Apr.28 Friday Schweinfurt - day trip

60-years ago ! ..  Joe and his family lived here for 5-years.   Dad was in the Army and brought us along.   Let's back up ..

After WWII, Germany was split up into four occupation zones, Great Britain in the northwest, France in the southwest, the U.S. in the south, and U.S.S.R. in the east.  The U.S. established 47 major military bases!

So, today, we travel via train from Bamberg to Schweinfurt.  It's a very wet first part of the day!    1st thing, though, we need to start with a hearty breakfast!

OK, let's hike back to the train station ..

Over the Main River we walk ..

After a short 30+ min. ride to Schweinfurt, we encounter even heavier rain.   We head West from the train station until we cross John F. Kennedy Ring and follow it to where the former family housing area used to be located.

Some more background ... when we arrived here in 1959, we were put on a waiting list for housing.   Until a spot was available we were housed in a small village out in the boondocks, very close to the U.S.S.R. sector (East Germany).   An army staff sedan had to come and get us kids to take us to school every day.    At night we could here tanks patrolling the border fence, ... rumble rumble rumble.   This was at the height of the Cold War.   As kids we thought it was very cool.

Jan found an old sign from 2010 that showed our housing area.

The housing area is to the left, the Army barracks is Ledward (Kaserne).   The school we attended is the red in the upper left hand corner.    Alas, most of this has been torn down, bricks and steel re-purposed, but memories still abound!   Here's some signage that still shows American names ..

This area that is now under reconstruction, building new apartment buildings, was once home to families of American soldiers, from 1953-2014.

They have kept the old American name and have honored former famous area people by renaming the streets after them.   Here are a few pictures of the construction now in progress.

Here I am .. running in place in front of our former large playground area :

More background .. prior to- and during- WWII, Schweinfurt produced most of Nazi Germany's ball bearings, and its factories became a target of Allied strategic bombing to cripple tank and aircraft production.   Schweinfurt was bombed 22 times by a total of 2,285 aircraft.   I mention this because during my Boy Scout days we trekked along the hills of anti-aircraft bunkers exploring for artifacts.

We crossed the busy street (strasse) and walked to the old army barracks.

These barracks are now being repurposed as an Applied Sciences University.

We hiked back to the Schweinfurt train station and hopped on the 2:42.

By the time we arrived in Bamberg, the rain had finally quit.   We walked back to the hotel and took a short break ... Joe let his knees have a rest.   We went out again to walk and discover new old-town areas and look for a dinner restaurant, stopping occasionally to admire some of the old architecture.

We found an interesting restaurant that offered an amazing variety of burgers and different fries and other food combinations.  Matt-  here's the Rauchbier I tried :

It was excellent!   Jan really liked her lemon ice tea!    Here's our food :

We walked miles and miles!       I think it was much easier when I was 12 !!  

It was a blast to the past!   5-years of my formative time in which I developed a photography hobby, started and finished an electrical correspondence course, and developed a strong interest in European history.

I thank Jan for her patience and willingness for me to take one of our vacation days to reconnect with an important part of my past.   I think my sisters and brother will agree that our time in Schweinfurt was very special.

Tomorrow .. we train to Coburg for another day trip.   I'll let you know how it played an important role in Martin Luther's and England's Queen Victoria's lives.

Take care.