Baumholder History of the Town Rev. 4/13

BAUMHOLDER - The History of the Town

Baumholder is located in the extreme western part of Germany, in the state of Rheinland-Pfalz. The nearest large town is Idar-Oberstein, 8 miles away. Kaiserslautern, the Moselle River and the French border are located within 30 miles.

Evidence of Baumholder's foundation goes back as far as 1,000 B.C. The first few settlers here belonged to the Celtic nation. They came from northern France in search of pasturage for their animals. Cat­tle herders from the Saarland and Lorraine also passed through the countryside. With the aid of the Romans, the Celts remained until around 500 A.D. when the Germanic Franks captured and occupied the area. The Prankish lords imposed their rule on the native farmers establishing immense feudal estates, farmed by serfs who had given up their freedom. The feudal system of rule remained until 1569, when the Count of Zweibrucken freed the inhabitants of Baumholder from their feudal serfdom. With this newfound freedom, the close of the sixteenth century saw Baumholder growing very strong economically with proud hopes for the future.

These hopes were shattered with the on-­set of the 30 years war. In 1623 and 1624 troops stormed the village, plundering and abusing the inhabitants. They burned the town and only 27 of the 94 houses remained. In 1677, the French invaded the territory and Baumholder, composed of 33 families was again burned to the ground. During the entire 17th century, the inhabitants of Baumholder saw only wars and destruction. Baumholder, forced again to begin rebuilding, had by 1720 reached the population level of the time prior to the 30 years war. By 1800 the population had doubled with 202 families.

In 1792, during the French Revolution, Baumholder was again occupied by French troops with lawlessness and disorder rampant. The French system of rule was not suited to local conditions, resulting in unemployment, poverty and hardship. During the years 1845 to 1857, because of these economic and political difficulties, many chose to emigrate to foreign countries. Ninety-five families, 229 persons, left Baumholder legally during this period; many emigrating to America.  A larger number left the country illegally. In 1880, Baumholder suffered from yet another fire. A total of 133 houses and 124 other buildings were destroyed. Baumholder began to rebuild again with financial assistance pouring in from all over Germany.

Buamholder by Jakob Schug

The First WW saw French troops occupy­ing the area again. Inflation following the war caused unemployment and hunger in every house. In 1937 an area north and northeast of the city was chosen for a troop training area by the German Reich. The area consisted of 24,200 acres (15,400 acres farmland and 8,800 acres forest) containing 13 villages (Aulenbach, Ausweiler, Breungenborn, Ehlenbach, Erzweiler, Frohnhausen -birthplace of Louisa (Kirsch) Schug, Grunbach, Ilgesheim, Kefersheim, Mambachel, Obejeckenbach, Ronnenberg, and Wieselbach). In addition to the villages, there were 14 single farms and mills, making a total of 727 houses, 842 families and 4,060 persons. These people were resettled in Baumholder and other parts of Germany by the Resettlement Authority of the Reich. Uncounted German and Austrian units were trained for service here.

In 1944, the area was the target of a number of bombing raids. In March 1945, the Americans entered the town and garrison which surrendered without a fight.

American units began utilizing the training area on a permanent basis in 1951. Immense building programs were begun and unemployment, previously a major problem, disappeared.