Victoria Barracks

A small town in the heart of North Rhine-Westphalia was home to both Canadian and British Armed forces during the cold war. There were 2 barracks that combined to make one base; during the time the Canadians (1953 – 1970) were stationed there they were called Fort Anne and Fort Victoria.

The base was taken over by UK forces in 1970 and with the changeover the barracks were renamed, Fort Anne became Albuhera Barracks and Fort Victoria became Vittoria Barracks.

After 41 years of operation, in 1994 the Armed Forces closed its gates to the barracks for the final time.

The buildings are in quite a bad way due to many years of dereliction and looting. The local fire service carry out training duties and the water ingress has sped up the destruction of the buildings. There is a plan to demolish all of the buildings in the near future.