What Does a Tchibo Coffee Shop--Circa 1990--Have to do with the Second World War?

The Reichstag in Berlin

Recently I was asked to tell about what historical sites I have visited that have to do with World War II.  My answer centered on the nine years I spent in Germany.

When I was on active duty, I served for about ten years in what used to be called the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). I consider the country itself an historical site. I had duty assignments within the old British and American zones of occupation (and I was thus qualified to wear a German Occupation Medal on my dress uniform). During those years I became familiar with the German language and did a moderate amount of travelling. Though my travels were never with the intent, except on one occasion, to visit WWII historical sites, I saw several. 

Most of the historical sites I visited in Germany were related to the Cold War, but some also had an overlapping significance in terms of WWII. For instance, one of my assignments was to the Berlin Brigade. For a time I even had a barracks room on what was is an old Nazi Kaserne. Sorry, but I’ve forgotten the name of the place. I want to say it was Andrews Barracks, but I’m not certain. The Reichstag and the Tiergarten were points of interest during my touring of Berlin. Both figure prominently in the Battle of Berlin. 

Cologne

I also visited the old Soviet War Memorial in what used to be East Germany. During that assignment Rudolf Hoess was still a prisoner in the Spandau prison. I remember reading about it in the Stars and Stripes newspaper. After he died, they destroyed the prison. In the city of Frankfurt, I visited my battalion headquarters building several times. It was the same building that the old I. G. Farben company had used for a headquarters. Of course, I also visited the Rhine River, crossing it at several places—including at the city of Cologne where the ruined façade of that old church with the twin steeples, near the bridge that one sees in WWII photos, still stands. I also travelled through Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. 

When reading about Operation MARKET-GARDEN, I can identify some of the towns that I visited. In Luxembourg, on the only occasion I purposely traveled to a WWII historical site, I visited the American Cemetery and Memorial there and saw General Patton’s grave. I passed near the Lueneberge Heide scores of times, completely clueless to the fact that Montgomery took the German surrender there. On a trip to Bertchesgaden in the German Alps I stayed in a hotel that had once been an American headquarters. 

The pedestrian zone in Worms.  The coffee shop is on the left,
but not visible.  Its sign, "Tchibo," sign is visible above
the man with the blue hat.

And one day while drinking coffee in a café in Worms, I got into a conversation with an old German man who had been a soldier in the war. The things I remember most about that conversation were his stories of how far he traveled on foot during the war—from north Germany to Poland, back to Germany again, to the western front, and then to the south. It never occurred to me until much later that had this gentlemen marched further east, into Soviet controlled territory, he probably would not have lived to have that conversation with me.