Lautzenhausen - History

History

Archaeological finds bear witness to a Roman presence in the area. In 1260, Lautzenhausen had its first documentary mention. Beginning in 1794, Lautzenhausen lay under French rule. In 1814 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna. Since 1946, it has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Until the 1950s, the village was characterized by agriculture. This changed when the air base – now a civil airport – was built. It was first planned by the French in 1946, but was, however, subsequently built by the Americans. They named it “Hahn Air Base” after nearby Hahn because, as a local joke had it, they could not pronounce “Lautzenhausen”. This is highly unlikely to be true, for the name “Lautzenhausen” ( ) would present no pronunciation difficulties to an English speaker. A somewhat likelier explanation is that a great part of the air base lay within Hahn’s limits, as can be seen in some plans from the time it was built. Since the base’s main gate stood right at the entrance to Lautzenhausen, a cutoff point arose right in the municipality between military and civilian zones. For the municipality, it was a divide that lasted decades. Buildings, some of which had been used for farming, were converted, and new buildings were added. They eventually housed hotels, inns, bars and businesses associated with a red-light district, so that the G.I.’s from the base could be offered something by way of recreation during their off-duty time.