Panzerwaschanlage
Tank washing facility at the former Belgian training area at the Wahner Heide, Germany.
The Wahner Heide is a heath in the east of Cologne, shaped by agriculture and forestry since the middle ages. Military use began in 1817, when the Prussian Army established a training area and artillery range ("Schießplatz Wahn") in the newly formed Prussian province on the Rhine.
Throughout the 19th and early 20th century, the training area was expanded. Besides training, the area repeatedly housed POW-Camps (in the Franco-Prussian War, as well as both World Wars) and by 1913, an airfield. Military presence in Wahn ceased after the post-WWI occupation but was reactivated by the Wehrmacht in 1936. The airbase, established during the "Third Reich", was later used by the Royal Air Force and became Köln/Bonn Airport.
After brief use by the US and British Army large parts of the Heide were transfered to the Belgian Forces in Germany which used it as training area and established the Kwartier Maj SBH-BEM Legrand and Kamp Koning Boudewijn.
After Belgian Forces withdrew from Germany in 2004, most military installations were demolished and the Wahner Heide was opened to the public. However, after decades of military use, leaving the ways is still prohibited due to the presence of unexploded ordnance.
The facility at the former Kwartier Maj SBH-BEM Legrand was used to clean tanks and other armoured vehicles coming from the training area. The vehicles would be driven onto concrete blocks, covered by steel fittings and cleaned with presure washers. The facility also included a hydrant and a concrete basin to collect the water, which has turned into a small pond, inabited by frogs, newts and various kinds of plants and insects.
Panzerwaschanlage
Tank washing facility at the former Belgian training area at the Wahner Heide, Germany.
The Wahner Heide is a heath in the east of Cologne, shaped by agriculture and forestry since the middle ages. Military use began in 1817, when the Prussian Army established a training area and artillery range ("Schießplatz Wahn") in the newly formed Prussian province on the Rhine.
Throughout the 19th and early 20th century, the training area was expanded. Besides training, the area repeatedly housed POW-Camps (in the Franco-Prussian War, as well as both World Wars) and by 1913, an airfield. Military presence in Wahn ceased after the post-WWI occupation but was reactivated by the Wehrmacht in 1936. The airbase, established during the "Third Reich", was later used by the Royal Air Force and became Köln/Bonn Airport.
After brief use by the US and British Army large parts of the Heide were transfered to the Belgian Forces in Germany which used it as training area and established the Kwartier Maj SBH-BEM Legrand and Kamp Koning Boudewijn.
After Belgian Forces withdrew from Germany in 2004, most military installations were demolished and the Wahner Heide was opened to the public. However, after decades of military use, leaving the ways is still prohibited due to the presence of unexploded ordnance.
The facility at the former Kwartier Maj SBH-BEM Legrand was used to clean tanks and other armoured vehicles coming from the training area. The vehicles would be driven onto concrete blocks, covered by steel fittings and cleaned with presure washers. The facility also included a hydrant and a concrete basin to collect the water, which has turned into a small pond, inabited by frogs, newts and various kinds of plants and insects.