Quite a biggie, im afraid, but i took millions of pics. Spent last week in Germany revisiting old haunts, and this is a batch of the Middle sized industrial town of Moenchengladbach. It was a textile town, and is twinned with Bradford.

The view near our hotel:
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The Bus Station, with things growing on the roof:
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Square by the Bus Station:
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The Railway Station:
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MG, in common with many German towns, has loads of 50s buildings:
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/8444/pict0074pu4.jpg

This is the new Borrussia Moenchengladbach Stadium. This site was 37 Rhine Workshops REME when I was last here:
http://img119.imageshack.us/img119/9943/pict0076op1.jpg

The former Ayrshire Barracks has been redone as housing and offices:
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This building still has a sign on it saying "Moenchengladbach Station Sergeants Mess":
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Friends of mine lived in this giant house- block 25. Their dad was in the RAOC, and a practising Catholic, hence the need for oversize accomodation.
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Rheindahlen Military Complex is counted as a suburb of the city, and I used to live here. This building is the HQ of NATOs "Allied Rapid Reaction Force". In my day it was HQ of Northern army Group (NATO), British Army of the Rhine, 2nd Allied Tactical Air Force (NATO) and RAF Germany. The place is winding down and should be closed by the end of the decade.
http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/6435/pict0114gk6.jpg

My old school:
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/6168/pict0088vd7.jpg

Married Quarters:
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I used to live on this street:
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/6987/pict0101uu6.jpg

The old house:
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/9913/pict0102zs6.jpg

various views:
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At nearby Hostert is another old school of mine, Kent School. Once a monastery, then a childrens home, it was a euthanasia centre in the Nazi era. There is a graveyard and memorial to that unhappy time. It then became a military hospital (Tom Baker did his national service here), before being a secondary school. "Options for Change" meant there were no longer enough pupils.
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This was known to Brits as "the Street of a thousand bars":

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/6389/pict0005ym9.jpg

This is one of the city walls towers, the "Dicke Turm", or "Fat Tower":
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/5165/pict0008iq6.jpg

Some buildings i liked:
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/1214/pict0010pu2.jpg

The Cathedral:
http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/7597/pict0015fm3.jpg

http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/1521/pict0018mp4.jpg

A nice looking house:
http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/5273/pict0020cj7.jpg

Towards the Police Station:
http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/5071/pict0021jq3.jpg

Had a drink in this nice pub:
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/7997/pict0022mw1.jpg

The Alter Markt:
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/5981/pict0024jj3.jpg

The main shopping street is Hindenburgstrasse:
http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/7363/pict0025xj3.jpg

I always loved the 50s ness of these flats as a youth:
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/5729/pict0026ui4.jpg

The town museum. Punks and skinheads used to congregate here, i saw none now:
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German working class housing is very different, rather than terraces in the late Victorian era, they built apartment houses, like Scottish tenements, but with fancy facades:
http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/1241/pict0033pu9.jpg

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/6531/pict0034mm8.jpg

http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/522/pict0035lk2.jpg

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Thats all i can be bothered doing, i hope it interests somebody somewhere!!!

Very interesting, not on the tourist trail but a place familiar to many Brits nonetheless. Friends of mine who've been based in Germany with the forces have told me that they were only allowed to hang out their washing on specified days of the week, is this true?

The town looks quite clean and pleasant if a little 'functional'. Was it badly damaged during WWII hence the dominance of 1950s buildings?

Is there a definite timetable for British and US forces totally withdrawing form Germany? No doubt it will be a blow to local economies but to be honest there's no reason for them to be there anymore and it must be quite expensive for our governments to maintain the bases.

PS What has happened to Borrussia Moenchengladbach? They used to be a top European team in the 70s/80s didn't they? Now I don't think they are even in the top flight of German Football. Maybe that suggests the town should be twinned with Leeds or Nottingham instead of Bradford :D

I grew up as an Army Brat. This brings back so many memories. That Cafe at Rhaindahlen GCHQ hasn't changed since I was there in 1978- 1981. I used to go to St Andrews Junior that was opposite the Naafi supermarket. I remember collecting money for Poppies when I was in the Cubs outside that Cafe. I've always promised myself that I should go back and visit with my parents. We better get our skates on before it all goes.

Borussia went down this season:

1 VfB Stuttgart 34 21 7 6 70 61 - 37
2 FC Schalke 04 34 21 5 8 68 53 - 32
3 Werder Bremen 34 20 6 8 66 76 - 40
4 Bayern München 34 18 6 10 60 55 - 40
5 Bayer Leverkusen 34 15 6 13 51 54 - 49
6 1. FC Nürnberg 34 11 15 8 48 43 - 32
7 Hamburger SV 34 10 15 9 45 43 - 37
8 VfL Bochum 34 13 6 15 45 49 - 50
9 Borussia Dortmund 34 12 8 14 44 41 - 43
10 Hertha BSC 34 12 8 14 44 50 - 55
11 Hannover 96 34 12 8 14 44 41 - 50
12 Arminia Bielefeld 34 11 9 14 42 47 - 49
13 Energie Cottbus 34 11 8 15 41 38 - 49
14 Eintracht Frankfurt 34 9 13 12 40 46 - 58
15 VfL Wolfsburg 34 8 13 13 37 37 - 45
16 FSV Mainz 05 34 8 10 16 34 34 - 57
17 Alemannia Aachen 34 9 7 18 34 46 - 70
18 Borussia Mönchengladbach 34 6 8 20 26 23 - 44

Mönchengladbach's main attraction is the sculpture garden Skulpturengarten Museum Abteiberg. In the 17. and 18. Century Mönchen-Gladbach (the dash disappeared some time ago) was part of 'my' Gueldres. Time to restore the old situation ;)

As regards washing- it is illegal to hang it out on a Sunday, though obviously you could hang it indoors. If you lived behind the wire at somewhere like Bruggen, i cant imagine the German Police demanding entry to the camp due to someone seeing some sheets out through the fence!

Like most industrial towns, MG was badly bombed in the war. The rubble from post war clearance now forms Rheydt Hill, which is landscaped with trees. Berlin has a similar hill called the "Teufelsburg" (Devils Hill). As you can see, a fair bit of the old remained also.

Withdrawls- I think most NATO countries are in favour of the retention of some kind of UK and US presence in the country. One of the UKs 3 Brigades stationed in Germany returns to the UK later this year, the other two will remain for the foreseeable future. NATO has decided to wind down ARRC, so the Rheindahlen and Elmpt stations are to close and units move to the UK. People at both sites told me that 2010 is the likely date. This is partially why i went over now, to see the tail end of BFG in the Rhine area. The Army were kind enough to allow me full access to Javelin Barracks (Ex RAF Bruggen) to take pictures and reminisce, I sorted it all out beforehand.

So, Rational Plan, get over there before its all gone! I have a book from 1954 called "New HQ for British Forces Germany" which is a story of the construction of JHQ, somewhat historic now!

A bit of nostalgia:

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