Frankfurt PX, Snack Bar, and Commissary at WAC Circle 1960


Frankfurt PX
Photo: Frank da Cruz (Sr.)

The main PX at WAC Circle in Frankfurt, 1960, at the corner of Eschersheimer Landstraße and Adickes Allee looking northeast, photo by my father (see more photos here). The PX (Post Exchange) is like a department store, it sells everything but food. On the left is Frankfurt's main Snack Bar, which is like a cafeteria or a fast-food restaurant. On the right is the Commisary, which is like a supermarket. These buildings are not in a fenced-in guarded base; they're on German streets in a German city. The same is true of the American housing areas, schools, theater, chapel, and office buildings in the area, which are to the left (west to southwest) of this view. Nevertheless only Americans were allowed to shop in the establishments shown here, which were built some time between 1946 and 1948. The workers, however, were indeed mostly German; US installations were a major employer in postwar Germany.