Episode of: Südtirol Fragmente Dokumentationen

Nato in Nats-Schabs

The emersion of American soldiers in the small village of Natz Schabs at the end of the sixties brought curiosity but also fear among the villagers.

The Americans introduced a new NATO base, which has already been built over the years before on the high plateau. Suddenly, the Cold War and the defense against the threat from the Warsaw pact was omnipresent. No one from the public knew exactly what was behind the heavily guarded NATO base. The only thing the population got to see were  American soldiers spending their money at restaurants and guest houses. At the Disco "X2000" local youngsters became “best friends” with Americans: for the boys they were role models and the young ladies admired them. Some young women got engaged, in spite of social rejection of American soldiers and migrated to the States. In 1979 the NATO base gained new urgency. After the decision of rearmement of the NATO the media reported of the stationing of nuclear missiles with a range of 120km in Natz-Schabs. The population reacted quickly and a first resistance was met with daily threats of a nuclear war. On Easter Sunday, 1984, a big peace march was held at the NATO base. With the improvement of the political atmosphere between East and West, the base was finally abandoned in the mid-eighties with all Americans and missiles being withdrawn...and the ever-days' life of Natz-Schabs slowly returned back to normal.