3-046-938 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Barracks of the German Troops at Rheims, [France], 1872. 'The vast sum of money put into the hands of the French Provisional Government by the result of the great loan will pay off the remainder of the heavy fine imposed upon that country by the Germans, and free its soil from the foreign military occupation in the course of next year. The gradual withdrawal of the German troops from some of the departments where they were quartered after the conclusion of the [Franco-Prussian] war has been felt as a relief to the feelings of the local population. In the city of Rheims alone, where three or four thousand of them were stationed, the charge of providing them with shelter, at first by means of billets on the public-houses, must have caused much inconvenience. Barracks were afterwards put up for their accommodation near the railway station...These barracks consist simply of a range of wooden sheds, roofed with red tiles, and furnished with iron chimneys and gutters for the rain-water'. From "Illustrated London News", 1872.