I know lately there has been a lot of information on Germany on here…working on getting more and other information posted. Britney Brown owner and founder of the Facebook-group “Military Spouses of Wiesbaden” has put together a wonderful post about housing in Wiesbaden. If you are headed to Wiesbaden join their group so that you already know someone BEFORE you get there. First read Britneys report at the bottom I have added information coming from Stars and Stripes.
There are 3 housing locations on base — Hainerberg, Crestview, and Aukkum.
Hainerberg is the housing area that is closest to all of the “stuff”. The commissary is literally in it and the PX is just a few blocks down the way which includes a shopette, a movie theater, a laundromat, a book store, a USO location and many more. The high school and middle school are also located here as well as one of the elementary schools. As for housing comparisons, it’s very difficult because they are literally doing renovations as we speak. A group of soldiers is getting ready to PCS so there are many many more leaving and having those apartments updated. On the whole, the Hainerberg apartments have been renovated but are a bit on the smaller side. Hainerberg is also the closest to downtown.
Crestview has a bad rap for having the “crappy” apartments but our sponsor and his family have a renovated apartment there that is HUGE and GORGEOUS. So truthfully, it entirely depends on the apartment and whether or not that building has been renovated yet or not. Crestview is just down the way from Hainerberg so isn’t far at all from the other items.
Aukkum is primarily the “quiet neighborhood” of the group and is also where all the officer housing is located along with many of the higher enlisted members. The actual apartments aren’t much different than the other locations – just quieter. There is also an elementary school there. This areas is the furthest away from the PX and Commisary but is located near a lot of German businesses and is still easily accessable.
You (unfortunately) probably won’t get a choice about where you get to live. You will be in the hotel (which is brand new) when you arrive until they have an apartment to show you and then you will be given that apartment’s keys to go have a look at it. Unless you have a good reason for not wanting it (you have a bad knee and it’s on the 3rd floor, etc) then it will be yours though apparently there is some wiggle room with that. Though, keep in mind that when you are in the hotel, you are making money (a per diem rate of $120ish per day for 2 people) every day you are there. It may be cramped and stressful but it will be a nice addition to your paycheck! Also, when you are in the hotel, request a suite with a kitchenette. They do have them but they won’t necessarily automatically put you in one. When you make your hotel reservations, request this feature.
Army members (even a lot of senior officers) are not allowed to live off post so don’t plan on that being an option. The Air Force and Navy have different rules so you may be allowed if your sponsor is in one of those branches. Regardless of where you live for housing, you will have to drive to get to the WAAF (Wiesbaden Army Air Field) which is where most of the sponsors work and most of the rest of the post commodities are — there is a shuttle bus that goes there every week day as well but it is not within walking distance. Something to bare in mind when deciding on vehicle choices.
Junior enlisted soldiers arriving in Europe with their families this summer will be given priority for on-base military family housing, following a policy adopted earlier this year for U.S. Army garrisons in Europe.
The policy requires garrisons to house 100 percent of all accompanied personnel from private to staff sergeant on post, along with up to 10 percent of accompanied senior enlisted troops and officers, according to Installation Management Command-Europe officials.
Currently, there are approximately 11,875 junior-enlisted families in Europe with 8,699 of those families living in on-post housing and the rest living off-base, or “on the economy.â€
-Key personnel is also mandated to live on base.
Day said senior enlisted troops and officers can live in on-post housing only if there are vacancies after all the junior-enlisted families have been moved in. He added, however, that exceptions can be granted on a case-by-case basis, such as families enrolled in the Exceptional Family Member Program. That program caters to family members who have special medical or educational needs.
I’ve lived in Wiesbaden and this is the first time of ever hearing about this group. Thanks.
I tried to email you but your email just kept kicking it back at me.
I will have to say there is one thing wrong with the article, I know of officers and of at least one enlisted soldier with family that live off post. You will have to go through a lot of paper work and it took him months and months to get it finalized so his family could live off post before they came. As for the officers I don’t know what they have to go thru to live off post but there are. I will have to say one thing, being here for 3 years that if I was given an option to live off post even with all of the drama I would of still picked on post housing. Just because off post you would be surrounded by Germans (not saying there is something wrong with Germans just a language barrier,) and less of a chance to meet people that are American. I know of a lot of people that hide out in the house because they don’t want to be out there to meet new people. So I could imagine it would only be worse living off post.
Aukkum Housing is not where all of the Officers and higher ranking enlisted live. 80% of my husband’s command live in the Hainerberg Housing with us. There are townhouse style housing (older) in Aukkum which officers can have but not where all of the command live.
There is also new housing being built right next to the Airfield that are Townhouse style housing. They haven’t announced when they are opening them up but my guess is within the next year or two Most likely within a year.
Crestview housing is different being that the 2 bedroom Apartments have a corner (larger) balcony where as the 3+ bedroom Apartments have balconies but not as big. Now where Hainerberg and Aukkum have actual parking spaces, Crestview you have to park on the side of the street aka Parallel Parking. But you will have tons of yard to chill out in and let your kids run around on.
Here is is a little bit more about Hainerberg. It has the Entertainment Center (EC), the brand new American Arms (Hotel) that opened up just a few months ago (2011). They are currently knocking down some Housing buildings to make room for the New Commissary, PX and Parking. The EC has a bowling alley, Bar, Cafe type eatery, and party rooms. It is also brand new that was finished last year (2010).
To walk to the WAAF its about 3 miles or less, walking is do able I’ve also seen Soldiers ride their bikes to work. Parking spaces in housing about about the same size in the states but when you go out on the economy, their parking spaces are a lot smaller so a large truck and large SUV might be tough to find parking or even driving on some streets. Another thing to keep in mind. I hope this helps some.
There are so many variations of housing in Wiesbaden and the rules who HAS to live on post change all the time according to availability (or so it seems). I recommend you don’t rely too much on any information you find online for that reason. What might have been true for a family who got here three months ago might not be what you will be faced with.
To get an idea of the big variety I recommend you take a closer look at the ON POST HOUSING discussion topic on the quite big facebook community “Americans in Wiesbaden”. Here is the direct link to the discussion topic in question.
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=121096351266476&topic=305
You will find many people’s experiences and reports on housing issues in Wiesbaden – and like this get a broad picture of what to expect.
The best way to find out is to talk to Housing of course: office hours are Monday – Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (0611) 705‑7573/5310 (from within Germany) or 49 611-705‑7573
and 49 611-705‑5310 from outside.