News for the Ramstein, Kaiserslautern, Landstuhl & Baumholder military communities in Germany 
A visit to the Eagle’s Nest in Southern Germany offers visitors a trip back into World War II history.
The mountain-top retreat, known to Germans as the “Kehlsteinhaus,” is a lodge that sits atop the Kehlstein Mountain near the city of Berchtesgaden in the German state of Bavaria.
More than 125 years ago, Vincent van Gogh influenced 20th century art with his portraits and landscape paintings. Today, the Netherlands’ Keukenhof Gardens, one of the world’s largest flower gardens, is honoring the man who painted such famous works at “Starry Night” and “Sunflowers” by making Van Gogh the park’s theme.
We couldn’t have asked for a more glorious day as we neared the summit of Germany’s tallest mountain.
After two days of hiking up from Garmisch-Partenkirchen through the Partnach Gorge, a gentle breeze reminded us that concentration was still needed to make it safely up the rock face the last several hundred meters to the top.
Some things get put into a category and never break free. Think of a TV actor who can’t make the shift into film once his series ends, a romance potential kept in the friend zone, a wardrobe item you only wear after the guests leave and you’re going to spend eight hours on the couch with your Apple TV. Yes, it’s easy to keep things in their usual status quo. The Crock-Pot is easily typecast as a winter kitchen appliance, mainly unearthed from storage to slowly marinate stews, chili and heavy meats.
Though the majority of German-American relations takes place in the KMC, the German-American Institute is not located here. Instead, it can be found in the city of Saarbrücken.
Some may wonder why an institute revolving around German and American relationships is located 40 minutes away from the air base that brought the Americans to the area. But it wasn’t always this way.
No more than 30 minutes away from the KMC, snow leopards bound over rocks, Asian elephants lazily congregate in groups and giraffes enjoy snacks picked from tall trees.
The Neunkirchen Zoo offers visitors the full experience, featuring animals from the savannas of Africa, plains of Australia, Europe and beyond.
Spring conjures dreams of picnics, playgrounds and parties. It invites us to slowly emerge from our individual homes and join our community in celebration of life and light. There’s no other time of year that can compete with the fever of spring.
Playing together with friends and family, experiencing activities in the outdoors, attending events and traveling are the building blocks of healthy relationships — this form of quality time increases the effectiveness of our communication, helps us tolerate each other and reduces stress.
While it may be best known as a Christmas market destination, Americans serving in Germany should add Nuremberg to their list of must-see sights before leaving Europe. Situated in the northern Bavarian hill country, the city of half a million offers unique insights into Germany’s medieval and more recent past while serving up some of its best contemporary amenities.
Most people who have spent any amount of time in the Rhein-Main region know Mainz as a famous party town — a university city known for its annual bout of carnival madness during the Fasching season.
But what many may not know, as the capital of Rheinland-Pfalz, Mainz is also a museum showcase. Unlike its cousin across the Rhine River, Wiesbaden (Hessen’s state capital), which has a few museum collections but looks farther east and south to Frankfurt and Darmstadt for more extensive museums, Mainzers don’t have to travel to other cities in the state to find unique accumulations of everything from great works of art to a look at the history of shipbuilding.
The opportunity to hunt animals in Europe is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — one that avid hunters should take full advantage of.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Brian Humbert, 2nd Military Intelligence Battalion, said hunting in Germany has a certain appeal, and he has dedicated 100 hours of his free time to learn the ins and outs of the sport.
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