Mönchengladbach, formerly known as München Gladbach, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine half way between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border.Mönchengladbach is home of the football club Borussia Mönchengladbach, Formula One race car drivers Nick Heidfeld and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, author/cartoonist Walter Moers, cabaret artist Volker Pispers, philosopher Hans Jonas, Goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen and former football manager Jupp Heynckes. Joseph Pilates, the creator of the Pilates method of physical fitness, was born here in 1883.HistoryName and originsThe original name of the city was Gladbach, which is even today often applied to the town. To distinguish the town from another town of the same name (the present Bergisch Gladbach), it took the name München-Gladbach in 1888. This spelling could mislead people to think that Gladbach was a borough of Munich (München in German), and consequently the name was changed to Mönchen Gladbach in 1950 and Mönchengladbach in 1960.