History, culture and over 60 years of Elvis

By Monee LuckeyJune 28, 2022

Editor’s Note: The original article was published in November, 2018, by Moneé Luckey. It has been updated with the most up-to-date information regarding the display in May 2022.

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GRAFENWOEHR, Germany— Situated between the main street and the town center in Grafenwoehr is a quaint side street featuring the Culture and Military History Museum. This is the only museum in Bavaria with an exhibition about Germans and Americans living together from 1945 to the present day.

The museum’s two rooms illustrate how the city and the military training area are both heavily intertwined. Visitors can trace the presence of U.S. and Bavarian soldiers through displays, antiques, documents, oral histories, and photographs. Items ranging from a vintage U.S. Army Willys jeep to German military orders and Hitler Youth uniforms help tell Grafenwoehr’s story.

Housed in its own building, visitors can immerse in the history of the training area. The exhibition catalogs U.S. Soldiers and their relationship with the training area and Grafenwoehr. The gallery presents how the Soldiers and prisoners of war lived, the Allied invasion of the Second World War, and the evolution of the Soldier.

Presley is further remembered at the museum for his time deployed in the Upper Palatinate. The singer was on a maneuver in the military training area in 1958. He was not allowed to give public concerts during his time in the Army. Before his departure, the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll performed a surprise private concert at the “Micky Bar” in front of his father and bar staff.

Today, the Culture and Military Museum commemorates this legendary performance in a permanent display. For more information about the museum and the special exhibition, visit www.museum-grafenwoehr.de.

Editor’s note: The original article was published in 2019. It has been updated with the most up-to-date information regarding the display in May 2022.