
Ravin
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I lived in Wiesbaden for over three years, with the U.S. Army, until late 2006. A great place to live--gorgeous countryside, close to Mainz, Frankfurt, Koln, Heidelberg and many other interesting places. The people in that area are friendly, and tolerate their American neighbors with admirable patience. Bear in mind that there are several Army installations in Wiesbaden area; the primary one is Wiesbaden Army Airfield (WAAF), technically located in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim a couple of miles southeast of Wiesbaden's center. Just down the road from that, in Mainz-Kastel, is the Mainz-Kastel kaserne--there are actually two, but the second Mainz-Kastel kaserne is smaller and is the location of the TMP motorpool (most of the Americans in the area call the larger kaserne "Mainz-Kastel", and the smaller one "the TMP"). The larger Mainz-Kastel kaserne is where the PowerZone, furniture store, AutoPride, sporting goods, eyewear, and housewares stores are located, as well as a smaller food court, the carwash, and an open-use mechanic's garage. There are several housing areas in Wiesbaden; the largest is Hainerberg, and is also where the Wiesbaden area's PX and commissary are located, as well as one of the AAFES gas stations (there's also one at Mainz-Kastel), the movie theater, the food court, a small lounge, a bank, SATO, and some gift stores. Aukamm and Crestview are the other two housing areas, just up the road from Hainerberg. Several other smaller bases are part of the Wiesbaden family of bases... Dexheim, about 15 minutes or so south of Mainz, is home to a few units and is large enough to sport its own housing area, small PX/commissary, movie theater, and a few other amenities. McCully Barracks is out west in Wackernheim, about ten minutes west of Mainz, and was where my unit was stationed during the entire time I lived in the area (I lived in Hainerberg). I don't know if the Army still owns and uses McCully or not, but they may have turned it over to the Germans after my unit was deactivated. There is a small-arms firing range just up the road from McCully Barracks, and shares its name. There are one or two little sites in and around Finthen (between Mainz and Wackernheim) that are used by the Army and have people working there but I'm not as familiar with those.
WAAF is where you'll go first, most likely, if you're going to be working in the area, since that's where 1AD is headquartered and is where the welcome center and all the inprocessing is.
If there's anything else you're wondering about where those posts are concerned, or the Wiesbaden/Mainz area in general, shoot me a message. I was there recently enough and lived there long enough that most of it's still fresh in my mind. |

dbdoit
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I can not comment on the Military aspects, but the Wiesbaden area is very nice(I work in nearby Ruesselsheim), and as mentioned rich people live in Wiesbaden.
The Wiesbaden area is very much like New England in regards to weather and country side.
Since I am American, but nothing to do with the US Military I have a much different way of living than Americans with the 'ID Card'. But, if you can arrange to live their thru the US Military, do it, you will not regret it!
Hey, I came to Germany planning to stay 1 year. I have now been over here for over 20 years and own a home so there are no plans on moving back to the US.
Email me if you have any more questions. |

male4girlz
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Okay, let's start with the correct spelling, it's Wiesbaden ;-)
Besides that people down there speak a terrible dialect called Hessisch. Glad you don't understand it :-D
Weather is full of changes like all over Germany, lots of rainy days as well as sun, winds and clouds, 10 to 20 degrees... average as average can be :-D |