Court-martial case files documenting noncapital infractions by U.S. military personnel unveil the stormy casual relationships and tense chance encounters, providing a unique opportunity to witness the many different faces of GIs and Germans in the first three years of Berlin's occupation. To maintain discipline among the troops stationed in the destroyed city, courts-martial were assembled swiftly so that potential infractions involving U.S. Army personnel could be adjudicated according to the dictates of military law. The cases adjudicated in these trials provide a view into German-American relations that looks beyond the much-discussed issue of fraternization. The court-martial system was designed to discipline and punish armed service personnel for infractions committed during tours of duty. Police records, MP reports, and personal accounts testify that Americans were represented in scuffles with the Berlin civilian population: these less than pleasant forms of fraternization punctuated the daily contact between Germans and their postwar protectors.

This chapter examines the formative years of the development of German-American relations in the garrison cities. In early 1947, U.S. authorities introduced a new policy that encouraged a friendly attitude toward and association with Germans. The European Command (EUCOM), stationed in Heidelberg since 1947, started to develop its own ideas of what German-American relations should look like. For EUCOM, the "morale, health and efficiency" of the occupation troops and their dependents were of paramount importance. EUCOM started a program to improve relations between the U.S. occupation troops and the German population. This effort was triggered by U.S. High Commissioner John J. McCloy's policy for re-orientation of the German population. The German-American Women's Club was particularly active in promoting contact between the groups and fostering friendships. The Little America issue led to the physical separation of self-contained American housing settlements from German residential areas meant for German-American relations.

This chapter explains the peculiarities that characterized the relationship between American GIs and West German policemen after World War II. It discusses how GI delinquency and the numerous conflicts with German civilians that occurred influenced German-American relations at the grassroots level. Complaints about the insolent occupiers or aggressive protectors were one sign of the West Germans' growing self-esteem during the early years of their country's economic miracle. Many Germans were no longer willing to accept an occupation-like U.S. military presence. In the second half of the 1950s, other issues began to bother the public even more than GI crimes, notably the so-called occupation damages, that is, property losses or damages arising from real estate requisitioning, troop maneuvers and low-flying military aircraft. GI delinquency led to a veritable crisis for the German police, who had also to grapple with limited jurisdiction, frequent staff changes, and organizational reforms.