Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany Genealogy

Geography and History


Oberammergau, or Upper Ammer Vale, is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. The small town on the Ammer River is known for its woodcarvers and woodcarvings, for its NATO School, and across the world for its 380-year tradition of mounting Passion Plays. The town has a total area of 30.06 km2 (11.61 sq mi) and is at an elevation of 837 m (2,746 ft).


 * The Conrad von Hötzendorf Kaserne was built just east of the village in 1935–37 as a base for the signals detachment (Gebirgs-Nachrichten-Abteilung 54) of the Mountain Brigade.
 * In October 1943, the barracks were taken over by the Messerschmitt company as a research and development site; 37 km (23 mi) of tunnels were bored into the neighboring Laber mountain for engine production facilities, and a winter sports hotel was also taken over. In all, Messerschmitt had 500 employees in the design department and about 1,300 more in the factory.
 * At the end of the Second World War, the Messerschmitt design department was visited by both U.S. and British scientific missions, as well as by teams from Bell (who stayed for five weeks) and de Havilland. Among the German staff interviewed by the Fedden Mission were Waldemar Voigt, Messerschmitt's chief designer, Hans Hornung, and Joseph Helmschrott.
 * After the war, the Americans occupied the barracks, renaming it Hawkins Barracks and making it the primary facility of U.S. Army School Europe;over the next three decades schools in specialties ranging from military police to nuclear weapons handling were located there. The base reverted to German Army control and its original name in 1974. See Wikipedia/Oberammergau

Online Records

 * WWI Personnel Rosters, 1914-1918 on Ancestry.com has information on Oberammergau Ancestry.com and there is also quite a bit on soldiers from Garmisch, Partenkirchen District which might be worth checking.
 * Find A Grave has information on 2 cemeteries that serve Oberammergau.
 * This is a link to the FamilySearch Catalog which lists what information is on microfilm for this town. It might be available at a Family History Center, but there are plans to digitize everything eventually.