One thing, not many people now, even in Germany, is that the german federal government pays for a lot of things. The bases are ceased to the US troops for no charge, part of the buliding costs is refunded, clean-up costs when the troops left - which usually are very significant - are taken over.
In the past there has been mourning when the US closed bases. Those were typically cold war installations, e.g. in the Fulda gap which are rural areas, so the troops were an important economic factor for that specific region, however subsidised by the german government itselves.
This is no longer the case. Most US installations are in the Rhein-Main vally or around Stuttgart, where land for business development is very rare. Those estates could very well be used for other purposes.
I don't have the impression many germans feel protected or defended by the presence of US troops. However there was much discussions about the bases being used for scetchy OPs like rendition flights or drone assassinations. Maybe this is not considered as much of a threat.
Last edited by BDAttitude; 17th Aug 2019 at 20:39.