The record
A segment that followed a NATO headquarters from the Rhineland to Gloucestershire, and whose origin was traced thirty years later by the staff who walk past it.
A segment stands in front of the main building of the Headquarters Allied Rapid Reaction Corps at Imjin Barracks in Innsworth, just outside Gloucester — a multinational NATO corps led by the United Kingdom, staffed from twenty-one nations, which since the end of 2020 has also carried the title NATO Warfighting Corps Headquarters and is the largest deployable headquarters in Britain.
It was given by the German federal government to the British military in thanks for British support of the Federal Republic during the Cold War. It stood first at the Joint Headquarters at Rheindahlen in North Rhine-Westphalia, where the ARRC was based until 2010, and moved to Gloucestershire with the corps. The Foundation notes the aptness of the destination: more German troops are stationed here than anywhere else in the United Kingdom.
For the thirtieth anniversary of the opening of the border, staff from the ARRC travelled to Berlin with Lieutenant Colonel Florian Raebel — who had experienced the divided city as a teenager in West Berlin — to find out where their own segment had come from. They established that it was taken from the British sector near the Brandenburg Gate, probably close to Niederkirchnerstraße. Its graffiti has faded. A plaque beside it explains the history of the Wall and NATO's part in German reunification in four languages.
How did it get here?
A gift from the German federal government to the British armed forces, first sited at the Joint Headquarters Rheindahlen and moved to Innsworth with the ARRC in 2010. Traced in 2019 to the British sector near the Brandenburg Gate, probably near Niederkirchnerstraße.
Sources
Listed by the Federal Foundation as #1457 and by the Berlin Wall Archive as #145.
Federal Foundation — Berlin Wall worldwide, site entry ↗
The segment in front of the HQ ARRC building at Imjin Barracks, Innsworth, the German federal government's gift to the British military, its earlier siting at JHQ Rheindahlen and the move with the corps in 2010, the 2019 research trip by ARRC staff with Lieutenant Colonel Florian Raebel, the British-sector origin near the Brandenburg Gate, and the four-language plaque.
Inventory listingSource accessed 2026-09-17
West of Berlin: How an iconic symbol of the Cold War came to be in Gloucester — the imjin, Autumn 2019 ↗
The ARRC's own magazine: the section stands outside the headquarters at Imjin Barracks; it was the German government's gift to the British military for UK support during the Cold War, stood first at JHQ Rheindahlen and came to Gloucester with the corps; it is known to come from the British Sector close to the Brandenburg Gate; and staff travelled to Berlin with Lieutenant Colonel Florian Raebel in 2019 to trace it.
Institutional sourceSource accessed 2026-09-17
Federal Foundation — Berlin Wall worldwide ↗
The source lists this place as a Berlin Wall location. Coordinates, where supplied, are source-reported and may represent a general area. This is not independent verification of authenticity, current presence, or public access.
Inventory listingSource accessed 2026-09-17 · Source record 1457
Berlin Wall Archive ↗
The source lists this place as a Berlin Wall location. Coordinates, where supplied, are source-reported and may represent a general area. This is not independent verification of authenticity, current presence, or public access.
Inventory listingSource accessed 2026-09-17 · Source record 145
Source-reported segments: 1. This is not a separately verified count.
No photograph of this one has been published. If you have taken one, or know when it arrived or who gave it, we would like to hear. Contribute to this record