German Canteen reopens its doors

Story and photos by Airman 1st Class Ariel Leighty
86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Brig. Gen. Richard G. Moore Jr., 86th Airlift Wing commander, and Andreas Klein, German Canteen concessionaire, cut a ribbon, reopening the German Canteen May 22 on Ramstein Air Base. Since the German Canteen’s original opening in 1954 and moving to its current location more than 40 years ago, the German Canteen has served the Kaiserslautern Military Community authentic traditional cuisine.

The German Canteen officially reopened this week after undergoing nearly six months of renovations on Ramstein Air Base.

“This is one of the biggest transformations of a single space that has happened on Ramstein in a very long time.” said Brig. Gen. Richard G. Moore Jr., 86th Airlift Wing commander.  “This is a dramatic change and thank you to the engineers for everything you’ve done and made this room what it is today.”

The 86th Civil Engineer Group conducted renovation work in the facility at the start of the new year to ensure facility compliance with current German food service code standards.

Through the combined team efforts of the German Works Council, 86th CEG, and 86th Mission Support Group, the facility was renovated and brought up to modern German food service facility code requirements and a new German concessionaire was found.

Moore thanked and welcomed Andreas Klein, the new concessionaire of the German Canteen, as well as everyone else who assisted with the ceremony and in the renovation of this Ramstein institution.

Since the German Canteen’s
original opening in 1954 and moving to its current location more than 40 years ago, the German Canteen has served the Kaiserslautern Military Community authentic
traditional cuisine.

Moore said that over the years, the canteen has grown and has evolved from a simple place where our German friends could count on a good meal, to a place where German and Americans could come together.

The German Canteen is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m, Monday through Friday. The facility, located in building 2400, held a grand reopening ceremony May 22, at 10:30 a.m.

Brig. Gen. Richard G. Moore Jr., 86th Airlift Wing commander, gives a speech before the ribbon cutting ceremony, officially reopening the German Canteen May 22 on Ramstein Air Base. The German Canteen was under renovations for nearly six months to revamp the building.