Photo By Spc. Alicia Brocuglio | The tower of Grafenwoehr Training Area sits in the background. The tower is one of the...... read more read more
GRAFENWOEHR, Germany – Outside gate one of the Grafenwoehr Training Area, down a cobble stone streets, just past the bridge, the community park is busy with families playing. There sits a beige stone building. Inside the building is a man with the story of how the friendship between GTA and the town of Grafenwoehr became as strong as it is today.
As the fulltime historian and facility manager of the Grafenwoehr military museum, Olaf Meiler has the facts about the GTA, which has been the heart of the town since 1910.
“GTA has been here for a 100 years, the base is a part of our history,” says Meiler. “It is what I have grown up with and what I know. We are living in peace and all around us are our friends,” says Meiler with a tranquil vibrancy to his thick German accent.
A native of the town of Grafenwoehr, since his birth in 1958, Meiler expresses his stories through the museum. Standing tall at 5’7”, with thick rimmed glasses, Meiler glances away, remembering the stories of his childhood.
“The training area has a big economic factor on Grafenwoehr; it is the situation in which we live in. The GTA doubled Grafenwoehr’s population when it first opened and during World War II about 2000 to 4000 more,” recalls the native.
The economical influence on the town reaches back years and personally affected Meiler,the son of a post engineer.
“My father’s house was bombed in 1945, when he was 13,” Meiler expresses with a look of sadness. “I remember he always had to work on the foundation because the bomb left a crater in the ground.”
Meiler’s father was a carpenter and got a job with the Labor Service on post doing construction and wore a uniform. He would have fought with Americans if needed, like a paratrooper, says Meiler discussing what his father went through during the Cold War.
“The Americans came on April 19, 1945 at 3 p.m. My dad would tell me, ‘We felt they [the Americans] were enemies, but it took time to learn what the Nazis’ had done and what was left,’” said Meiler.
“My dad was very open minded and saw the change as being positive. He said the town was always changing because troops were always coming and going.”
The economical and population growth caused by the GTA brought in many ethnic backgrounds, making Grafenwoehr a not so traditional old German town.
“The base seems normal to us, and the town is not as traditional as other towns,” Meiler explains.
After (WWII) there were Polish and Baltic people, and then, with the fall of the Eastern Europe boarders, came the Russians.
Meiler recalls his childhood growing up outside the post.
“There were language barriers, but personally we have become friends. Two of my aunts married American soldiers and have moved to America with them. We are all together living and it is a good relationship.”
Meiler’s knowledge of the history is not only studied, but experienced through the Meiler generations. If my great grandfather, who fought and lost his life for the Germans, came back he probably would come back and adapt with a job on post as many have, says Meiler fixing a light bulb for one of the displays in the museum.
“If GTA was to close, it would not be good for the town because I have many friends who work on post,” says Meiler with a firm tone and sincerity.
The museum shows how the military has affected the civilians economically and concentrates on the peace, lack of restrictions and open borders wrought by political changes in 20th century history.
“It was a hostile situation that slowly developed into a friendship,” Meiler says with a comforting smile and mellow tone of voice. “I would rather live with the military here than without it.”
| Date Taken: | 06.16.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 08.07.2011 09:09 |
| Story ID: | 74998 |
| Location: | GRAFENWOEHR, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, DE |
| Web Views: | 270 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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