Bad Kreuznach American

Welcome (Back?) to Bad Kreuznach, Germany!

Guten Tag, and welcome to the personal website of Bill Hammons, an American born in Bad Kreuznach in the early 70s at the US Army Hospital, Bad Kreuznach (a.k.a. the 56th General Hospital, a.k.a. the 56th Army Hospital, a.k.a. Bad Kreuznach Army Hospital) to Major Rich Hammons, who at the time was assigned to the 8th Infantry Division HHC (division headquarters).

But more about that later, on some other page of this site. In the meantime, I’m creating this new section of my site for fellow (former) American Kreuznachers who might be interested in relocating to a true hidden gem of Western Europe, or just visiting for a trip down memory lane. And naturally all of this information might also be helpful for those visiting Bad Kreuznach and/or Germany for the first time. ***Note that you should seek specific professional/expert advice as appropriate regarding any of the topics covered on this site; any information found on this site is merely shared by a kindred spirit and fellow traveler.***

For what it’s worth, in December 2024 Bloomberg reviewed a Mercer “Quality of Living City Ranking for the international workforce 2024” and, while two German cities (Frankfurt [only an hour by train from Bad Kreuznach] and Munich) are in the top 11 of 241 cities listed, what’s even more impressive is that the top three most livable cities on the planet are in the German-speaking world (Zurich, Vienna and Geneva) and a total of seven of the 11 top cities are in Germany, Switzerland or Austria.

First, here’s a bit of research re: your options for relocating to Germany and even becoming a dual American/German citizen:

  1. Schengen Tourist Visa: At least as of this writing (things will become a tad more complicated in 2025 with the much-delayed implementation of the European Union’s ETIAS system), this option for American tourists is about as simple as it gets when dealing with international travel; when I returned to the Schengen Area in October 2024 via Hungary to celebrate my 50th birthday in Bad Kreuznach, it was the usual process of just having my passport stamped, no questions asked (as of November 2024 the process has become arguably even simpler, as now your passport will be automatically scanned, no ink stamps involved [good news for one veteran traveler who’s down to two blank pages in his passport!]). The length of stay allowed with a Schengen visa is 90 days out of every 180 days (more or less an international standard).

  2. German Temporary Residency Permit: One advantage of this option is that you can apply for a Temporary Residency Permit from within Germany if you’re already in the country (at least a few other options have an absurd requirement for you to apply from a German consulate back in the States and wait for the answer before traveling to Germany)

    According to germany-visa.org, after one gets an employment offer, one can apply for a temporary residence permit.

    To apply, one will need to:

    • Have a valid passport

    • Not have a criminal record

    • Register one’s address in Germany

    • Obtain German health insurance

    • Open a German bank account (if you haven’t already, you’ll find out soon enough it can be inconvenient doing basic things in Germany like getting a Deutschland Ticket via the DB app without the IBAN number that comes with a German bank account [and not an American one])

    • Fill out the relevant application and set an appointment (see below)

    • Visit the Kreisverwaltung Bad Kreuznach Ausländerbehörde (Bad Kreuznach District Immigration Office)

    • Pay the fee (one source specifies 50 euros for a one-year residence permit)

    • Wait about 2-3 weeks after your submit your application

  3. German Artist Visa: More later about this intriguing (if quirky) visa option (one positive aspect is that the definition of “artist” in this context is quite broad [a better name might be the German “Creative Type” Visa] and one negative aspect [at least in this author’s opinion] is that one needs to demonstrate an intent to live in the city of Berlin and only Berlin)

  4. German Job-Seeker Visa

  5. German Employment Visa