Stars and Stripes over the Rhine

Hardly present in the German or American collective memory is the fact that after World War I, considerable regions between Trier and Koblenz remained under American control up until 1923. These four years were significant not merely from a political and economic standpoint, but also due to effects on the culture and ideological history of the region.

The U.S. presence after World War I was characterized on the whole by laudable and conciliatory interactions between the Americans and the people who were once their military opponents and later came to be regarded as exemplar for the U.S. military in Germany after World War II.

On the 100-year anniversary of the presence of American occupational forces in Germany, this will be the subject of an exhibit, "Stars and Stripes over the Rhine: The American Occupation in Germany after World War I, 1918-1923," and a historical documentary produced by the Südwestrundfunk Broadcasting Company in commemoration of this part of German-American history.

Curated by Kai Sprenger