Today's Tidbit... American Football in 1946 Germany

Note: An earlier version of this post had two images incorrectly described as being games played in Germany. These images and one sentence of text were removed.

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Post-WWII Germany was segmented into French, English, Russian, and American zones, with each nation administering its zone separately. To maintain order in its zone, the U.S. Army established the Constabulary, comprised of 38,000 troops charged with maintaining order.

The Constabulary troops received training on German history, customs, and governmental processes. As tensions eased, recreational activities became available, ranging from classes offered by German artists to numerous sports activities. Many bases formed football teams that played one another, sometimes flying to away games. As typical of military teams, the talent varied widely, with some former professional and college players and others with high school experience. As one G. I. wrote in a letter home, however, one of the league's biggest challenges was that many teams had the same color uniforms. Nevertheless, the games went on.

As seen below, several images of Americans practicing in preparation for their games are available via the National Archives catalog, including the example below.

Football Training has begun at Constabulary Headquarters at Bamberg, Germany. (111-SC-253147)