'Where the Boche interns British civilians' - a bird's eye view of the camp at Ruhleben where British civilians, living in Germany at the time of the outbreak of war were interned. The Ruhleben camp was located about 10km west of Berlin and was originally a racecourse. It was converted during the First World War to accommodate around 5000 civilians (mainly British) who were in Germany at the outbreak of war, as well as captured crew of fishing trawlers and other civilian ships. The German authorities adhered to the Geneva Convention and the detainees in the camp were allowed to administer their own affairs, with a postal service, police force and library.