Zweibrücken 30-Plus Years Later

Zweibrücken
30-Plus Years Later

For all of my friends who were stationed at Zweibrücken AB some 30-plus years ago, this is what the installation looks like today.

It’s not spectacular footage, but then again, Zweibrücken today is not what it was during our time.

As most of you know, Zweibrücken Air Base today is not what it was some 30-plus years ago. The installation is now the site of an industrial area and a designer outlet center. Only a handful of the original buildings remain, such as the ice arena, a couple of buildings on the main street (which if I remember correctly, were part of the finance office), the AAFES theater building and the adjoining snack bar with the round façade, and one of the large hangers which was converted into an airport terminal to accommodate commercial international European flights. We flew out of there a couple of times to places like Mallorca and the Canary Islands.

The airport had a short life span as a result of political pressure to keep only the nearby Saarbrücken airport open. Two international airports within 60 kilometers was just too much of a conflict and since Saarbrücken had “seniority,” the decision to close the Zweibrücken airport was a no-brainer. So ended another chapter in Zweibrücken’s history. It’s a shame though because it was really convenient to fly out of there.

The only tribute to Zweibrücken’s past that was erected when the installation was converted into an industrial area is an iron sculpture in the middle of a turning circle showing four F-4s flying information. Look for it in the video.

Oh, and by the way, there is not a single TAB-V in sight.

I hope this footage brings back a few memories.