This American soldier saved Charlemagne’s cathedral in World War II

This American soldier saved Charlemagne’s cathedral in World War II

As the city of Aachen, once the seat of power of the emperor Charlemagne, lay in ruins in World War II’s bitterest winter, an American soldier worked feverishly alongside German civilians to make sure its ancient cathedral remained standing. Capt. Walter Johan Huchthausen of Perry, Oklahoma, strove tirelessly to stop the building from collapsing and ensured it would be preserved as it is today. The son of a German immigrant father, Huchthausen w…