I lived on Wismarer Strasse in Frankfurt Germany-the location of the WW2 era bomb that is forcing the evacuation of the city of Frankfurt Germany today. My house was where the red mark is (near the top of the photo) and the green mark is where the bomb is located.
I lived there with my family from 1974-1977. I played kick the can on that street in the summers. I waited for the green military school bus right across the street from where that bomb is. I ate my first meal after landing at the Flughafen over that bomb, in what was The Ambassador Arms Hotel. My mom used to get her hair done at the beauty parlor at The Ambassador Arms.
I walked in front of the bomb on my home from high school (see building in front of the track on left in photo). In short, I was blissfully unaware that in the 1940’s, this bomb had been dropped by the British to stop the Nazis. I tell you, I never thought about Nazis the whole time we were in Germany. I was 12 turning 13 when we arrived in Germany, and 15 turning 16 when we left. I was thinking about myself. I was thinking about boys. I was thinking about music.
And now, I am thinking about all the history that took place in that area. I am thinking about the American occupation, about WW2, and also about the young, American teenage girl who lived, loved, laughed and cried on that street. May all be well today on Wismarer Strasse.
Brings back pleasant teen memories – I lived on Plieninger Strasse in Frankfurt from 72-76. Amazing that they just discovered this bomb.
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Teen memories…it’s a cool reminder (to me anyway) to check in with myself and see if I have fulfilled any of the things I dreamed about back then.
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Stars & Stripes have a diagram stating that it’s by the front entrance of the Abrams complex.
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I’ll check it out. I was going by the Wismarer Strasse info.
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I was in Frankfurt around that same time (74-79) and my family spent months in the Ambassador Arms when we first arrived. The cafe at AA wasn’t exactly world-class.
Funny, but I thought about WW2 all the time when I was there but I was a young boy who idolized veterans and watched endless “Combat!” reruns staring Vic Morrow every chance I got.
Even then, I knew there were still many bombs found in German cities every year. I just assumed they had cleared the Hansaallee housing area when they built the homes. You would think, “Hey, Fritz, did you check for any more 2000KG bombs before you started building houses today?” would be on the standard check-list.
I would sometimes walk through that area on my way to and from school, especially if I was going to the mess hall or the PX on the way home. It looks like the street I normally took has been removed though.
Did we have a 9th grade English class together with Mr. Fitts. I thought he was one of the better teachers at FAJHS.
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Hi Jon-I think I had Mr. Fitts (Fitz??) for Shakespeare in 9th grade. Did you? The whole time I was there, I don’t think I thought about WW2. I think I was too consumed with Teen Angst and myself back then. I reflect on my time in Germany so often-really life changing.
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I had Mr. Fitts for at least one class. I have memories of writing stories (I think I found one of them) so I thought it was a composition class. But that was long ago and I have been wrong before.
A lot of my memories have been amalgamated into somewhat vague and often confused memories. I remember a few people from that class and I think you were one.
Mr. Fitts liked kids, enjoyed teaching, was funny and encouraged his students. That made his class seem like it almost wasn’t school. I think that is why I have a few fond memories of his class.
I spent 8 of my first 17 years in Germany. That definitely shaped my life. Those years in Frankfurt were great years in so many ways and I think about those times often. In fact, I felt kind of out of place when I returned to the US in 1979. I have since learned that is a common experience for “3rd culture kids.” Interestingly, it was that fact that attracted my wife to me as she had only recently come to the US when we met.
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I lived on Wismarer Strasse next to Ambassador Arms.
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