References
 
 (1)

08-26-2010

Dear Mr. Clark

my name is Manuela Rech and I live in the area of southern Germany where your father fought during the war. I found your homepage through your guestbook-entry on the century-division-site. Currently I'm still browsing through the many pictures. I was wondering if all the pictures with just a letter and number are unidentified because and I may be able to identify a couple of the locations on the pictures. If you like my help let me know, I'd be glad to help.

sincerely
Manuela Rech


08-27-2010

Dear Mr. Clark,

Unfortunately I can not help you with the people in the pictures, but I was able to identify a couple of the locations in the pictures. I will include links to recent pictures of those places if possible, so you can compare.

A3 is a picture of the old city hall in Stuttgart. It has been torn down after the war and replaced by a new building but I’ll include a link to a picture before the bombing

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/arenate/2217762311/]

C10 might very likely be Stuttgart from the surrounding hills but I can’t be sure – do you have a higher resolution scan so I can determine?

I have some difficulties identifying the album E – the writing on the envelope reads “Herbreckingham” and the closest to that sound around here would be “Herbrechtingen” but I can’t be sure. I will go to the library and see if I can find something about the town there to make sure

G8 is the ruins of Stuttgart– the left tower in the middle of the Picture is again the old city hall.

I 3 – I 11 is Geislingen an der Steige. I4 is looking down on the town from Helfenstein Castle (as seen on the sign on picture I3) which is located on a hill next to the town. I5 is the tower of Helfenstein Castle.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helfenstein_Castle]

I6, I7 and I8 are most likely also looking down at Geislingen an der Steige though it looks a bit as if they were taken from a plane.

I9 is in front of the tower at Helfenstein Castle and I10 is also there.
I have to add that both, the town of Geislingen and the Castle still look very much like this today. Of course the city has been rebuilt as far as there was any damage and of course grew bigger over the years but it still looks very similar.

[http://de.academic.ru/pictures/dewiki/71/Geislingen_Steige.jpg]

L2 is the old opera-house, the “Staatstheater” in Stuttgart taken from across the lake in the castle gardens (Schlossgarten) see the link below. It was damaged and restored and the ballet and the opera ensemble are today very famous.

[http://www.stuttgart.de/img/mdb/item/201230/36698.jpg]

L3 is again the old city hall in Stuttgart.

L8 is the Stiftskirche in Stuttgart in proximity of the old city hall (you can see the tower of the city hall in the background). The Stiftskirche has been rebuilt after the war. Here are two pictures, one after the bombing and a recent one.

[http://www.landesarchiv-bw.de/sixcms/media.php/120/45627/Zerst%F6rte%20Stiftskirche.jpg]
[http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:StiftskircheStuttgart.JPG]

L9 is the new castle in Stuttgart – new as in “only” 250 years old, compared to the old castle which is much older. I tried to find a picture taken from the same angle – this is as close as I could get.

[http://www.leopoldo-retty.de/bilder/ausstellung/gross/stuttgart_neuesschloss.jpg]

if you pass by the building on the left hand side of the picture you would get to the lake and the opera-house.

Though I can not say much about the pictures in album N I would like to tell you about the town mentioned on the envelope “Göppingen”. In 1949 the US-troops took over the former German airfield (between 45 and 49 it was a camp for displaced persons) which was named “Cooke Barracks”. The Cooke Barracks was returned to the German government in 1992.

And last UNK2 is again at Helfenstein Castle. The bridge seen in the lower right half is still there.

Although I was not able to help you with the people in the pictures I hope I was helpful in finding out something about the places your father visited during his time here. How long was he here? Do you know which Company and Regiment he was in?

Maybe he was in my hometown too. If you don’t mind I would like to hear a little about him.
I am looking for a soldier of the 397th myself. My grandmother told me a very lovely story about how generously they have been treated by this particular soldier and I am trying to find him. If you would like to hear it I can tell you.

Sincerely
Manuela Rech