From 1945 to 1993.....Lindsey Air Station existed in Wiesbaden and was a Air Force installation.
To be honest, the Nassau government of the 1860s had started the military function of the 'camp' with a couple of barracks, a military hospital, and laundry. The Prussians came later to utilize the camp. And in the 1930s.....the German Bundeswehr under the Nazis built up a number of buildings onto the site.
It was a limited area....probably one kilometer by one kilometer....with probably forty buildings during the Air Force period.
For twenty years....up until 1973....it was the headquarters for Air Force in Europe. After 1973.....they moved out to Ramstein.
It was a unique part of town....a US installation within the city limits and where you could walk out the gate and jump on a bus and be at the end of Wiesbaden within fifteen minutes. Landscaping made it an attractive site, with historic buildings as part of the base.
Today? Most of the street names have remained the same. Willie Brandt Alle replaced Lucas Ave. The term "Europaviertel" is the name for the neighborhood now. I'd take a guess that twenty additional buildings have been added to the grounds....mostly as middle-income housing or apartments. The baseball field still remains and gets used. The chief occupant or user of the site is the VHS (the community college of Wiesbaden).
If you walk around, there's one statue or monument in place to note the contributions of those from the Air Station. You wouldn't really know that this was a former military base if you looked at the way that they've landscaped it and made it into part of the city structure.
Food-wise? The only restaurant on the property is Leib and Seele Bisto....a small operation on the main street (along Willie Brandt Alle). If you cross the street, there are a dozen places....most of them that former military folks would remember from the 1980s (KFC is still around).
It's been 23 years since the closure, and if you asked anyone under the age of 30 who is a resident of the city....most don't know the whole story behind the neighborhood. It's just another part of the city.
15 comments:
If my memory serves, my ex used to have her office there when she was with DODDS before they relocated to American Arms.
DODDS moving to American Arms was super convenient for us since we lived something like 170 meters from there.
I was stationed at LAS from 1981-85. The dorms I stayed in (women's) were unusually pretty architecture for a military base. We were spoiled in that sense. It was such a small base, but a good community. I loved living in Wiesbaden and the locals were especially welcoming if you attempted to speak German and show a little cultural appreciation. :) Good memories. Thanks for this post.
-Dani M.
I was stationed there from 1986-88. My first assignment right out of tech school. Beautiful place. It was only about 1 1/2 mile in diameter. Everything was within walking distance except the BX and the commissary which was off base up in the housing area. Loved the annual Lindsey Fest. It's been 31 years and I retired from the AF last year but I can say that was the best assignment I've had in my career.
- WML
I was just there.
So much has change. I was a young airman right out of tech school.
Stationed at Lindsey 1985- 1988.
I didn't know it at the time, but I was very lucky to get that assignment.
1st Comm
I spent Apr 1963 - July 1965 here for the best duty station I had in 8 years.
Wiesbaden is a wonderful city that kept its German culture in spite of the many
thousands of military personnel in the surrounding area. Ive been lucky to return
many times to enjoy it.
My mother was at Lindsey as civil service Chief of Military European Communications for that area of Germany and dad was Air Force stationed at Wiesbaden. We looked forward to the Friendship Fest every summer when the locals would come on base and we would have a great big carnival with food and rides. Best years of my life living in Wiesbaden. We would often pick my mother up from work and just eat at the "chow hall" rather than drive home and cook. As a kid that was so much fun.
Lindsey Air Station was my first duty assignment out of tech school, Cryptographic School at Lackland AFB, I arrived at Rhein Main on 29 May, 1982, a Saturday morning. There was no one there to meet me, good thing I took three years of German in school, as it allowed me to make my way to the American Arms Hotel, next to Wiesbaden Hospital. I didn't have any German currency and no one at the base was there to check in new comers, so I stayed at the hotel for that first two days. Bumpy start, but it was like an adventure. Monday, I reported to the SP's at the front gate, presented my orders and ID card, and they drove me over to the 1836th EIG. The guy who was supposed to have met me at the airport decided to get drunk that weekend, so, he got chewed out for that one - LOL. I stayed at Lindsey with the 1826th for the next three years and loved my time there! Got to travel all over the place and made good friends in town. Used to love going to Rudy and Coca Lanack's bar down on Wilhelm Strasse - wonderful people! There was an awesome Greek restaurant down that way too named Mykonos. Wow, lots of fantastic memories, I need to locate some pictures and post them
~ Tim Learman formerly Sgt. USAF, 1836th EIG
I was there from late 1979 through late 1982, assigned to the 1st Combat Communications Group. Lived in the housing area in Bierstadt (Merkur Strasse 21). I was there when the hostages from Iran were at the hospital. That was a zoo with the streets clogged by media vans and news crews. I went by there about 10 years ago and almost didn't recognize the place. The only thing I remembered was Walter's Imbiss across from the Amy. It was a classic Imbiss on wheels when I was there, but has grown into a real building now.
Walter's Imbiss. Is that Walter's Futterkrippe at Konrad-Adenauer-Ring 44, 65187 Wiesbaden, Germany? And is the Amy the place where one would go to turn a telephone on or off? Looking at Google Earth at the moment and it all sort of looks familiar. I do remember good food at the Walter's. It has been a few years. We sadly left there in '96.
And Lindsey Fest. Those were fun as well.
Michael J.,
I loved going to Walter's Imbiss for currywurst and pomme frites with mayo! Those were good eats! There was also a really good pizza place between Lindsey AS and the hospital, can't remember the name of it, but again, really tasty food. Do you remember the name of the gasthaus that was located across the street from Lindsey? I remember you walked out the front gate, went across the street and made a right and it was maybe half a block down. Petrus Schenke maybe? Anyway, really good bock beer and incredible jaeger schnitzel.
That would be Walter's Futterkrippe (per Google Earth). The Amy was the Amelia Earhart Hotel - right across the street from Walter's. The Amy was a TLQ for arriving and departing families in the late '70s to early '80s. Google Earth now shows it as "Corps of Engineers (USAEDE)"
When I was there, Walter's was basically a Food Truck in trailer form. The side lifted up and formed an awning of sorts. You walked up, placed your order and walked away - there was no place to sit and eat.
Being right across the street from the hotel, it was incredibly convenient - especially as most people were either waiting for their cars to arrive in-country or had just shipped them back home.
Memories.
I attended Lindsey Elementary School from 1963 to 1969. As a kid I often wondered why school felt like prison sometimes--well what I didn't know at the time is that those racks in school that looked like gun racks were real, that my school consisted of several German built army barracks, and the gargantuan playground was big enough for tank exercises. I was mesmerized by the walk of the airmen, so straight and disciplined--that was more interesting than the "playground" to me. I still got to be physically active though. After school hours I took school bus 9C1 to the American Community Center where I took ballet lessons. Wiesbaden was beautiful, the parks, many of the buildings (the city was pretty much spared from WWII bombing. We took field trips to the Frankfurt Zoo museums such as Gutenberg and Reinstein Castle. Chiemsee ski school one week camp was also unforgettable. Of course I will never forget a few bus accidents but mostly near accidents that were pretty exciting and actually very cool (because of how well everyone reacted and worked together--bus driver Mr.Freeman and smart kids-Ginger come to mind.)On one of those long 60's winter busrides when the bus got stuck, a nearby German host treated the kids to hot chocolate and cookies. I do have to admit that on a couple of occasions we (some of us) were misbehaving (later years)and we were taken to the dreaded Motor Pool briefly before proceeding on to our normal route.
I was already familiar with Germany, having been an Air Force brat at Bitburg as a young child. Appropriately I started Kindergarden there. When of age I enlisted, and just like Tim Learman above, I was assigned to Lindsey as my first duty station straight from Cryptographic tech school... I arrived at Rhein Main in April 1989, but thankfully, my sponsor stayed coherent enough to pick me up... I was a proud member of the 1836th from 1989 until it was time to close the base in 1993. It was heartbreaking to leave such a beautiful place (the base AND city). I was lucky enough that my European tour didn't end, and went to Tempelhof Air Base up in Berlin. Unfortunately I'd be closing that base down 10 months later. Thinking I was bad luck for any base that got me, I was then sent to Ramstein. At least my closure streak ended at that point... :)... I just retired in 2018 after 28 years of service, and I continue to work overseas as a contractor. I love the traveling lifestyle. A little harder nowadays compared to the 70's and 80's, but it's still enjoyable.
- Stephen Kightlinger, then SrA, 1836 EIG/ISK
Butch Willis wad my neighbor
I was stationed at Lindsey from 1984-1990, worked in the CBPO in numerous offices. Best assignment in my 20 years in the Air Force. I was also blessed to go to H. H. Arnold High School in Wiesbaden for four years before enlisting in the Air Force.
I think Dani M. who posted above was my first supervisor. I sure hope to go back someday and visit Wiesbaden, which is an absolute gem.
Steve Michaud, MSgt, USAF (Ret)
Post a Comment