| 26th | Top hot springs |
| 12nd | Top twin towns and sister cities in Germany |
| 10th | Germany">Top railway stations: Germany |
| 11st | Top cities in Germany |
| Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) | |
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  Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle)
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| Coordinates | 50°46′31″N 6°4′58″E / 50.77528°N 6.08278°E |
| Administration | |
| Country | Germany |
|---|---|
| State | North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Admin. region | Cologne |
| District | Aachen |
| Lord Mayor | Marcel Philipp (CDU) |
| Governing parties | CDU / Greens |
| Basic statistics | |
| Area | 160.83 km2 (62.10 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 266 m (873 ft) |
| Population | 257,935 (30 June 2008) |
| - Density | 1,604 /km2 (4,154 /sq mi) |
| Other information | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Licence plate | AC |
| Postal codes | 52062–52080 |
| Area codes | 0241 / 02405 / 02407 / 02408 |
| Website | www.aachen.de |
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Aachen (German pronunciation: [ʔaːχən] (
listen); French, and, historically, English: Aix-la-Chapelle, Latin Aquisgranum, Ripuarian: Oche, Dutch: Aken) is a historic spa city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. It is the westernmost city of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, 65 km (40 mi) west of Cologne.[1]
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A quarry on the Lousberg which was first used in Neolithic times attests to the long occupation of the site of Aachen.
No larger settlements, however, have been found to have existed in this remote rural area, distant at least 15 km from the nearest road even in Roman times, up to the early medieval period when the place is mentioned as a king's mansion for the first time, not long before Charlemagne became ruler of the Franks.
Since Roman times, the hot springs at Aachen have been channeled into baths.[1] There are currently two places to "take the waters", at the Carolus Thermen complex and the bathhouse in Burtscheid[2].
There is some documentary proof that the Romans named the hot sulfur springs of Aachen Aquis-Granum, and indeed to this day the city is known in Spanish as Aquisgrán and in Polish as Akwizgran. The name Granus has lately been identified as that of a Celtic deity.
In French-speaking areas of the former Empire, the word aquis evolved into the modern Aix.
After Roman times, Einhard mentions that in 765–6 Pippin the Younger spent both Christmas and Easter at Aquis villa ("Et celebravit natalem Domini in Aquis villa et pascha similiter."),[3] which must have been sufficiently equipped to support the royal household for several months. In the year of his coronation as King of Franks, 768, Charlemagne came to spend Christmas at Aachen for the first time. He went on to remain there in a mansion which he may have extended, although there is no source attesting any significant building activity at Aachen in his time apart from the building of the Palatine Chapel in Aachen (since 1929, cathedral) and the palatial presentation halls. Charlemagne spent most winters between 792 and his death in 814 in Aachen, which became the focus of his court and the political center of his empire. After his death, the king was buried in the church which he had built; his original tomb has been lost, while his alleged remains are preserved in the shrine where he was reburied after being declared a saint; his saintliness, however, was never very widely acknowledged outside the bishopric of Liège where he may still be venerated by tradition.[1]
In 936, Otto I was crowned king of the kingdom in the collegiate church built by Charlemagne. Over the next 500 years, most kings of Germany destined to reign over the Holy Roman Empire were crowned "King of the Germans" in Aachen. The last king to be crowned here was Ferdinand I in 1531.[1] During the Middle Ages, Aachen remained a city of regional importance, due to its proximity to Flanders, achieving a modest position in the trade in woollen cloths, favoured by imperial privilege. The city remained a Free Imperial City, subject to the Emperor only, but was politically far too weak to influence the policies of any of its neighbors. The only dominion it had was over Burtscheid, a neighboring territory ruled by a Benedictine abbess and forced to accept that all of its traffic must pass through the "Aachener Reich". Even in the late 18th century, the Abbess of Burtscheid was prevented from building a road linking her territory to the neighbouring estates of the duke of Jülich; the city of Aachen even deployed its handful of soldiers to chase away the road-diggers.
From the early 16th century, Aachen lost power. A fire devastated the city in 1656.[4] Aachen became attractive as a spa by the middle of the 17th century, not so much because of the effects of the hot springs on the health of its visitors but because Aachen was then — and remained well into the 19th century — a place of high-level prostitution in Europe. Traces of this hidden agenda of the city's history is found in the 18th century guidebooks to Aachen as well as to the other spas; the main indication for visiting patients, ironically, was syphilis; only by the end of the 19th century had rheuma become the most important object of cures at Aachen and Burtscheid. This explains why Aachen was chosen as site of several important congresses and peace treaties: the first congress of Aachen (often referred to as Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle in English) in 1668, leading to the First Treaty of Aachen in the same year which ended the War of Devolution. The second congress ended with the second treaty in 1748, finishing the War of the Austrian Succession.[1] The third congress took place in 1818 to decide the fate of occupied Napoleonic France.
By the middle of the 19th century, industrialization swept away most of the city's medieval rules of production and commerce, although the entirely corrupt remains of the city's mediæval constitution was kept in place (compare the famous remarks of Georg Forster in his Ansichten vom Niederrhein) until 1801, when Aachen became the "chef-lieu du département de la Roer" in Napoléon's First French Empire. In 1815 after the Napoleonic Wars, the Kingdom of Prussia took over and the city became one of its most socially and politically backward centres until the end of the 19th century.[1] Administered within the Rhine Province, by 1880 the population was 80,000. Starting in 1840, the railway from Cologne to Belgium passed through Aachen. The city suffered extreme overcrowding and deplorable sanitary conditions up to 1875 when the mediæval fortifications were finally abandoned as a limit to building operations and new, less miserable quarters were built to the eastern part of the city where drainage of waste liquids was the easiest. In the 19th century and up to the 1930s, the city was important for the production of railway locomotives and carriages, iron, pins, needles, buttons, tobacco, woollen goods, and silk goods.
Aachen was heavily damaged during World War II. It was taken by the Allies on October 21, 1944; the first German city to be captured. Aachen was destroyed partially — and in some parts completely — during the fighting,[1] mostly by American artillery fire and demolitions by fanatical Waffen-SS defenders. Damaged buildings included the mediæval churches of St. Foillan, St. Paul and St. Nicholas, and the Rathaus (city hall), although the Aachen Cathedral was largely unscathed. Only 4,000 inhabitants remained in the city; the rest had obeyed Nazi evacuation orders. Its first Allied-appointed mayor, Franz Oppenhoff, was murdered by an SS commando unit.
It was in Aachen, in 1944, just after having crossed the German border, a U.S. Army chaplain held the first Jewish service in Germany since the beginning of World War II. This service was broadcast live on NBC[5]. The first discothèque opened here in 1959, the Scotch-Club.[citation needed]
While the emperor' palace no longer exists, the church built by Charlemagne is still the main attraction of the city [6]. In addition to holding the remains of its founder, it became the burial place of his successor Otto III. Aachen Cathedral has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Aachen Cathedral was erected on the orders of Charlemagne in 786 AD and was on completion the largest dome north of the Alps. On his death Charlemagne's remains were interred in the cathedral and can be seen there to this date. The cathedral was extended several times in later ages, turning it into a curious and unique mixture of building styles.
The 14th-century city hall lies between two central places, the Markt (market place) and the Katschhof (between city hall and cathedral). The coronation hall is on the first floor of the building. Inside you can find five frescoes by the Aachen artist Alfre Rethel which show legendary scenes from the life of Charlemagne, as well as Charlemagne's signature.
The Grashaus, a late medieval house at the Markt, is one of the oldest non-religious buildings in downtown Aachen. It hosts the city archive. The Grashaus was the former city hall before the present building took over this function.
The Elisenbrunnen is one of the most famous sights of Aachen. It is a neoclassical hall covering one of the city's famous fountains. It is just a minute away from the cathedral. Just a few steps in southeastern direction lies the 19th century theatre.
Also well known and well worth seeing are the two remaining city gates, the Ponttor, one half mile northwest of the cathedral, and the Kleinmarschiertor, close to the central railway station. There are also a few parts of both medieval city walls left, most of them integrated in more recent buildings, some others visible. There are even five towers left, some of which are used for housing.
There are many other places and objects worth seeing, for example a notable number of churches and monasteries, a few remarkable 17th- and 18th-century buildings in the particular Baroque style typical of the region, a collection of statues and monuments, park areas, cemeteries, amongst others. The area's industrial history is reflected in dozens of 19th- and early 20th-century manufacturing sites in the city.
Aachen has a large number of spin-offs from the university's IT-technology department and is a major centre of IT development in Germany. Due to the low level of investment in cross-border railway projects, the city has preserved a slot within the Thalys high-speed train network which uses existing tracks on its last 70 km from Belgium to Cologne. The airport that serves Aachen, Maastricht Aachen Airport, is located about 40 km away on Dutch territory, close to the town of Beek. Aachen was the administrative centre for the coal-mining industries in neighbouring places to the northeast; it never played any role in brown coal mining, however, neither in administrative or industrial terms. Products manufactured in or around Aachen include electronics, chemicals, plastics, textiles, glass, cosmetics, and needles and pins. Its most important source of revenue, the textile industries, have been dead for almost half a century now. Robert Browning's poem "How they brought the good news from Ghent to Aix" refers to Aachen, but not to any historical fact.
Aachen's railway station, the Hauptbahnhof, was constructed in 1841 at the Cologne-Aachen railway line and replaced in 1905, moving it significantly closer to the city centre. It serves main lines to Cologne, Mönchengladbach and Liège as well as branch lines to Heerlen, Alsdorf, Stolberg and Eschweiler. ICE high speed trains from Brussels via Cologne to Frankfurt am Main and Thalys trains from Paris to Cologne also stop at Aachen Hauptbahnhof. Four RE lines and one RB line connect Aachen with the Ruhrgebiet, Mönchengladbach, Liège, Düsseldorf and the Siegerland. The euregiobahn, a regional railway system, reaches several minor cities in the Aachen region. There are four smaller stations in Aachen: Aachen West, Aachen-Schanz, Aachen-Rothe Erde and Eilendorf. Only slower trains stop at these, but Aachen-West has developed enormous importance due to the expanding RWTH Aachen university.
Aachen is connected to the Autobahn A4 (West-East), A44 (North-South) and A544 (a smaller motorway from the A4 to the Europaplatz near the city centre). Due to the enormous amount of traffic at the Aachen road interchange, there is often serious traffic accumulation, which is why there are plans to expand the interchange in the coming years.
The nearest airports are Düsseldorf International Airport (80 km), Cologne Bonn Airport (90 km) and Maastricht Aachen Airport (40 km).
The annual CHIO (short for the French Concours Hippique International Officiel) is the biggest equestrian meeting of the world and among horsemen considered to be as prestigious for equitation as the tournament of Wimbledon for tennis. Aachen was also the host of the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games.
The local football team Alemannia Aachen had a short spell in Germany's first division, after its promotion in 2006. However, the team could not sustain its status and is now back in the second division. Their stadium is called Tivoli. It has been built new until 2009 and has a capacity of 32.960 places.
In southern Aachen is the biggest Aachener tennis club located called "TC Grün Weiss" with an annual International ATP Tournament.
Since 1950, a committee of Aachen citizens annually awards the Karlspreis (German for ‘Charlemagne Award’) to personalities of outstanding service to the unification of Europe. The International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen was awarded in the year 2000 to the President of the United States, Bill Clinton, for his special personal contribution to cooperation with the states of Europe, for the preservation of peace, freedom, democracy and human rights in Europe, and for his support of the enlargement of the European Union. In 2003 the medal was awarded to Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. In 2004, Pope John Paul II's efforts to unite Europe were honoured with an ‘Extraordinary Charlemagne Medal’, which was awarded for the first time ever.
For 600 years, from 936 to 1531, the Aachen Cathedral was the church of coronation for 30 German kings and 12 queens.
In 1372, Aachen became the first coin-minting city in the world to regularly place an Anno Domini date on a general circulation coin, a groschen. It was written MCCCLXXII. None with this date are known to exist any longer. The earliest date for which an Aachen coin still exists is dated 1373.
King Ethelwulf of Wessex, father of Alfred the Great was born in Aachen. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, one of the founders of modern architecture and the last director of the Bauhaus during its period in Dessau and Berlin was born in Aachen as well.
Aachen has the hottest springs of Central Europe with water temperatures of 74°C(165°F). The water contains a considerable percentage of common salt and other sodium salts and sulphur.
In 1850 Paul Julius Reuter founded the Reuters News Agency in Aachen which transferred messages between Brussels and Aachen using carrier pigeons.
The local specialty of Aachen is an originally stonehard type of sweet bread, baked in large flat loaves, called Aachener Printen. Unlike gingerbread (German: Lebkuchen), which is sweetened with honey, Printen are sweetened with sugar. Today, a soft version is sold under the same name which follows an entirely different recipe.
Aachen is at the western end of the Benrath line that divides High German to the south from the rest of the West Germanic speech area to the north.
RWTH Aachen University, established as Polytechnicum in 1870, is a centre of technological research, especially for electrical and mechanical engineering, computer sciences, physics, and chemistry. The university clinics attached to the RWTH, the Klinikum Aachen, is the biggest single-building hospital in Europe.[7] Over time, a host of software and computer industries have developed around the university. It also maintains a botanical garden (the Botanischer Garten Aachen).
FH Aachen, Aachen University of Applied Sciences (AcUAS) was founded in 1971. The AcUAS offers a classic engineering education in professions like Mechatronics, Construction Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or Electrical Engineering. German and international students are educated in more than 20 international or foreign-oriented programs and can acquire German as well as international degrees (Bachelor/Master) or Doppeldiplome (double degrees). Foreign students accounts for more than 21% of the student body.
The German Army's Technical School (Technische Schule des Heeres und Fachschule des Heeres für Technik) is in Aachen.
Aachen is twinned with:
Liège, Belgium; since 1955.
Reims, France; since 1967.
Halifax, England, United Kingdom; since 1979.
Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain; since 1985.
Ningbo, China; since 1986.
Naumburg, Germany; since 1988.
Arlington County, Virginia, United States; since 1993.
Cape Town, South Africa; since 1999.[citation needed]
Kostroma, Russia; since 2005.
Rosh HaAyin, Israel; since 2007.[citation needed]Aachen is known in different languages by different names (see also Names of European cities in different languages).
| Language | Name | Pronunciation in IPA |
|---|---|---|
| German | Aachen | [ˈaːχən] |
| Local dialect | Oche | [ˈoːxə] |
| Albanian | Ahen | [ˈahɛn] |
| Arabic, Persian | آخن | [ˈʔɑːχɪn] |
| Bulgarian | Аахен/Ахен | [ˈaxen] |
| Catalan | Aquisgrà | [əkizˈɣɾa] |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 亚琛 PY: yà chēn | [jɑ̂ tʂʰə́n] |
| Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan form) | 亞亨 PY: yà hēng | [jɑ̂ xə́ŋ] |
| Chinese (Traditional, HK form) | 亞琛 JP: aa3 sam1 | [ɑː˧ sɐm˥] |
| Czech | Cáchy | [ˈt͡saːxɪ] |
| Dutch | Aken | [ˈaːkən] |
| French | Aix-la-Chapelle | [ɛkslaʃapɛl] |
| Georgian | აახენი | [ˈaːχeni] |
| Greek, Ancient | Ἀκυΐσγρανον | [akyːˈisɡranon] |
| Greek, Modern | Άαχεν | [ˈaːxen] |
| Hebrew | אאכן | [ˈʔaχɛn] |
| Italian | Aquisgrana | [akwizˈɡɾaːna] |
| Japanese | アーヘン | [ˈaːhɛn] |
| Korean | 아헨 | [ˈahen] |
| Latin | Aquīsgrānum | /ˌakwiːzˈɡɾaːnum/ |
| Latvian | Āhene | [ˈaːxɛnɛ] |
| Limburgish | Aoke | [ˈɔkə] |
| Lithuanian | Achenas | [ˈaːxɛnas] |
| Luxembourgish | Oochen | [ˈoːxən] |
| Polish | Akwizgran | [akˈfizɡɾan] |
| Portuguese | Aquisgrão Aquisgrana |
[ˌakwizˈɡrɐ̃ũ] [aˈkwizˈɡrɐ̃ːna] |
| Russian | Аахен/Ахен | [ˈaˑxɪn] |
| Slovak | Aachen | [ˈAchen] |
| Serbian | Ahen/Ахен | [ˈaxən] |
| Spanish | Aquisgrán | [akisˈɣɾan] |
| Thai | อาเคิน | [ˈaːkʰən] |
| Turkish | Ahen | [ˈahɛn] |
| Walloon | Åxhe | [ˈɔːhɛ] |
| Yiddish | אכען | [ˈaxɛn], [ˈɔxn] |
See also: Aachen dialect
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Aachen [1] is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, at the point where Germany borders on Belgium and the Netherlands. It has a population of 246,000. In French (including crossborder train services from Brussels and Paris), the city is known as Aix-la-Chapelle or Aquis Gran, whereas its Dutch name is Aken.
Aachen was the winter capital of Charlemagne, Holy Roman Emperor from 800 to 814 AD. The city lies at the borders of Germany with the Netherlands and Belgium, forming the economic region called the Euregio.
The Thalys high-speed train [2] connects Aachen with Brussels and Paris. There are also hourly local trains from Liege. ICE-Trains [3] also connect Aachen with Brussels.
Trains from Cologne and Düsseldorf run every half hour; express trains (Regional Express) take about an hour and local trains (Regional Bahn) take 90 minutes. Several times per day, high speed train (Inter City Express) goes from Cologne to Brussels/Paris via Aachen. German railway company Die Bahn [4]
The nearest large airports are Düsseldorf [5] and Cologne-Bonn [6]. Both airports can be reached by train, via Düsseldorf and Cologne central stations respectively.
Aachen and the nearby Dutch city of Maastricht have a smaller transfrontier airport [7]
Aachen has an excellent city bus system [8] including a night bus system. You can get tickets from the bus driver.
Opening times: Jan- Mar: M 10AM-1PM; Tu-Su 10AM-5PM; 1st Th/month 10AM-10PM. Apr-Dec: M 10AM-1PM; Tu-Su 10AM-6PM; Th 10AM-9PM
Aachen Cathedral is one of the most famous examples of occidental architecture. In around 800, the core building of the Palace Chapel was built. During the 14th and 15th centuries, the gothic choir (the "Aachen glasshouse"), the north and south chapel were added. Throughout centuries many other constructions and decorations were completed. As of today it is a unique and beautiful two-storey cathedral of classical pillars, bronze railings, golden masterpices, glass works etc.
The cathedral is the memorial and funeral place of Charlemagne (+814). During 936-1531, 30 kings and 12 queens were anointed, crowned and enthorned here. In the Middle Ages, it was one of Christendom's most important venues for pilgrimage, together with Jerusalem, Rome and Santiago de Compostela. Heiligtumsfahrt(the Aachen pilgrimage) takes place every year since 1349 (the next one will be in June 2014). In 1978 it was the first German building to be inscribed as an UNESCO World Heritage.
Aachen offers many different cuisines, from traditional German food to exotic cuisines. The city's center offers restaurants of all categories, prices being relatively cheap in comparison with other german cities. Students prefer the snack bars and light meals offered at Pontstraße.
Religious services
Overview of christian churches in downtown Aachen: [14]
Catholic churches:
For protestant churches in Aachen see also: [21]
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From German Aachen, from Latin aquae (“‘waters, i.e. sources’”), referring to the sacred springs associated with the Celtic god Granus.
Aachen
Wikipedia de
From Latin aquae (“‘waters, i.e. sources’”), referring to the scared springs associated with the Celtic god Granus.
Aachen
From German Aachen, from Latin aquae (“‘waters, i.e. sources’”), referring to the scared springs associated with the Celtic god Granus.
Wikipedia sv
Aachen
| Aachen | |
| Aachen City Hall (rear) | |
| Coordinates | 50°46′0″N 6°6′0″E / 50.766667°N 6.1°E |
| Administration | |
| Country | Germany |
|---|---|
| State | North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Admin. region | Cologne |
| District | Urban district |
| Lord Mayor | Jürgen Linden (SPD) |
| Governing parties | CDU / SPD / Greens |
| Basic statistics | |
| Area | 160.83 km2 (62.10 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 266 m (873 ft) |
| Population | 258,770 |
| - Density | 1,609 /km2 (4,167 /sq mi) |
| Other information | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Licence plate | AC |
| Postal codes | 52062–52080 |
| Area codes | 0241 / 02405 / 02407 / 02408 |
| Website | www.aachen.de |
|
City-state | ||||
| ||||
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| ||||
| Capital | Aachen | |||
| Government | Republic | |||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | |||
| - Settlement founded | ca 6th millennium BC | |||
| - Gained Reichsfreiheit | 1306 | |||
| - Otto I crowned Emperor | 936 | |||
| - Fire devastated city | 1656 | |||
| - First Treaty ended War of Devolution | May 2 1668 | |||
| - Second Treaty ended War of Austrian Succession | April–May 1748 | |||
| - Annexed by France | 1801 | |||
| - Third Treaty handles post-Napoleonic France | October–November 1818 | |||
Aachen is a German city in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has about 260,000 inhabitants and a well-known university, the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH).
The Romans built a spa over hot water springs here in ancient times.
In the Middle Ages, it was the capital city of the Frankish emperor, Charlemagne. The city was called Aix-la-Chapelle by the French.
Charlemagne ordered the building of a cathedral in 786 AD. He was buried in a tomb in this cathedral. German emperors were crowned in the cathedral in Aachen until 1531.[1]
European countries made two important peace agreements in Aachen. In 1668, the first treaty (agreement) ended the War of Devolution between France and the alliance of England, Holland and Sweden. The treaty allowed France to keep most of the towns it had captured in Flanders the year before. In 1748, the second treaty ended the War of the Austrian Succession. In this war, France, Prussia, and other nations tried to take territory from the Austrian Empire. The treaty said that Maria Theresa of Austria was the ruler of these territories. It also gave Prussia the territory of Silesia.[1]
Since 1972, Aachen has been part of the Cologne Government Region.
| Error creating thumbnail: sh: convert: command not found |
   | City of Aachen - www.aachen.de - Aachen - Willkommen im Stadtportal |
| | Fachhochschule Aachen - FH Aachen: Startseite |
| | Google Earth placemark with official image overlays - Google Earth Hacks - Aachen, Germany, Image overlays |
| | Map of the Aachen Area in 1789 - Map of the Duchy of Limburg 1789 |
| | "Aachen" - Encyclopedia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia |
| | Panorama pictures - Aachen Panoramas - Fotoausflug.de |
| | RWTH Aachen - Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen - Start |
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