Built in 1942 as a meeting house, after the war the building became the “Mountain Lodge” for the American officers’ casino.
Image: Lucas Bäuml
From the Nazi model settlement to the US Army’s secret service base: the checkered history of Camp King in Oberursel is hardly known. The buildings document a piece of contemporary history.
The neighborhood makes a particularly peaceful impression on these warm days. A cool breeze often blows down from the nearby Taunus hills, the shady forest is a stone’s throw away. Greenery, colorful gardens and tall, stately oak trees are dotted among neat houses, all of which needed careful protection during construction in the late 1990s and early 2000s. On the northern edge is a riding stable that conveys a rural idyll, although Oberursel is a modern town with 43,000 inhabitants.
Life is good here in the north of the city, below the Hohemark. The Bundesstraße 455, which leads as an extension of the A 661 in the direction of Feldberg, can be heard in a westerly wind as a subtle murmur between the chirping of birds. But despite all the tranquility, the district has a remarkable history. Even the name signals it: Camp King. It dates back to the times when the quarters were used by the Americans.