GATEWAY A Guide to Installations and Services in the Kaiserslautern Military Community Digital Issue www.gettingaround.net 2 0 1 5 / 1 6 The Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC) A Brief Introduction he Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC) is the largest military community outside the continental United States, and is a combined community consisting of TArmy and Air Force components. Virtually all facilities and services imaginable are available in the KMC. Kaiserslautern, Landstuhl, Ramstein, Pirmasens and Miesau are all located in the German State of Rheinland-Pfalz, which lies in the southwest part of the country. Rheinland-Pfalz borders on France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the German States of Saarland, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen and Baden-Wurttemberg. The city of Kaiser- slautern is 80 miles southwest of Frankfurt and 295 miles northeast of Paris. Ramstein, Landstuhl and Miesau are west of Kaiserslautern. Ramstein and Landstuhl are about a 15 minute drive from downtown Kaiserslautern. The KMC is home to about 53,000 military members, family members and DoD civilians. U.S. Army facilities, installations and locations in the KMC include: • Panzer, Kleber and Daenner Kasernes • Pulaski Barracks • Vogelweh • Miesau • Einsiedlerhof • Sembach Kaserne • Rhine Ordnance Barracks • Landstuhl Army Post • Landstuhl Regional Medical Center Air Force facilities, installations and locations include: • Ramstein Air Base • Einsiedlerhof • Kapaun Air Station • Vogelweh DoD units and other organizations in the area include the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) which has its has its headquarters on Kapaun; AFN Europe Headquarters and the headquarters for the European Stars & Stripes are in Kaiserslautern. The European Regional Medical Command (ERMC) moved to Sembach from Heidel- berg in 2013. The the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) European HQ is also in Sembach as is the Military Correctional Facility for Europe. Baumholder, the site of a nearby Army installation, is about a 20-minute drive from Landstuhl and Ramstein. It is northwest of the KMC. Gateway Guide - Digital ISSUE 2 2016 Table of Contents Getting Around the Gateway to Europe Volume 7 Digital Issue - Spring/Summer 2016 2 Brief Introduction Publisher 5 The Area and Its Cities Chuck Emerson 13 AAFES - Army and Air Force Exchange Service Advertising Sales Tom Lipton 22 AFN - American Forces Network Advertising Design 25 Banks & Credit Unions and Production Ryan Schossow 30 DeCA - Defense Commissary Agency Gear Brand www.gearbrand.com 33 DoDDS - Dept. of Defense Dependent Schools 35 Military Post Offices (APOs) 37 Tricare 42 Vehicle Registration & Inspection 44 Buying a Car 46 Passport Services in Germany 48 Bringing Pets to Germany 52 Shopping On the Economy For information on editorial and 54 Telephone & Internet in Germany advertising, contact: Chuck Emerson, Media Services, Auf der Schorr 10 58 Army Installations & Services in the KMC 54331 Pellingen, Germany Tel: 0 65 88-99 25 65 (Kaiserslautern/Vogelweh, Landstuhl, Miesau Fax: 0 65 88-98 83 29 E-mail: [email protected] Sembach) Website: www.gettingaround.net Cover Photos (clockwise from top left): 65 Air Force Installation & Services in the KMC Zehntscheune Landstuhl. Photo from city of Landstuhl. (Ramstein Air Base, Kapaun AS, Vogelweh, Marktplatz in Miesenbach with the Gänse-Anna-Brunnen. Photo from the city Einsiedlerhof AS) of Ramstein. 72 KMC Telephone Directory Fruchthalle im Kaiserslautern. Photo from the city of Kaiserslautern. Information for this magazine was compiled from various public domain sources that include Public Affairs Office websites from USAF, USAFE and USAREUR as well as various Department of Defense websites. Also included is public domain information from other websites of other organizations that include Family Support Centers, Army Community Services, AAFES, AFN, MWR and DeCA. The information in this guide was as complete and accurate as possible at press time. Some changes in facilities, services and phone numbers may occur. Gateway Guide - Digital ISSUE 3 2016 Visit the world famous Christmas Village of Käthe Wohlfahrt® in Rothenburg ob der Tauber German Christmas Museum Another attraction awaits the visitor to Rothenburg, the German Christmas Museum. Feast your Here you will fi nd the world’s largest selection of German eyes on exhibits of Christmas decorations and many fi ne German gifts. German Christmas decorations and The shopping experience in the medieval city of Rothenburg, heirlooms from you will never forget! decades past. Open year-round. For a selection of Käthe Wohlfahrt gift ideas make sure to stop at the following AAFES locations: Stuttgart-Boeblingen · Panzer Shopping Center · Panzerkaserne Phone Ramstein Airbase · KMCC +49(0)9861-409365 ® Grafenwoehr · Shopping Mall Rothenburg ob der Tauber KätheGateway Wohlfahrt GmbH Guide & Co. - DigitalOHG · Herrngasse ISSUE 1 · 91541 Rothenburg ob der Tauber 4· Phone +49(0)98614090 · www.bestofchristmas.com · e-mail: [email protected] The Area and Its Cities ne takes life with a bit more ease The Pfälzer Wald Nature Park has an where the lemons blossom.” That’s extensive network of marked hiking trails. Ohow tourist officials characterize There are numerous parking areas where the Pfalz, and what they term its “Tuscan you can start a walk and every hour or two feeling.” The climate is the mildest in you’ll come to a pleasant tavern where you Germany. The Haardt Mountains and the can rest and refresh. There are 12 circular Vosges Mountains in France shield the area routes for the more ambitious hikers, and from the cold north winds. you can cover as much as 400 kilometers The almond trees bloom in March and, without going on the same path twice. You according to tourist literature, “here, in don’t need to lug a pack, either. There is the southernmost part of Rheinland-Pfalz, a service that will take your luggage from kiwis and figs flourish; chestnuts, tobacco hotel to hotel. and, of course, wine ripen.” The Hambach Castle, on the Wine Road near Neustadt, is a shrine to German WINE AND NATURE democracy. It was the scene of a big festi- One could do worse than be stationed in val in 1832 at which some 30,000 persons the Kaiserslautern Military Community. demanded an end to the oppressive The Pfälzer Wald Nature Park, the largest regimes of the day. The rulers of the many wooded area in Germany, is right on your petty German states were, under Austria’s doorstep. So is the German Wine Road, a Prince Klemens von Metternich, striving string of gem-like wine villages, castle ruins in the post-Napoleonic era to restore their and fruit trees. feudal privileges. The Wine Road begins in the north at Liberal groups, notably student orga- Bockenheim, west of Worms, and passes nizations and the followers of Friedrich through the Pfälzer Wald, ending 60 kilo- Ludwig Jahn, were well represented at meters further on at Schweigen on the Hambach, demanding freedom of the French border. The principal cities on it, press, religious tolerance and even a demo- both picturesque and an easy drive from Kaiserslautern, are Bad Dürkheim and Neustadt. Bad Dürkheim is the site of the annual “Sausage Market” in September, which, despite its name, is actually the biggest wine festival in Germany. It takes place in front of the “world’s largest wine barrel,” which was actually made according to barrel making principals. It could hold millions of gallons of wine, but instead holds a restaurant. St.-Martins-Platz in Kaiserslautern city center Gateway Guide - Digital ISSUE 5 2016 cratic German union. Needless to say, the States. Some 30,000 service men and festival was followed by a wave of arrests women are still based in the area. and new laws to suppress liberals. The money the Yanks brought has But the democratic spirit continued to enabled the city to almost completely burn and eventually prevailed. Among rebuild. The towering modern city hall other things, the Hambach demonstra- (Rathaus), with a viewing platform on tors had boldly displayed the red, black top, was built from 1964-1968. The big and gold that had been the colors of an population of Americans leads to some elite infantry unit with which some of the lively nightlife with a good jazz and freedom fighters had fought in the Napole- rock scene. Acts from the US come over onic war. These colors now are used on the regularly to perform in Kaiserslautern’s German flag. Visitors to the castle can trace numerous clubs. the history of the 19th century democratic Kaiserslautern is a lively student city, movements. the football citadel of the southwest and The area was primarily agricultural the cultural center of the Palatinate. Those until the early 1950s, when Cold War who want to enjoy a good Palatinate wine, realities set in. Overnight the mission of regional specialties or an excellent cuisine the USA and its allies shifted from that of can find what they want in the earthy wine occupying a defeated country to manning houses or excellent restaurants in the city. the front lines in the struggle against the Yet Kaiserslautern’s rich historical past has Communist world. been preserved. The Stiftskirche, a church in the center of town, is the oldest struc- KAISERSLAUTERN ture, dating from the 13th century. It was necessary to get a large part of Kaiserslautern earned its name as the forces, particularly the logistic opera- the favorite hunting retreat of Emperor tions, west of the Rhine. The Americans (Kaiser) Frederick Barbarossa who ruled moved into the Kaiserslautern area in 1952 the diverse lands of the Holy Roman and the city quickly grew into the largest Empire from 1155 until 1190. The Lautern US military community outside the United was then an important river that actually The Kaiserbrunnen in Kaiserslautern (Kaiserslautern photos courtesy City of Kaiserslautern) Gateway Guide - Digital ISSUE 6 2016 LANDSTUHL The landmark of Landstuhl, the imposing castle ruin Burg Nanstein, was also built by Barbarossa, to guard the west- ern approach to Kaiserslaut- ern.