The recent tension between the U.S. president, Donald Trump, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, ended with the announcement that the United States will reduce by 5,000 the number of soldiers stationed on German soil in the coming months, where it maintains more than 36,000 troops. But, how important are these bases for the U.S. military and for Germany?
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The United States has just under a dozen major military bases in Germany, many of them in the southwest and south of the European country, but the number of facilities ranges between 20 and 40 if smaller support points or weapons depots, among other equipment, are included. At the height of the Cold War, Washington operated about 50 main bases and more than 800 sites on German territory, ranging from huge airfields and barracks to listening posts. Many have closed since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early nineties.
Among the most militarily relevant is the Ramstein Air Base, in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, in the west of the country. It is the largest U.S. air base outside its territory. To understand the scale of this base, one only needs to look at Pentagon data, which sets the number of permanently assigned soldiers there at about 9,000. Additionally, if U.S. civilian employees, local workers, and family members are added, the figure reaches between 50,000 and 55,000 members of the U.S. community around the base.
Strategic point
But Ramstein is much more than a military airport. It is a key logistical and operational center for the U.S. military outside its territory. From here, troop movements, air transports, medical evacuations, as well as command and communication tasks for operations in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East are coordinated. Ramstein is also home to essential command structures of the U.S. Air Force in Europe and is considered indispensable for NATO’s rapid deployment capability, a strategic factor that has further increased its importance since Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
All this has led it to be defined as “a stationary aircraft carrier,” because for Washington it is a fundamental facility to project its power across the rest of the planet.
But this and other bases are not only of great importance to the United States. They are also an important economic engine for the regions where they are located, for example, through the employment of Germans or the consumption of U.S. soldiers. In the case of Ramstein, for example, it would be a severe blow to the area’s finances. “The economic impact of the U.S. military presence can be quantified at more than 2 billion dollars [about 1.706 billion euros] per fiscal year,” said Ralf Hechler, mayor of Ramstein, this week.
With all these figures, it is not surprising that the German Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius, declared after learning of the Trump Administration’s decision to withdraw thousands of troops from German soil: “The presence of U.S. soldiers in Europe, and especially in Germany, serves our interest and that of the United States.”
Next to Ramstein, in the small town of Landstuhl, is the largest U.S. military hospital abroad. Thanks to this, soldiers injured on missions abroad do not have to be transferred to the United States to receive quick and quality medical treatment. Because the Landstuhl center has become obsolete over time, a new clinic is currently being built in the neighboring town of Weilerbach, at a cost of about 1.59 billion dollars, which will also be the largest of the U.S. Armed Forces outside their territory.
Operations centers
Likewise, the largest maneuver field for U.S. troops outside the U.S. is near Grafenwöhr, in Bavaria. And in Stuttgart are the headquarters of the European Command (EUCOM) and the African Command (Africom) of the Armed Forces.
Meanwhile, the headquarters of the U.S. Army in Europe is located in Wiesbaden, in the state of Hesse; F-16 fighter jets are stationed at Spangdahlem Air Base, while some of the nearly 100 U.S. nuclear weapons estimated to be in Europe are located at Büchel Air Base (both in Rhineland-Palatinate).
In total, according to figures presented by the Pentagon in December, by the end of 2025, about 84,000 personnel were estimated in Europe. Of these, the vast majority, about 68,000, are permanently assigned to bases in various countries, and of them, 36,400 to those in Germany. This figure varies regularly due to rotations and exercises. This makes Germany the second largest U.S. military base outside the United States, only after Japan. It has great strategic value for Washington, far from many conflict regions in the world such as, now, Iran.
The announcement now to reduce this contingent by 5,000 soldiers is not seen as a measure that will have a great impact at first. The question, among others, will be to know which specific troops will be withdrawn. However, this is not the first time Trump has threatened to reduce the number of soldiers. He already proposed it in his first term for considering Germany’s defense spending insufficient. However, these plans were halted by his successor, Democrat Joe Biden.
U.S. soldiers have been in Germany since the end of World War II. The bases for stationing soldiers were, after the war ended, initially an occupation right as the other victorious countries had, France, the United Kingdom, and Russia. Then, in 1954, the Status Treaty was signed, which turned those troops into allied defense forces. At that time, the goal was to defend the young Federal Republic of Germany from threats coming from the East. The treaty was confirmed with German reunification in 1990. Added to this are the NATO Status of Forces Agreements.
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