New police station at Rheydt Main Railway Station

It’s official. Mönchengladbach police force is moving into a new police station at Rheydt Main Railway Station. Entwicklungsgesellschaft der Stadt Mönchengladbach mbH (EWMG) is rezoning the station’s dilapidated arrivals hall. Chief of Police, Mathis Wiesselmann, and Dr. Ulrich Schückhaus, Chairman of the Board of Management of EWMG, today signed the rental agreement for the 1,700 square meter police station. An important stimulus for Rheydt.

Demolition on the way. The dilapidated arrivals hall at Rheydt Main Railway Station will be demolished in 2021 to make room for a modern police station along with retail space and offices plus underground parking. Lord Mayor Hans Wilhelm Reiners is delighted with this development. “We are not only creating an attractive new gateway to Rheydt, but are also strengthening security in this district with the new police station. That is an added benefit for our citizens.”

EWMG and the police began this dialogue back in 2018. EWMG commenced functional planning for the new building in 2019, closely coordinating this work with the requirements of the police. “The time-consuming negotiations and planning have paid off”, EWMG Chairman Schückhaus said, referring to the understandable demands and concerns of the local population about the poor condition of the old building. “Now, we can systematically drive this project forward.” Following on from the Europe-wide tendering process for architectural services, the next item on the agenda is the demolition of the existing building in early 2021. Construction work on the new building is scheduled to begin in early 2022, with completion and relocation beginning at the end of 2023. The rental agreement with the police force has a term of 20 years with the option to extend the term by two further periods of five years each.

Chief of Police Wiesselmann is very pleased with the new police station that will “secure the Rheydt location for the police over the long term.” He added that this was more than a modern location for police patrol teams. “We are upgrading the police service in Rheydt by also moving the motorcycle squadron here as well as relocating the specialist service for crime prevention and the protection of victims, bringing it back to a central location in Mönchengladbach and thus making it more accessible to citizens.”

The building planned for the site will be divided into two sections, one of which will be used exclusively by the police. Municipal public order and services units are located in the immediate vicinity and, as Wiesselmann underscored, “this will take cooperation to a new level”. A roofed passageway to the platforms will be located between the two sections of the building. Above-ground, there will be adequate enclosed parking for all day-duty patrol vehicles, ensuring swift police deployment to ad-hoc assignments. There are parking spaces for further patrol vehicles in the underground car park.

This is a lighthouse project with an impact extending well beyond the Rheydt district itself. The project partners agree that it has only come about through trusted and constructive cooperation between the city administration, EWMG, the police force and the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of the Interior. The signing of the rental agreement marks the first milestone.

Chief of Police, Mathis Wiesselmann (right), and Dr. Ulrich Schückhaus, Chairman of the Board of Management of EWMG, are happy about the joint development at the Main Railway Station in Rheydt.