I've received many cards from Cologne ( Köln) and sometimes forget what I have written about them. Since this card has a basketball playing racoon on it, I decided to check out Cologne's Basketball Bundesliga team. However, they don't have one, nor have they ever had one (as far as I can see). So down a league to the 2.Basketball Bundesliga, but no sign of a Cologne team. Cologne does have a team in the ProA, the second tier of professional basketball in Germany - the RheinStars  Köln.  RheinStars  Köln were founded in 1999 as the Cologne 99ers. They have also been the RheinEnergie  Köln and the  Köln 99ers. They have had their current moniker since 2013. They play in Motorworld Cologne, which has a capacity of 1700 people. They have won the German Championship once, three German Cups, and one BBL Champions Cup. RheinStars  Köln have only played in the ProA four seasons, playing at a variety of different levels starting with the 2.Regionliga, the 1.Regionli...

We just talked about the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association in the United States so lets move the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) of Germany and the Rockets. The Rockets are based in Gotha, but play their home games in Erfurt at the Turnhalle KGS Gotha, capacity 500 people. The Rockets were founded in 1998 as the Oettinger Rockets and started in the Bezirksliga - the fifth tier of German basketball.  The Rockets dropped the Oettinger moniker after the main sponsor, Oettinger Brauerei, left. They were just known as the Rockets since then.  The Rockets won the ProB title in 2011-12 season. Their only championship in any league as of now.  The Rockets made the BBL in 2017-18, but finished in 17th place and was relegated back to the ProA League.  Their current roster includes an all German team with an American - Robert Franklin - and a Slovak - Peter Kancir.

Neuss is a city on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. It is famous for its historic Roman sites. In fact, Neuss, along with Trier, share the title of "Germany's Oldest City." In 1984, Neuss celebrated the 2000th anniversary of its founding in 16 BCE.  The writer is a retired high school teacher and mentions he played basketball in Germany and England. I thought that Neuss might have a professional or semi-professional basketball team, but they apparently don't. Düsseldorf does, though. The SG ART Giants Düsseldorf are a professional basketball club and play in the second tier of German basketball, ProA. The Giants were created when ART Düsseldorf and the Giants Düsseldorf merged. The current teams consists of seven Germans, a Swede, four Americans, and a Croatian. The team mascot is a gorilla. This card is from the nearby town of Kempen. This photo is of Alstadt (old town) in Kempen. Kempen was first mentioned in documents in 1186.