Münchweiler an der Rodalb is a municipality in

Südwestpfalz Südwestpfalz is a district (''Kreis'' or more precise ''Landkreis'') in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from west clockwise) Saarpfalz, the district-free city Zweibrücken, the districts Kaiserslautern and Ba ...

district, in

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 ...

, and belongs to the municipal association of Rodalben. The primary industry of the village was that of a shoe manufacturer. It lies on Strasse B-10 between

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

and

Pirmasens Pirmasens (; pfl, Bärmesens (also ''Bermesens'' or ''Bärmasens'')) is an independent town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France. It was famous for the manufacture of shoes. The surrounding rural district was called ''Lan ...

The first mention of Münchweiler an der Rodalben was in 1179. The village was founded by monks and relied on its religion as its focal point. Because of its poor soil quality, the area has never been able to rely on agriculture. There is some industry from logging and crafts, After the construction of the railway line between

Zweibrücken Zweibrücken (; french: Deux-Ponts, ; Palatinate German: ''Zweebrigge'', ; literally translated as "Two Bridges") is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach river. Name The name ''Zweibrücken'' means 'two bridges'; olde ...

and

Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990 ...

in the late 1800s, the area's financial hardship lessened. The area though has little industry other than the one shoe factory to rely on. There is a nearby train tunnel that was rumored to have been used to hide artillery during the war and in the forest can be seen the remnants of an old Roman era road. With the withdrawal of the military from Münchweiler, it has had a profound effect on the town with the closure of many businesses and a decrease in real estate values.

US Army

Münchweiler once had a

U.S. 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, cl ...

base that housed soldiers and families for the 636th Ordnance Company (EOD), the 110th MP Company, HHC 84th Ordnance Battalion and others, associated with

Husterhoeh Kaserne Husterhoeh Kaserne was a military facility in Pirmasens, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Kaserne is a German loanword that means "barracks." It was a United States military base 1945–1994. Since then it is a German base, most of which has close ...

. The main building on the base was a mirror image of the

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC), also known as Landstuhl Hospital, is a U.S. Army medical center, located in the German town of Landstuhl, near Ramstein Air Base. The installation is an amalgamation of Marceau Kaserne (german: Infan ...

, with a functioning hospital. The 84th Ordnance Battalion and 636th Ordnance Company was housed on the base along with some German troops and 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 ...

troops. The 330th Ordnance Company along with the 110th MP Company guarded and maintained the then classified stocks of GB and VX

nerve gas Nerve agents, sometimes also called nerve gases, are a class of organic chemicals that disrupt the mechanisms by which nerves transfer messages to organs. The disruption is caused by the blocking of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), an enzyme that ...

located at Site 59 in

Clausen Clausen is a Danish language, Danish patronymic surname, literally meaning ''child of Claus'', Claus being a German language, German form of the Greek language, Greek Νικόλαος, Nikolaos, (cf. Nicholas), used in Denmark at least since the 16t ...

. The nerve agents at Site 59, were removed under

Operation Steel Box Operation Steel Box, also known as Operation Golden Python (German name for the transport in Germany: Aktion Lindwurm), was a 1990 joint U.S.-West German operation which moved over 100,000 U.S. chemical weapons from Germany to Johnston Atoll. Ba ...

in 1990. These agents were transported by truck, rail and ship ultimately ending up at

Johnston Atoll Johnston Atoll is an Unincorporated territories of the United States, unincorporated territory of the United States, currently administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Johnston Atoll is a National Wildlife Refuge and ...

for incineration at the

Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (JACADS) was the U.S. Army's first chemical munitions disposal facility. It was located on Johnston Island, at Johnston Atoll and completed its mission and ceased operation in 2000. Background Prior ...

facility. When the US military began to downsize in the 1990s, the small US Army posts associated with

(

) were returned to Germany, including the ones located at Maßweiler, Munchweiler, Fischbach, and Clausen. When the U.S. Army base at Münchweiler was closed, all buildings except for the base chapel were removed. The property was then sold to real estate developers, who have repurposed the former base land for a housing development, and have started building luxury residential housing.

References

Municipalities in Rhineland-Palatinate Südwestpfalz {{Südwestpfalz-geo-stub