Army move to K-Town Germany

[cox]

I am about to PCS to K-Town . I am very interested in getting a detector and finding some artifacts over there. Do you know anything about the laws there pertaining to such things?

 

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[paratrooper]

I am assuming that you mean Kiaserslautern . Here is some info when this question was presented by a fella that wanted to beep while on vacation .



Just to clarify on Detecting in Germany

You cant!!
You need a license under para 13 of the Denkmalschutzgesetz!!
You wont get one unless you live here and work with the Archis
Each state has its own laws but they are all basicaly the same!

DO NOT BE MISLED BY PEOPEL SAYING YOU CAN SAY YOUR LOOKING WWII RELIC?S IT WONT WORK AND IF YOU GET CAUGHT YOU LOSE YOUR DETECTOR AND WILL BE FINED UPTO50,000 ?URO

If anyone wants any help then please feel free to email me!!


Steve

Even though this fella lives in Germany he speaks and reads English as well as we do . He is actually British so you can E-Mail him for particulars .
STONEYFACED@AOL.COM

Good Luck .

 

[cox]

That sucks. Not even on base huh? I guess it's good I didn't spend any money yet then.

 

[willisjj]

I forgot to mention what Paratrooper said about detecting in Germany. I wouldn't, but I think you are fine on post, like I said, no problem there in 3 years and I also detected K-Town and Landstuhl (sp?), but stayed on post. I have seen other people detecting on actual german land around the post, and I knew one guy in downtown Baumholder that owned a restaraunt and he detected and dowsed. Anyway, there was a German that had a good website about detecting Germany and the laws and I used to e-mail him quite a bit. Can't think of his name or the website it has been so long now. If I think of it I will let you know though.

 

[wreckdiver1715]

Cox, congrats on the PCS (permanent move of station), you are going to love this assignment. I normally get over there a couple times a year. We have an office on Ramstein AB, just outside of K-Town.
Drink lots of that good German beer, and get to as many wine festivals as you can get to, and by all means get out there and explore. Several years ago, I found the little town of Frankenstein about a 45 minute drive east of K-Town, and was able to climb to the castle that is now in ruins.
My next trip won?t happen again until the Space Shuttle gets back to flying, and who knows when that will be. In any case, once you get settled and have an email account set up drop me a line and maybe we can do some hunting (without the detectors), or just go drink some beer and talk about hunting LOL!

Enjoy

Q

 

[willisjj]

Maybe it has changed since 2001 but Vitos post made me remember most of what he said, plus I might add that if you make a find and the goverment classifies it as "historical" or "treasure trove" they may keep the item and give you a monetary settlement for it. Like I said though, things may have changed since then and it is probably safest to find out for yourself.

 

[U.K. Brian]

Funny the different opinions on Germany. I detected there regularly for years until 2000 with no trouble but rules do change but there's several excellent German forums like Heimdalls and there are detector manufacturers and dealers still in business so detecting seems to be carrying on as normal. I would do as Vito suggests to be on the safe side. Remember that in the U.K. you can be fined, have all your equipment confiscated and get up to six months in prision. Thousands still detect every day with no problems by avoiding protected sites and having obtained the landowners permission (and there's no true common land....everything is owned by someone).

 

[willisjj]

Heres a cool link about detecting Germany. Click on "Baumholder" and you can actually see the field that I was talking about earlier as well as my barracks in the background.http://www.hdwt.net/germany.html

 

[willisjj]

All I can advice is...make your own thing and TALK to the RELEVANT people. You?ll be surprised.

Good advice Vito. Better safe than sorry and the laws do change frequently in addition to the confusion of being in a different country to begin with.

 

[Born2Dtect]

Most US bases over seas are leased or rented and not owned by the US. When there I did not see any German Police presence on the bases. Therefor it would be my opinion that if you get permission form the provost marshall or equivalent office you would not be bothered by the German government.

ED

 

[birdman]

I have not had any problem but one.Some guy ran me off from a grassy field .I don't know if he owned the land or not but he was an #@$$$. I tried to talk and he did not. I think he just did not like Americans digging in his country. I ended up going back Sunday morning for about three hours and found 3 coins and talked to some locals who were very interested in my finds.Really nice people.I have had very little problem over here and think it is the chance of a life time. Most people will give you permission if the language barrier don't get in the way. If I were you I would really try to learn as much German as you can .It will make things much easier.

 

[U.K. Brian]

Thanks Vito

I thought they were just changing service provider....then kept ending up at Heimdalls Garde or similar which is all wargames. Nice bloke on Heimdalls was Thornsten from Munich who detected the site of the battle of Hohenlinden (hope I've spelt it right).

 

[Michigan Badger]

I've never hunted in Germany but I think birdman makes an excellent point.

The key is to get permission from landowners. Granted, that doesn't make it legal but it most likely will keep you out of trouble. If no one reports you, whose going to mess with you on private property?? Others don't know who you are or why you're there.

But yes, there's always the chance that the fuss will just take the notion to approach you. If so, hope you get off with a warning.

This sort of thing is all over the US as well. If one only hunted a piece of property when one had a written letter of permission from the landowner, one would find very little if anything.

All the really successful THers I know of have guts and take chances. I know this isn?t a Pollyanna kind of thing to write but it?s a fact.

 

[Born2Dtect]

I don't know if it is guts or just the gift of gab. Most of the people I know who get to hunt lots of places are very out going. They love to talk to any one and could sell water to a drowning man. They seem to enjoy meeting people as much as hunting. It is usually a natural thing but I guess you could learn by doing. Just a thought.


Ed

 

[civilman1]

Hey Cox,I really can't help you out on any of the laws in germany,but I was stationed in K-Town in 81'-82' at Kleber Kaserne.The place looks great for detecting.wish you all the luck and HH!GOD BLESS AMERICA!!

 

[renegade_7]

Wish you luck in making your decision. I was stationd in Hanau in the late 70s, used an old TR detector and later a whites coinmaster IV, no discriminator. I found plenty of old German and US silver coins, but only hunted on the military Kassernes and in the U.S. housing areas. Never had any problems, but as it has been mentioned, rules and laws change. I still read many posts today on this site from people there today and hunting regular, so I guess it's all in obtaining permission. Good luck, it was some of the greatest detecting experiences in my life so far, and sooo many virgin sites!

 

[Siegfried Schlagrule]

One thing i remember from searching germany from 1974 to 1977 was a goofy law that called anything over five marks value treasure trove. When I took the rusty small change to the bank they would try to seize the coins and I would have to explain that the coins were found individually and not all in one spot. Eventually we just ground down the rust and used them all in veding machines about like you treat the clad coins here. The historical museum was happy to excavate the ME-109 motor I found. don't know what they did with it. exanimo, ss

 

[Siegfried Schlagrule]

While I have all the current germany detector users and former germany detector users on the line I have a request. My club and others in the seventies sold mock german decals for the detectors that said something like ..... "Dis machina ist nicht fur gerfinger pokin or knobzin twisten ...... mit spitzen sparken." There were about eight lines I think. I would like to buy some of those or would give a nice barber dime for the exact wording and spelling so I could get some made. Only the first poster here below my post will get the barber dime. exanimo, ss