructed
    • Leichenpförtchen (“Little Dead Body Gate”) – square gatetower, pyramidal roof
  • Across from Badegasse 1 – so-called Schmiede Bier; small smithy, possibly about 1840; technical fittings
  • Hauptstraße 10 – former town hall; seven-axis, three-floor Classicist
    Classicism
    Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...

     building with hipped roof, 1840
  • Hauptstraße 16 – Quereinhaus (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street), twelve-axis Quereinhaus, late 19th century
  • Korngasse 1 – Gasthaus Goldener Engel (inn
    INN
    InterNetNews is a Usenet news server package, originally released by Rich Salz in 1991, and presented at the Summer 1992 USENIX conference in San Antonio, Texas...

    ); three-floor plastered building, partly slated, early 20th century; characterizes town’s appearance
  • Marktplatz – so-called Wäschbach; five-sided walled basin, essentially from the 19th century
  • Guthausmühle/Edingers Mühle (mill), northeast of the town on the Guthausbach – witnessed in 1750; three-sided estate: commercial building, mill, house and since 1890 inn joined together; gristmill from the latter half of the 19th century; fittings

Dialect

The regional dialect is highly consistent with the Saarland Dialect, a Rhine Franconian dialect spoken mainly in the east of the Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...

. German speakers from other regions often mistake Baumholderers for people from the Saarland for this reason, although interestingly, Baumholder speech is a relative “island dialect”, for in all neighbouring centres, such as Kusel
Kusel
Kusel is a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, capital of the district of Kusel. It is situated approx. 30 km north-west of Kaiserslautern....

, Idar-Oberstein
Idar-Oberstein
Idar-Oberstein is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As a Große kreisangehörige Stadt , it assumes some of the responsibilities that for smaller municipalities in the district are assumed by the district administration...

 and Freisen
Freisen
Freisen is a municipality in the district of Sankt Wendel , in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approx. 12 km northeast of Sankt Wendel, and 20 km southwest of Idar-Oberstein. The greater Freisen/Oberkirchen area is noted for its Turkish Cuisine, particularly the Donner Kebab...

, even in ones like Freisen that are actually in the Saarland, the pronunciation is noticeably different.

Deutschland-Rallye

Baumholder is a venue for the Hunsrück-Rallye and later the ADAC
ADAC
The ADAC is Germany's and Europe's largest automobile club, with more than 17 million members in June 2010. It was founded on May 24, 1903 as "Deutsche Motorradfahrer-Vereinigung" and was renamed in 1911...

-Rallye Deutschland
Rallye Deutschland
The ADAC Rallye Deutschland is a rally event held in Germany. The event was first held in 1982 and originally hosted by e.g. Frankfurt, Mainz and Koblenz. In 2000, the rally was relocated to the region around Trier...

, which has every year since 2002, except 2009, been a stage in the World Rally Championship
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...

. The Altstadtfest (“Old Town Festival”) held at the same time as the rally is among the region’s most important events.

OIE Triathlon

Since 2005, a triathlon
Triathlon
A triathlon is a multi-sport event involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance events. While many variations of the sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form, involves swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances...

 has been held each year in the town of Baumholder. This is open to individual or team competition.

Clubs

One of the town’s best known clubs is VFR Baumholder sport club). Other less well known but nonetheless important clubs include the Deutsche Lebens-Rettungs-Gesellschaft (DLRG
DLRG
The Deutsche Lebens-Rettungs-Gesellschaft e.V. is a relief organization for life saving in Germany. The DLRG is a non-profit, independent organization based on volunteers.-Tasks:...

), the Baumholderer Karnevalsgesellschaft (BKG, devoted to Carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...

), the German Red Cross
German Red Cross
The German Red Cross , or the DRK, is the national Red Cross Society in Germany.With over 4.5 million members, it is the third largest Red Cross society in the world. The German Red Cross offers a wide range of services within and outside Germany...

 (DRK), the angling
Angling
Angling is a method of fishing by means of an "angle" . The hook is usually attached to a fishing line and the line is often attached to a fishing rod. Fishing rods are usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a mechanism for storing, retrieving and paying out the line. The hook itself...

 club and the dog sport club (HSV).

Other yearly events

  • Altstadtfest (“Old Town Festival”)
  • Lindenfest
  • Kräutermarkt (“Herb Market”)
  • Kirmes (kermis; church consecration festival)
  • Weihnachtsmarkt (“Christmas
    Christmas
    Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

     Market”)
  • Rosenmontag
    Rosenmontag
    Rosenmontag is the highlight of the German "Karneval" , and is on the Shrove Monday before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. The "Mardi Gras," though celebrated on Tuesday, is a similar event...

    szug
    (“Shrove Monday Parade”)
  • BKG Prunksitzungen (Councils of Elves, a Carnival
    Carnival
    Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...

     event)
  • DLRG Weiherfest (“Pond Festival”)

Economy

Baumholder is well known as the location of one of the biggest American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 garrisons in Germany, which sprang up beginning in the 1950s on the lands of the Baumholder Troop Drilling Ground (Truppenübungsplatz Baumholder), which abuts the town. Ever since that time, the 13,000 or so United States military personnel and their dependents have characterized the town’s image scenically, economically and even socially.

The Americans maintain two facilities, Smith Barracks and Wetzel Barracks, in which roughly 12,000 people live. There is also Baumholder Army Airfield
Baumholder Army Airfield
Baumholder Army Airfield is a small military airfield in support of the United States Army facilities in Baumholder, Germany. It has a single runway in the 07/25 direction which is 16 meters wide and 572 meters long. It is located just north-east of the town of Reichenbach....

. The Americans run twelve of their own churches as well as cinemas
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....

, a PX
Base exchange
A Base Exchange is a type of retail store operating on United States military installations worldwide...

 and a hospital. Many of the town’s shops accept United States dollar
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

s in payment and are to a great extent dependent on American custom.

To this day, the United States forces and the Bundeswehr
Bundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...

 are the biggest employers of the town’s German population. On more than 35 ranges designed for infantry, tank troops and artillery, Bundeswehr soldiers can be found training alongside Americans and soldiers from other NATO countries.

The troop drilling ground is under Bundeswehr administration. Since 2002, the US Army has been gradually moving its tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...

s to troop drilling grounds in the Upper Palatinate
Upper Palatinate
The Upper Palatinate is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of Bavaria.- History :The region took its name first in the early 16th century, because it was by the Treaty of Pavia one of the main portions of the territory of the Wittelsbach Elector...

 that are under their own control. Some of the US troops stationed in town were regularly deployed in the Iraq War, and for the most part, returned afterwards to Baumholder.

The US Army’s proposal to close its Baumholder facilities has been withdrawn. Baumholder will remain a US Army base for the foreseeable future, and there are even plans to expand the base.

Units

  • 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Heavy)
    170th Infantry Brigade (United States)
    The of the United States Army was reestablished 15 July 2009 at US Army Garrison Baumholder in Germany as part of the Grow the Army plan. The 170th Infantry Brigade was formed by reflagging the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division. The soldiers and equipment will remain in place but the 2d Brigade...

    • Delta Troop, 2nd Bn 5th Cavalry Regiment (BRT)
    • 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment
    • 3rd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment
    • 4th Battalion, 70th Armor Regiment
      70th Armor Regiment (United States)
      The 70th Armor is an armored regiment of the United States Army. The regiment exists only as separate battalions with no regimental headquarters. 2nd Battalion is part of the 1st Armored Division out of Fort Riley, Kansas...

    • 40th Engineer Battalion
    • 1st Battalion, 84th Field Artillery
    • 24th BSB
    • 502D Military Intelligence Company
  • C/25 TAB
  • 92 MP Co
  • 589th Signal Company
  • 95th Maint. Company (TMDE)


32nd AADCOM had a presence in Germany in the 1960s and 1970s.
There was a Nike-Hercules missile battery (Delta 5th of the 6th) in Hontheim
Hontheim
Hontheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...

. The battalion headquarters was in Baumholder. They were supplied from the Spangdahlem Air Base
Spangdahlem Air Base
Spangdahlem Air Base is a United States Air Force base located near the small German town of Spangdahlem, approximately 30 km NNE of the city of Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate.-Units:...

 (Bitburg-Prüm
Bitburg-Prüm
The Eifelkreis Bitburg-Prüm is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by Luxembourg, Belgium and the districts of Euskirchen, Vulkaneifel, Bernkastel-Wittlich and Trier-Saarburg.- History :...

).

Baumholder’s inhabitants, however, are exclusively civilian. Agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 today plays a rôle in the town’s life only in a very few surrounding farms and villages. Given the small number of learned occupations available in the region, especially in Baumholder and the surrounding Verbandsgemeinde
Verbandsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde is an administrative unit in the German Bundesländer of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt.-Rhineland-Palatinate:...

, the share of the population with academic degrees is also rather small.

Shift in economic structure

The attempt introduced in the 1990s to change the economic structure by, for instance, bringing in the recycling
Recycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...

 industry and doing seminal research at the Environment Campus Birkenfeld
Environment Campus Birkenfeld
The Environment Campus Birkenfeld is a branch of the largest University of Applied Sciences in the state Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is close to the small town of Birkenfeld in Rhineland-Palatinate, close to the border of Saarland, Luxembourg, Belgium and France. There are 2,200 students...

 in Neubrücke
Hoppstädten-Weiersbach
Hoppstädten-Weiersbach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...

 have thus far yielded little change in the local economy and job market.

Autobahn

Baumholder can be reached over the Autobahn A 62
Bundesautobahn 62
is an autobahn in southwestern Germany, connecting the A 1 with the A 6. It also connects numerous communities throughout the central Hunsrück mountains...

 (Interchange
Interchange (road)
In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which...

 5 – Freisen). The town of Baumholder lies some 50 km northeast of Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....

, some 35 km northwest of Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, and from Luxembourg.Kaiserslautern is home to 99,469 people...

 and some 50 km southeast of Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....

.

Railway

Baumholder has a railway link in the Heimbach (Nahe)–Baumholder line, a 9 km-long spur
Branch line
A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...

 that was closed to passenger traffic on 31 May 1981; it is now only used for freight and military traffic. There is now a bus link (route 322, run by the Rhein-Nahe-Nahverkehrsverbund), although this is only run on weekdays, not weekends. The travel time to Neubrücke is roughly 30 minutes.

The nearest railway station is in Heimbach
Heimbach, Rhineland-Palatinate
Heimbach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...

 (some 8 km away), where almost all trains that call are still Regionalbahn
RegionalBahn
The Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany.-Service:Regionalbahn trains usually call at all stations on a given line, with the exception of RB trains within S-Bahn networks, these may only call at selected stations...

 trains. Regular train service, though, may be found at Neubrücke (some 13 km away) or in the town of Idar-Oberstein
Idar-Oberstein
Idar-Oberstein is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As a Große kreisangehörige Stadt , it assumes some of the responsibilities that for smaller municipalities in the district are assumed by the district administration...

 (some 15 km away).

One exception was Rheinland-Pfalz-Tag 2007, the Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....

 yearly state festival, held that year in Baumholder. From June until 1 July, Regionalbahnen ran on the Baumholder-Heimbach spur for the first time since 1981. As a result of this experience, it has been decided that beginning in 2014, the line will be brought back into service.

Airport

The nearest airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 is Saarbrücken Airport
Saarbrücken Airport
-External links:*...

. Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
-Cargo airlines:-Other facilities:AirIT Services AG, a subsidiary of Fraport, has its head office in Building 663 at Hahn Airport.-References:*Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 USAF Reference Series, Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force,...

 is about an hour’s drive away. Zweibrücken Airport
Zweibrücken Airport
Zweibrücken Airport , or Flughafen Zweibrücken in German, is an airport in Zweibrücken, Germany. After Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, it is the second biggest airport in Rhineland-Palatinate.In 2010 264.247 passengers used the airport....

 is about 80 km away.

Sons and daughters of the town

  • Johannes Lichtenberger
    Johannes Lichtenberger
    Johannes Lichtenberger was a noted German astrologer. He was much published, and various pseudonyms are attributed to him. His 1488 Prognosticatio in latino, published at Heidelberg, was well known and appeared in numerous subsequent editions and translations.He seems to have been, briefly in the...

     (d. about 1503), famous astrologer, from the vanished village of Grünbach on the troop drilling grounds
  • Otto Gennes (1873–1943), Generalanwalt (roughly “Attorney-General”) and head of the Reichsverband der deutschen landwirtschaftlichen Genossenschaften (Imperial
    German Empire
    The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...

     League of German Agricultural Coöperatives)
  • Gerd Menne (1939–    ), former Bundesliga
    Fußball-Bundesliga
    The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...

     player from VfB Stuttgart
    VfB Stuttgart
    Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart, is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club is best known for its football team, which has participated in all but two Bundesliga seasons...

  • Gerhard Fels (1939–    ), economist
    Economist
    An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...

     and former member of the Expert Advisory Board for Assessing Macroeconomic Development
  • Jürgen Dringelstein (1946–    ), former footballer with, among others, Hamburger SV
    Hamburger SV
    Hamburger Sport-Verein, usually referred to as HSV in Germany and Hamburg in international parlance, is a German multi-sport club based in Hamburg, its largest branch being its football department...

     and SV Waldhof Mannheim
    SV Waldhof Mannheim
    SV Waldhof Mannheim is a German association football club, located in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg. The club today has a membership of over 2,400.-History:...

  • Dietmar Mettlach (1950–    ), church musician and choir
    Choir
    A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

    master
  • Bruce Bechtold (1952–    ), European and world champion in catamaran
    Catamaran
    A catamaran is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas...

     sailing
  • Stefan Münz (1960–    ), computer scientist and non-fiction author. He is the creator of a Hypertext reference called SELFHTML as well as chairman of the like-named club.
  • Lorielle London
    Lorielle London
    Lorielle London is a German transsexual entertainer.Lorenzo was a contestant of Deutschland sucht den Superstar , Die ProSieben Märchenstunde, later Lorielle was a contestant in Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!, Season Four.- External links :*...

     (1983–    ), entertainer, became well known from participation in the television programmes Deutschland sucht den Superstar
    Deutschland sucht den SuperStar (Season 2)
    The second season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar premiered on September, 2003 and continued until March 13, 2004. It was won by Elli Erl...

    and Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!
    Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!
    Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus! is a German television series based on the British reality television show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!...

    , the latter a German version of the British
    United Kingdom
    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

     programme I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

Documentation

  • Hansjürgen Hilgert: Ami, bleib hier – Die Baumholderstory; Deutschland, 2007 D

Further reading

  • Maria Höhn: Amis, Cadillacs und „Negerliebchen“. GIs im Nachkriegsdeutschland. Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-86650-264-2. (mit besonderem Bezug auf Baumholder und Kaiserslautern).
  • Herbert Grimm: 50 Jahre/50 Years Amerikaner/Americans in Baumholder. Baumholder, 1998, ISBN 3-87022-247-6.
  • Albert Zink, bearbeitet von Klaus Böhmer: Geschichte der Stadt und Landschaft Baumholder. In: Mitteilungen des Vereins für Heimatkunde im Landkreis Birkenfeld. Sonderheft 71, Verein für Heimatkunde im Landkreis Birkenfeld, Birkenfeld 2006, .
  • Fritz Licht, Horst Conrad: Stadt Baumholder – ein fotografischer Streifzug durch die Vergangenheit. Baumholder 2007, ISBN 978-3-86595-211-0.
  • Fritz Licht, Horst Conrad: Häuser- und Familienchronik der Altstadt von Baumholder. In: Mitteilungen des Vereins für Heimatkunde im Landkreis Birkenfeld und der Heimatfreunde Oberstein. Sonderheft 70, Verein für Heimatkunde im Landkreis Birkenfeld, Birkenfeld 2006, .
  • Fritz Baldes: Jakob Schug – Maler und Kunsterzieher. Saarbrücken 2008, ISBN 3-935348-20-7.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK