Tag: Lake Edersee

Around Witzenhausen, Autumn 1945

My Mother and Audie Murphy Ch. 92

Witzenhausen, Germany, lay within the American occupation zone near the border with the Soviet zone, making it strategically important for intelligence and personnel transfers. In 1945, U.S. forces used the town during Operation Paperclip to evacuate German rocket scientists, including Wernher von Braun, from Bleicherode to prevent their capture by advancing Soviet troops, underscoring Witzenhausen’s role in the emerging Cold War. The town became a U.S. Army garrison, with military bases integrated into local life, a pattern seen across West Germany. This long American presence left lasting marks on language, consumer culture, and infrastructure, making Witzenhausen a microcosm of the broader U.S. occupation experience.

Janet and Flo visited a beach house on Lake Edersee occupied by the 3rd Signal Co.
Janet Potts
Berlepsch castle
Janet and Jens Jenson in their apartment at Witzenhausen Thanksgiving, 1945
At Janet and Jens’s home with Lt. Gerry Mehuron 3rd Bn. 3oth Thanksgiving Day
With Major Wickersham, a friend from Flo’s hometown, Yakima, WA
Locating these places on Apple maps helps me. Lake Edersee on the left, Witzerhausen to the right of Kassel, Bad Wildungen where Flo was stationed is to the right of Lake Edersee. All were within the American occupation zone in Hesse.