Aachen

Basic data:

Geography:

Aachen is located about 30 km north of the High Fens in a valley that opens to the northeast, where the Wurm flows into the Ruhr. It is located in the border triangle Germany-Belgium-Netherlands and in the Meuse-Rhine Euregion with its five regions, the Eifel and the High Fens in the south, large areas between the Lower Rhine and Nedermaas and the Ardennes. The five major cities in the Meuse-Rhine Euregion are: Aachen, Hasselt, Heerlen, Liège and Maastricht.

In the extreme southeast is the highest point of the city area at 410 m above sea level. NN, in the north on the federal border of the city is the lowest point is 125 m above sea level. NN. Aachen shares a border of 23.8 km with Belgium and 21.8 km with the Netherlands. The largest north-south extent is 21.6 km, the largest west-east extent 17.2 km.

Climate:

Aachen belongs to the temperate climate zone. It has relatively even temperatures with its humid weather and mild winters. The amount of precipitation (on average 805 mm/year) is relatively high compared to Bonn (669 mm/year) due to the location north of the Eifel and the High Fens and the prevailing westerly weather conditions. The location on the northern edge of the Eifel is also responsible for the occurrence of foehn in southern air currents.

City structure:

7 districts: Haaren, Laurensberg, Eilendorf, Richterich, Brand, Kornelimünster/Walheim, Aachen center

history:

The beginnings of today`s Aachen date back to 3000 BC. with a flint mine on the Lousberg. The area was later settled by the Celts, as burial mounds in the Aachen Forest prove. The Romans then created the spa culture from the 1st century AD. In 765, the Frankish king Pepin the Younger provided for the first written mention of Aachen as "Aquis villa". Charlemagne, the king`s son, later known as Charlemagne, owes Aachen the holy Aachen Cathedral.

Charlemagne was buried in the forecourt of the Palatine Chapel on January 28, 814. After the coronation of Otto I as East Franconian king in Aachen in 936 AD, the city remained the coronation place of the German kings until 1531. Up until the last coronation of King Ferdinand I, 31 German kings were crowned in Aachen Cathedral. In 1165 AD, Barbarossa (Frederick I) had Charlemagne canonized.

Barbarossa confirms Aachen`s important position in the empire and obtains for the city its rights of liberty, the right to market and mint coins. Aachen thus became a free imperial city. The city is fortified by a city wall in 1171. After a successful six-month siege, Wilhelm von Holland had himself crowned king in Aachen in 1248 AD. The outer ring of walls was built between 1257 and 1357. The cloth fullers were first mentioned in 1258. Cloth manufacture was the main economic factor in Aachen for centuries.

Today`s Aachen town hall was built in 1349 on the remains of the dilapidated royal hall of the imperial palace. At that time, the Aachener Heiligtumsfahrt founded, which from now on take place every 7 years pilgrimages and provided for the life and more tourism in the city. In 1500 Aachen became a political part of the Lower Rhine-Westphalian Imperial Circle. On May 2, 1656, a fire broke out in the bakery of the baker Peter Maw at the Jakobskirche, which destroyed almost all of Gothic Aachen. Seven people and 4664 houses fell victim to the fire.

The Revolutionary War between Spain and France ended with the Peace of Aachen in 1668. From 1794-1814 the French made Aachen the administrative seat of the Roer department. After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Aachen is again in German or Prussian hands.

Due to the ongoing industrialization of the cloth industry, mass unemployment is increasing. The associated social problems provoked a riot among the workers in 1830, which was bloodily ended by soldiers. The city grows and so in 1841 the first residential buildings outside the old city wall are built, the Bahnhofsviertel and Theaterstrasse. In 1865 the construction of the Polytechnic School, today`s Technical University, begins.

During World War I, Aachen loses its western hinterland and the entire district of Eupen to Belgium, and the city is occupied for 11 years. Aachen becomes a diocese in 1930. The city suffered particularly badly during World War II. By the time the Americans marched in on October 21, 1944, 65 percent of all homes had been destroyed. After the end of the war, Aachen switched from the Americans to the British and from them to Belgium. The most important buildings are rebuilt. In 1950, the international Charlemagne Prize for special services to unification and peace in Europe was awarded for the first time in Aachen.

During the regional reform through the Aachen Law of 1972, the urban area of ??Aachen was more than doubled by the incorporation of 5 municipalities (Brand, Eilendorf, Haaren, Kornelimünster, Laurensberg, Richterich and Walheim). The district of Aachen received its current size. The government district of Aachen was dissolved and incorporated into the government district of Cologne. In the same year, the new Aachen Clinic celebrated its topping-out ceremony.

Sights: