FRANKFURT, Oct 10: The United States returned the Rhein-Main air base to Germany on Monday, ending a 60-year chapter of Cold War history with a brass band ceremony on the runway that lies opposite continental Europe’s busiest airport.

The air base that has served as a central hub for US forces in Europe since the end of World War Two will be officially turned over to Frankfurt airport at the end of the year, nearly three months after Monday’s ceremonial handover.

The airstrip south of Frankfurt airport was used to keep West Berlin from the Soviets during the 1948 blockade and served as a major staging point for later conflicts, including Vietnam, the 1990 Gulf War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

US hostages held captive in Iran and throughout the Middle East during the 1980s and 1990s also passed through Rhein-Main on their way to freedom back home, and Elvis Presley went through the air base after finishing his military service in 1960.

“We are putting an exclamation point at the end of a chapter in a proud moment of history of the US Air Force,” said General Robert Foglesong from the air force’s European command.

“And one final salute to you from your United States.”

The airbase, which on the inside had the dusty feel of a small 1960s-era US airport, will be incorporated into an expansion of Frankfurt airport, one of the world’s busiest airports. A third terminal is planned at the site.

Tens of thousands of young American soldiers who served in West Germany during the Cold War got their first glimpse of Europe at Rhein-Main. More than 300,000 American soldiers were stationed in West Germany at the end of the Cold War in 1989.

There were once 12,000 servicemen at the air base, but their numbers have dwindled to just a few hundred in recent years.—Reuters