Mönchengladbach

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The title of this article contains the character ö. Where it is unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Moenchengladbach.

Coordinates: 51°12′N 6°26′E

Mönchengladbach
Image:Stadtwappen der kreisfreien Stadt Mönchengladbach.png	Image:Lage der Stadt Mönchengladbach in Deutschland.png

Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Administrative region	Düsseldorf
District	urban district
Population	261,645 source (2005)
Area	170.43 km²
Population density	1,535 /km²
Elevation	70 m
Coordinates	51°12′ N 6°26′ E
Postal code	41001-41239
Area code	02161, 02166
Licence plate code	MG
Mayor	Norbert Bude (SPD)
Website	moenchengladbach.de

Mönchengladbach is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine half way between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border.

The original name of the city was Gladbach, which is even today often applied to the town. To distinguish the town from another town of the same name (the present Bergisch Gladbach) it took the name München-Gladbach in 1888. This spelling could lead to the fallacy, that Gladbach is a borough of Munich (München in German). So the name was changed to Mönchen Gladbach in 1950 and Mönchengladbach in 1960.

The origin of the town was an abbey founded in 974. It was named after the Gladbach, a narrow brook, that runs subterraneously today. The abbey and adjoining villages became a town in the 14th century. Nearby the town of Rheydt was located, which is today incorporated in Mönchengladbach.

Mönchengladbach is home of the football club Borussia Mönchengladbach, Formula One race car drivers Nick Heidfeld and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, and the philosopher Hans Jonas was born there.

1 Twin Cities
2 Museums
3 Sons and Daughters of Mönchengladbach
4 Traffic
5 Hockey World Cup 2006
6 Military

[edit] Twin Cities

Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg, North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom, since 1958
Image:Flag of France.svg Roubaix, France, since 1969
Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Thurrock, United Kingdom, since 1969
Image:Flag of Belgium.svg Verviers, Belgium, since 1970
Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Roermond, Netherlands, since 1971
Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Bradford, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom, since 1971

[edit] Museums

Municipal Abteiberg Museum for contemporary art
Municipal Museum Schloss Rheydt for fine art
Museum im Wasserturm Rheindahlen for relics of the stone age
Museum Altes Zeughaus e. V. for carnival
Museum Schloss Wickrath for ornithology

[edit] Sons and Daughters of Mönchengladbach

These people have been born in Mönchengladbach, or in Rheydt or Wickrath, formerly independent communities united with Mönchengladbach in 1975.

1834, 12 November, Franz Brandts † 5. October 1914, Entrepreneur, Founder of the Volksvereins für das katholische Deutschland
1897, 29 October in Rheydt, Joseph Goebbels, † 1 May 1945 in Berlin, minister of propaganda and popular information in Nazi Germany
1859, 3 February in Rheydt, Hugo Junkers, † 3 February 1935 in Gauting, Engineer and Entrepreneur, Designer of airplanes
1967, May 18, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Formula One driver
1977, May 10, Nick Heidfeld, Formula One driver

[edit] Traffic

The city is unique in Germany for having two central stations: Mönchengladbach Hauptbahnhof (Hbf) and Rheydt Hbf, the result of the merger of the two cities, in which the deprecated name for Rheydt Hbf never got removed.

An S-Bahn line connects the city to Düsseldorf and Hagen, an extension further westwards is presently being discussed. Local bus and rail transport is carried out by the NIAG under the VRR transport association regulations.

[edit] Hockey World Cup 2006

The city hosted to the FIH Hockey World Cup 2006 during the period September 6-17.

[edit] Military

Main article: Rheindahlen Military Complex

Just outside Mönchengladbach is the Rheindahlen Military Complex, home to the headquarters of the British Armed Forces in Germany.

Image:Flag of North Rhine-Westphalia.svg	Urban districts and Districts in the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW)	Image:Flag of Germany.svg
Urban districts	Aachen \| Bergisch Gladbach \| Bielefeld \| Bochum \| Bonn \| Bottrop \| Dortmund \| Duisburg \| Düsseldorf \| Essen \| Gelsenkirchen \| Hagen \| Hamm \| Herne \| Köln (Cologne) \| Krefeld \| Leverkusen \| Mönchengladbach \| Mülheim \| Münster \| Oberhausen \| Remscheid \| Solingen \| Wuppertal
Districts	Aachen \| Borken \| Kleve (Cleves) \| Coesfeld \| Düren \| Ennepe-Ruhr \| Euskirchen \| Gütersloh \| Heinsberg \| Herford \| Hochsauerland \| Höxter \| Lippe \| Märkischer Kreis \| Mettmann \| Minden-Lübbecke \| Oberbergischer Kreis \| Olpe \| Paderborn \| Recklinghausen \| Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis \| Rhein-Erft-Kreis \| Rhein-Kreis Neuss \| Rhein-Sieg-Kreis \| Siegen-Wittgenstein \| Soest \| Steinfurt \| Unna \| Viersen \| Warendorf \| Wesel