village slowly developed into an industrial community. A significant economic and social event occurred in 1951 when the French built the Ramstein Air Base which today is the home of the Headquarters of the US Air Force Europe (USAFE) and the Component Command Air Headquarters Ramstein (CC-Air Ramstein). The City provided the base approximately one third of its 43 square kilometres of land. With about 1600 civilian employees the U.S. air base is the City's most important employer. There are some 8,200 military personnel stationed at Ramstein along with approx. 15,000 family members. The beginning of Ramstein's modern industrial and business expansion began in the 1970s. The community had started developing a commercial area of about 0.66 km² south-west of Ramstein where several businesses settled. The immediate vicinity has now developed into an industry and commerce park with a size of 0.93 km², the "Industriezentrum Westrich". North of the city center, along the rail line, a service center with artisan and trade businesses, the "Stutzenwald" business district, has emerged. The city is currently developing a new business district (In den Seufzen) on the road to Spesbach. Miesenbach Miesenbach's early history is similar to that of Ramstein. It was first mentioned in 1255 in a document which states that King William leased the "Villa de Mensinbach" to Count Conrad for 300 Cologne denares. Another document from 1274 mentions a "Machtolf de Mensenbach". Otto von Huneberg was given feudal tenure of a mansion in Miesenbach by the Counts of Bolanden. Miesenbach later belonged to the Palatinate Electorate and the court district of Steinwenden. It is assumed that the feudal lords in charge of Kaiserslautern Castle temporarily lived in the "House in Miesenbach", which is why a part of Miesenbach is still named "leisure park" (Lustgarten). Animal husbandry had a long tradition in Miesenbach where animal fairs were held regularly. Miesenbach was also the home of several well-known musicians. Today Miesenbach is mainly a bedroom community. Its residents work in Ramstein or for companies in Landstuhl, Kaiserslautern, the Air Base, the neighboring state of Saarland or other parts of Rheinland-Pfalz. Local council The local council in Ramstein-Miesenbach has 24 members. The elections in May 2014 showed the following results: FWG: Freie Wählergruppe (Free voters) Stadt Ramstein-Miesenbach Ramstein-Miesenbach today The city has all levels of schools as well as a number of private clubs, organizations and Volkshochschule which offers opportunities for educational and recreational