NATO Site 59 - Sonderwaffenlager Clausen

Germany / Rheinland-Pfalz / Merzalben /
 unsichtbar, closed / former military (en)
Jahrelang lagerten im US-Depot in der Nähe des Ortes Clausen viele gefährliche Kampfstoffe, darunter 400 Tonnen der tödlich wirkenden Nervengifte VX und Sarin. Insgesamt waren es 102.000 Giftgrasgranaten die abtransportiert wurden. Bis kurz vor dem Abtransport war den Bürgern und den Politikern in Clausen nicht bekannt, dass in dem Depot Giftstoffe lagern. Sogar Demonstranten liefen jahrelang vor einem falschen Lager auf, denn es wurde vermutet, dass auch die Chemiekampfstoffe im Lager Fischbach (Kreis Südwestpfalz), in dem sogenannte "Sonderwaffen" (atomare Sprengköpfe) waren, lagerten.

Dem Abzug der Chemiewaffen war eine Absprache zwischen den damaligen Regierungschefs US-Präsident Reagan und Bundeskanzler Kohl im Jahr 1986 vorausgegangen.

Former Special Ammo Storage for 100.000 US Army nervegas (GB and VX) arty projectiles for NATO forces to be used in eventually European WW3. Site was activated 1968 and secured by US Army 110th MP Company. Deactivated 1991 and closed 1991 after the downfall of the USSR and Warsaw Pact.

In the operations Steel Box and Golden Python all chemical weapons were transported from Clausen to Miesau appx 20 miles away. There they were put on trains and hauled to the North Sea port of Nordenham where they were loaded aboard 2 US Navy ships and transported to the Army Chemical Activity on Johnson Atoll in the Pacific Ocean where they were destroyed by fire.

The shells, 155 and 203 millimeters in diameter, were placed in airtight steel cases and packed in 5,000 transport containers during transport.

Video footage: deadliest chemical agent : VX gas
www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&feature=related&hl=en-GB&v=...
Wikipedia-Artikel: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aktion_Lindwurm
Nearby cities:
Koordinaten:   49°15'53"N   7°42'46"E

Kommentare

  • I lived near here. My Dad was stationed at a nearby army post, but wanted us to live in a German town, vs. on the American post. We were one of two American families in our town. One night after several beers (I was 17, but the drinking age in Germany for beer and wine is/was 16), we loaded into a German friend's older Volkswagen bug. It did not have reverse; the gear was burned out. I expressed interest in the sign at the head of the road to the depot; it was written all in German, but indicated there was an American facility. It had a few bullet holes in it too, which was very unusual as guns were hard to come by in Germany. Perhaps it was the beer, but he drove us in. The road was heavily wooded, and as soon as we started in there was a sharp turn and the road narrowed to the width of only one vehicle and suddenly there were deep concrete culverts on either side of it. There was no way to turn the car around without bottoming out, and of course his car didn't have reverse. So we proceeded, nervously onward. Not much farther we came around another bend (it was nighttime) and saw the first bunker inside gleaming, razor topped stainless steel fencing. There were bright halogen lights that lit the area like it was daytime, and we could see cameras tracking us. The bunker was mostly underground, but I could see through a large window in the front. The glass appeared to be several feet thick, and I could see soldiers with machine guns strapped over their shoulders. We were pretty scared! The road forked, and we hopped out and pushed the car backward, using the fork in the road to turn it around. Then we hopped back in and drove out the way we had driven in. My friend said that a couple of plainclothes German police came to his house a couple of days later, and asked him about his "joyride." He said they strongly suggested that he didn't see anything, should never mention it to anyone, and should never do it again... or else! I never told my parents. This would have been 1979 or 1980.
  • Fence is still in place and secure. The facility is currently used as a solar panel field, and there was activity there the day I visited (possibly security guards, not sure).
  • Does anybody have photos from the time when he was stationed there?
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