Baumholder () is a town in the Birkenfeld

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, in the Westrich, an historic region that encompasses areas in both Germany and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The town of Baumholder is the administrative seat of the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a state-recognised tourism resort and, according to state planning, a middle centre.Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz – Regionaldaten
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Geography

Location

Baumholder lies between the

Hunsrück The Hunsrück () is a long, triangular, pronounced upland in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the valleys of the Moselle-Saar (north-to-west), the Nahe (south), and the Rhine (east). It is continued by the Taunus mountains, past ...

to the north and the

North Palatine Uplands The North Palatine Uplands (german: Nordpfälzer Bergland), sometimes shortened to Palatine Uplands (''Pfälzer Bergland''), is a low mountain range and landscape unit in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and belongs mainly to the Palat ...

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 () is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As a ''Große kreisangehörige Stadt'' (large city belonging to a district), it assumes some of the responsibilities that for smaller municipalities in ...

. 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 common kingfisher (''Alcedo atthis''), also known as the Eurasian kingfisher and river kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of ...

, the

lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

and the

badger Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united b ...

, some of which are on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

Climate

Yearly

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

in Baumholder amounts to 884 mm. At 76% of the German Weather Service's

weather station A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include tempera ...

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.

History

Middle Ages to 19th century

In 1156, Baumholder had its first documentary mention as ''Bemondula'', then held by the

Bishop of Verdun The Bishopric of Verdun was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. It was located at the western edge of the Empire and was bordered by France, the Duchy of Luxembourg, and the Duchy of Bar. Some time in the late 990s, the suzerainty of the Count ...

. By the 14th century, it had ended up under the

Counts of Veldenz The County Palatine of Veldenz was a principality in the contemporary Land Rhineland-Palatinate with full voting rights to the Reichstag. The county was located partially between Kaiserslautern, Sponheim and Zweibrücken, partially on the Mose ...

, until 1444, when it was acquired by

Stephen, Count Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken Stephen of Simmern-Zweibrücken (german: link=no, Stefan Pfalzgraf von Simmern-Zweibrücken) (23 June 1385 – 14 February 1459, Simmern) was Count Palatine of Simmern and Zweibrücken from 1410 until his death in 1459.Ludwig Molitor: Vollständi ...

. Until the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, Baumholder was the seat of a Zweibrücken ''

Schultheiß In medieval Germany, the ''Schultheiß'' () was the head of a municipality (akin to today's office of mayor), a ''Vogt'' or an executive official of the ruler. As official (''villicus'') it was his duty to order his assigned village or county (' ...

erei''. In 1490,

Alexander, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken Alexander of Zweibrücken (german: Pfalzgraf Alexander von Zweibrücken "der Hinkende") (26 November 1462 – 21 October 1514) was Count Palatine, Duke of Zweibrücken and Count of Veldenz in 1489–1514. Life He was the son of Louis I, Count Pa ...

gave Baumholder leave 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 to as much. From 1816, Baumholder, along with the rest of the

Principality of Lichtenberg The Principality of Lichtenberg (german: Fürstentum Lichtenberg) on the Nahe River was an exclave of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld from 1816 to 1826 and the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1826 to 1834, when it was sold to the Kingdom o ...

, belonged as an

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld () was one of the Saxon Duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin Dynasty. Established in 1699, the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield line lasted until the reshuffle of the Ernestine territories that occurred following the extinct ...

. The Principality was sold in 1834 to

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

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 Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

church district of Sankt Wendel.

20th century

With the formation of the

Territory of the Saar Basin The Territory of the Saar Basin (german: Saarbeckengebiet, ; french: Territoire du bassin de la Sarre) was a region of Germany occupied and governed by the United Kingdom and France from 1920 to 1935 under a League of Nations mandate. It had its ...

in 1919, Baumholder was split from the district seat of

Sankt Wendel Sankt Wendel is a town 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. According to a survey by the German Association for Ho ...

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 The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

. 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 The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

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 A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. P ...

for

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

and other

prisoners A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison. ...

After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, after a short occupation by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, 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. 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 (; written ''Cusel'' until 1865) is a town in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the Kusel-Altenglan ''Verbandsgemeinde'' and is also the district seat. The well-known operatic tenor Fritz Wunderlich was ...

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 A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

s engaged in a crime spree within the town of Baumholder, burgling several

US Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

buildings in Smith Barracks. The soldiers stole computer equipment,

robbed Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

a local German

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a 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 to the Town Hall (''Rathaus''). Later that day, German law enforcement took into custody two US Army soldiers and were seeking a third for questioning. Investigators eventually questioned as many as 20 persons, both

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

nationals, for information about the crime spree.

Private First Class Private first class (french: Soldat de 1 classe; es, Soldado de primera) is a military rank held by junior enlisted personnel in a number of armed forces. French speaking countries In France and other French speaking countries, the rank (; ) ...

Zachary Watson and Specialist Samuel Bell were arrested by German authorities in connection to the crimes which totalled more than

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

1.5 million in damage. The soldiers were handed over to US officials. Watson was sentenced to 15 years in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

. In a separate court-martial proceeding, Bell was sentenced to seven years in prison,

dishonourable discharge A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and th ...

, demotion to

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

and forfeiture of all pay and allowances.

Politics

Town council

The council is made up of 20 council members, who were elected by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

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:

Mayor

Baumholder's mayor is Günther Jung (FWG).

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 Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

might in English

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

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 (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

original, by Wilhelm II, King of Prussia.

Town partnerships

Baumholder fosters partnerships with the following places: * Warcq,

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

, since the 1960s *

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, United States, since 13 May 2011

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

The following are listed buildings or sites in

’s Directory of Cultural Monuments: *

parish church, Kirchstraße 19 –

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

aisleless church An aisleless church (german: Saalkirche) 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 on either side of the nave and separated fr ...

, 1748–1750, architect Friedrich Hartmann Koch, Kusel; west tower Late Gothic * Saint Simon’s and Saint Jude’s

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Parish Church (''Pfarrkirche St. Simon und Judas Thaddäus''), Hinterm Turm/corner of Hinter Haselweg –

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

hall church A hall church is a church with a nave and aisles of approximately equal height, often united under a single immense roof. The term was invented in the mid-19th century by Wilhelm Lübke, a pioneering German art historian. In contrast to an archi ...

, 1882–1885, architect P. Kontzen,

Deggendorf Deggendorf () is a town in Bavaria, Germany, capital of the Deggendorf district. It is located on the left bank approximately in the middle between the Danube cities of Regensburg and Passau. The Danube forms the town's natural border towards ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

; 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

Lychgate A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...

”) – 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 Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

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 Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

); three-floor plastered building, partly slated, early 20th century; characterises 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 The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

. German speakers from other regions often mistake Baumholderers for people from the Saarland for this reason, although Baumholder speech is a relative “island dialect”, for in all neighbouring centres, such as

and

Freisen Freisen is a municipality in the district of Sankt Wendel, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approximately 12 km northeast of Sankt Wendel, and 20 km southwest of Idar-Oberstein. The public transportation in Freisen/Oberkirchen is th ...

, 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, officially the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (), is Europe's largest motoring association. ADAC is the largest club (Verein) in Germany with around 21 million members. It would be more aptly described today as an individual mobi ...

Rallye Deutschland The ADAC Rallye Deutschland is a Rallying, 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. Previously part of ...

, which has every year since 2002, except 2009, been a stage in the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...

. 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 A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the t ...

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 important clubs include the ''Deutsche Lebens-Rettungs-Gesellschaft'' (

DLRG The German Life Saving Association (german: Deutsche Lebens-Rettungs-Gesellschaft or DLRG) is a relief organization for life saving in Germany. The DLRG is the largest voluntary lifesaving organization in the world. With around 560,000 mem ...

), the ''Baumholderer Karnevalsgesellschaft'' (BKG, devoted to

Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

), the

German Red Cross The German Red Cross (german: Deutsches Rotes Kreuz ; DRK) is the national Red Cross Society in Germany. With 4 million members, it is the third largest Red Cross society in the world. The German Red Cross offers a wide range of services within ...

(DRK), the

angling Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook or "angle" (from Old English ''angol'') attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techniqu ...

club and the

dog sport The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

club (HSV).

Other yearly events

* ''Altstadtfest'' (“Old Town Festival”) * ''Lindenfest'' * ''Kräutermarkt'' (“Herb Market”) * ''Kirmes'' (

kermis Kermesse, or kermis, or kirmess, is a Dutch language term derived from 'kerk' (church) and 'mis' (mass) that became borrowed in English, French, Spanish and many other languages, originally denoting the mass said on the anniversary of the foundat ...

; church consecration festival) * ''Weihnachtsmarkt'' (“

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

Market”) * ''

Rosenmontag ( en, Rose Monday) is the highlight of the German (carnival), and takes place on the Shrove Monday before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Mardi Gras, though celebrated on Fat Tuesday, is a similar event. is celebrated in German-speaking ...

szug'' (“

Shrove Monday Shrove Monday, sometimes known as Collopy Monday, Rose Monday, Merry Monday or Hall Monday, is a Christian observance falling on the Monday before Ash Wednesday every year. A part of the English traditional Shrovetide celebrations of the week be ...

Parade”) * BKG ''Prunksitzungen'' (Councils of Elves, a

event) * DLRG ''Weiherfest'' (“Pond Festival”)

Economy and infrastructure

Economy

Baumholder is well known as the location of one of the biggest

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 is a small military airfield in support of the United States Army facilities in Baumholder, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most ...

. The Americans run twelve of their own churches as well as

cinemas A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall (Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

, a PX and a hospital. Many of the town's shops accept

United States dollar The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...

s in payment and are to a great extent dependent on American currency. To this day, the United States forces and the

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

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 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

countries. The troop drilling ground is under Bundeswehr administration. Since 2002, the US Army has been gradually moving its

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

s to troop drilling grounds in the

Upper Palatinate The Upper Palatinate (german: Oberpfalz, , ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany, and is located in the east of Bavaria. Geography The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and numerous ponds and lakes ...

that are under their own control. Some of the US troops stationed in town were regularly deployed in the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

, and for the most part, returned afterwards to Baumholder. On 9 October 2012, the 170th Infantry Brigade was inactivated ending a decades-long legacy of combat units stationed at Baumholder's Smith Barracks. While Smith Barracks has been rumoured to be facing closure for years, it has been designated an "enduring" base. 32nd AADCOM had a presence in Germany in the 1960s and 1970s. There was a Nike-Hercules missile battery in Baumholder (Battery C, 5th Battalion, 6th Air Defence Artillery). There was another (Battery D, 5th Battalion, 6th Air Defense Artillery) in nearby

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. Geography Location The municipality lies ...

. Hontheim The battalion headquarters was in Baumholder. An IHAWK battery, Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery, was in Reitscheid. Battalion headquarters was at

Spangdahlem Air Base Spangdahlem Air Base (IATA: SPM, ICAO: ETAD, former code EDAD) is a NATO air base with the USAF as a tenant constructed between 1951 and 1953 and located near the small German town of Spangdahlem, approximately 30 km NNE of the city of Trier ...

. They were supplied from the

(

Bitburg-Prüm The Eifelkreis Bitburg-Prüm ( lb, Äifelkrees Béibreg-Prüm) is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) Luxembourg, Belgium and the districts of Euskirchen, Vulkaneifel, Bernkastel-Wittlich and ...

). Baumholder's inhabitants, however, are exclusively civilian.

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

today plays a role 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 A Verbandsgemeinde (; plural Verbandsgemeinden) is a low-level administrative unit in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. A Verbandsgemeinde is typically composed of a small group of villages or towns. Rhineland- ...

'', 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 is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...

industry and doing seminal research at the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld in Neubrücke have thus far yielded little change in the local economy and job market.

Transport

Autobahn

Baumholder can be reached over the

Autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...

A 62 ( Interchange 5 – Freisen). The town of Baumholder lies some 50 km northeast of

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...

, some 35 km northwest of

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; Palatinate German: ''Lautre'') is a city in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfur ...

and some 50 km southeast of

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

Railway

Baumholder has a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

link in the Heimbach (Nahe)–Baumholder line, a 9 km-long

spur A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to back ...

. The line was closed to passenger traffic on 31 May 1981, but remained open for military traffic. The line was reopened in 2015. Trains run hourly to and from

or Kirn, where connecting trains to Mainz, Frankfurt/Main and Saarbrücken can be reached. There is also a bus link to Idar-Oberstein and Birkenfeld (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. Rail and bus services in the area are provided by Rhein-Nahe Nahverkehrsverbund (RNN). www.rnn.info. The nearest

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

on a main line is in

Heimbach Heimbach is a town in the district of Düren of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the river Rur, in the Eifel hills, approx. 20 km south of Düren. Heimbach has the smallest population of any town in North Rhin ...

(some 8 km away) on the

Nahe Valley Railway The Nahe Valley Railway (german: Nahetalbahn) is a two-track, partially electrified main line railway in the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, which runs for almost 100 kilometres along the Nahe (Rhine), Nahe. It was built by the ...

. Since the reopening of the Baumholder service, few trains stop at this station. The closest station for express trains is at Neubrücke (some 13 km away) or in

(some 15 km away).

Airport

The nearest

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

Saarbrücken Airport Saarbrücken Airport , or ''Flughafen Saarbrücken'' or ''Ensheim Airport'' in German, is a minor international airport in Saarbrücken, the capital of the German state of Saarland. It features flights to major cities throughout Germany as well a ...

. Frankfurt-Hahn Airport is about an hour's drive away. Frankfurt/Main is about 2 hours by car or rail. Saarbrücken-Ensheim is approximately 90 minutes away.

Zweibrücken Airport Zweibrücken Airport , or ''Flughafen Zweibrücken'' in German, is a regional airport and former minor international airport in Zweibrücken, Germany. It was the smaller of the two passenger airports in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, the ot ...

is about 80 km away but is currently closed.

Current US Military on Smith Barracks

10th Army Air & Missile Defense Command

''(Headquartered in Kaiserslautern)''

5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment

* Headquarters & Headquarters Battery * A Battery * B Battery * C Battery * D Battery * E Company

16th Sustainment Brigade

* Headquarters & Headquarters Company

16th Special Troops Battalion

* Headquarters & Headquarters Company * 504th Signal Company * 55th Quartermaster Company * 569th Human Resources Company

18th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion

* 240th Quartermaster Company * 51st Transportation Company * 515th Transportation Company * 317th Maintenance Company

30th Medical Brigade

''(Headquartered in Sembach)''

421st Medical Battalion (Multi-Functional)

* Headquarters & Headquarters Detachment * 557th Medical Company (Area Support) * 8th Medical Company (Logistics) * 64th Veterinary Detachment * 71st Preventive Medicine Detachment * 254th Combat and Operational Stress Control (COSC) Detachment

Special Operations Command Africa (SOCAFRICA)

''(Headquartered in Stuttgart)'' * Special Operations Task Force - North and West Africa (SOTF-NWA)

Notable people

Sons and daughters of the town: * Johannes Lichtenberger (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 Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texa ...

League of German Agricultural Coöperatives) * Gerd Menne (b. 1939), former

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

player from

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's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB Stu ...

* Gerhard Fels (b. 1939),

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and former member of the Expert Advisory Board for Assessing Macroeconomic Development * Jürgen Dringelstein (b. 1946), former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

with, among others,

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

and

SV Waldhof Mannheim SV Waldhof Mannheim is a multi-sports club, located in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg. It is most known for its association football team; however, there are also professional handball and table-tennis sides. The club today has a membership of over ...

* Dietmar Mettlach (b. 1950), church musician and

choirmaster A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

* Bruce Bechtold (b. 1952), European and world champion in

catamaran A Formula 16 beachable catamaran Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...

sailing * David Whitehurst (b. 1955), former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player (

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

and

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

quarterback) * Stefan Münz (b. 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.

Documentation

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

References

External links

Town’s official webpage

''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Baumholder

Official website of the army post
{{Authority control Birkenfeld (district) Naheland Rallye Deutschland