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Fear instead of a welcoming culture: This is how the US community in Garmisch-Partenkirchen changed after 9/11

2021-09-10T07:16:03.553Z


September 11, 2001 changed the world. Islamist terrorists hijacked four planes and steered three of them into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York and into the Pentagon in Washington. People from the district tell their story 20 years later. In the fourth part of the 9/11 Tagblatt series, Paul Dutro and Drew Benson tell how life in the American community in Garmisch-Partenkirchen has changed after the attacks.


September 11, 2001 changed the world. Islamist terrorists hijacked four planes and steered three of them into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York and into the Pentagon in Washington. People from the district tell their story 20 years later. In the fourth part of the 9/11 Tagblatt series, Paul Dutro and Drew Benson tell how life in the American community in Garmisch-Partenkirchen has changed after the attacks.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen - Suddenly they are no longer there. No longer romp in the playground behind the residential area. No longer stroll through the area in the Breitenau and no longer walk to Herrgottschrofen. “That was the most noticeable thing to me,” says Drew Benson. The German mothers who push their strollers through the US community have been gone since the September 11, 2001 attacks. The cooperation between Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the Americans, which has grown over the years and filled both sides with pride, has virtually come to a standstill. A fence is being erected around the area at the former artillery barracks. The entrance area has been strictly guarded since then. Only those who are registered and have given their details will be admitted.

“That felt strange,” says Paul Dutro. Like Benson, the 72-year-old has lived in Garmisch-Partenkirchen for decades. "We were used to welcoming the Germans." Joint celebrations on July 4th, American Independence Day, the friendship festival with a large beer tent, rides and fireworks and other activities testified to this. Regardless of the big celebrations, including the Christmas ball, there was always a lively exchange. A joint softball team was just as much a part of it as the German-American women's club. “I fondly remember the Christmas season, when we were invited to Breitenau and were allowed to visit the beautifully decorated apartments,” says a woman from Garmisch-Partenkirchen. That ended after September 11th.Just like with uncomplicated meetings with friends and acquaintances. Or visiting the library in the so-called housing area, the US living area, as well as the services that took place in the small church, the community chapel, on the grounds of the Sheridan barracks. There was already a wall around it, only the entrances were blocked after the terrorist attacks - except for one, which is strictly controlled. “It's now normal for everything to be closed,” says Benson.but which is strictly controlled. “It's now normal for everything to be closed,” says Benson.but which is strictly controlled. “It's now normal for everything to be closed,” says Benson.

The entrance gate was only occupied twice before the 2001 attacks

The 63-year-old can remember from earlier times that the gate was occupied and that you had to identify yourself before entering US territory.

the gate had been occupied twice before.

In the 1980s after attacks by the Red Army Faction (RAF) on American facilities and also after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. "But there was no fence," says Benson.

And the cooperation with the Germans continued.

“That only felt temporary.” 2001 was completely different.

“The very next day, when I wanted to get money in the PX on Bahnhofstrasse, there were lots of military vehicles,” Dutro remembers.

“I don't even know where they all suddenly came from.” What has also burned into his memory is the enormous wave of solidarity that hit the Americans from the German side.

Flowers were laid on the Marshall statue on Gernackerstrasse and candles were set up.

And Dutro jumped over his shadow: “We were always told not to demonstrate,” he says with a smile.

When Garmisch-Partenkirchner called for a peace march a few days after the attacks to take a stand against the violence, he too went with them.

Paul Dutro still feels "great fear among many Americans"

Dutro, who fell in love with Werdenfelser Land on a sabbatical in 1974 and has lived here ever since, worked for 20 years as a tour guide for the Armed Forces Recreation Center (AFRC), the recreational facilities of the US Army. There, too, he had a lot of contact with the Germans, after all, he brought his compatriots closer to their culture and history. If he thinks back to the years before the 9/11 attacks, “I can only speak of the good old days”. Since then, he has felt a great fear "that is still there" among many Americans.

A lot has changed. Only American children frolic in the large playground in the Breitenau. The walkers who walked through the housing area in the direction of Herrgottschrofen are also a thing of the past. . In August 2001 there was a conversation between AFRC representatives as to how one could politely inform the Garmisch-Partenkirchen people that they should not leave the legacies of their four-legged friends on the sports field and other lawns. “You didn't want to alienate them, they should feel welcome,” says Dutro. A few weeks later, at least these considerations were obsolete.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-09-10

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