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103-519: The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica , more specifically the territory of the Eburones , a people who were described as both Belgae and Germani . It was conquered by the Roman Republic under Julius Caesar and became part of Germania inferior . Düren became a supply area for the rapidly growing Roman city of Cologne (Roman name Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium). Furthermore,

206-575: A balance between Romanizing the people of Gallia Belgica and allowing pre-existing culture to survive. The Romans divided the province into four civitates , corresponding generally to ancient tribal boundaries. The capital cities of these districts included modern Cassel (replaced by Tournai as Menapian civitas ), Bavay (replaced by Cambrai as Nervian civitas ), Thérouanne , Arras , Saint-Quentin , Soissons , Reims , Beauvais , Amiens , Tongeren , Trier , Toul and Metz . These civitates were in turn were divided into smaller units, pagi,

309-495: A census of the region in 27 BC, Augustus ordered a restructuring of the provinces in Gaul. Therefore, in 22 BC, Marcus Agrippa split Gaul (or Gallia Comata) into three regions ( Gallia Aquitania , Gallia Lugdunensis and Gallia Belgica). Agrippa made the divisions on what he perceived to be distinctions in language, race and community – Gallia Belgica was meant to be a mix of Celtic and Germanic peoples. The capital of this territory

412-636: A few important Roman roads skirt Düren (including the road from Cologne to Jülich and Tongeren and the road from Cologne to Zülpich and Trier ). By the 4th century, the area was settled by the Ripuarian Franks . The name villa duria occurred the first time in the Frankish Annals in the year 747. Frankish king Pippin the Short often visited Düren in the 8th century and held a few important conventions there. The Franks made of Düren

515-605: A result of the Variscan orogeny . After this event, and over the course of the following 200 million years, this area has been continuously flattened. During the Cretaceous period, the ocean penetrated the continent from the direction of the North Sea up to the mountainous area near Aachen, bringing with it clay, sand, and chalk deposits. While the clay (which was the basis for a major pottery industry in nearby Raeren )

618-543: A royal palace, from which the name Palatine ( Pfalz in German) is derived. Charlemagne sojourned a few times there. Due to the frequent visits of Charlemagne, a few markets sprang up, such as the corn, cattle, wood, chicken, and butter markets, all of which contributed to Düren's development. The castle was built at the place where, since 1991, the Saint Anne Church is located. Düren obtained city rights in

721-633: A term that became the French word "pays". Roman government was run by Concilia in Reims or Trier . Additionally, local notables from Gallia Belgica were required to participate in a festival in Lugdunum (modern Lyon ), which typically celebrated or worshipped the emperor's genius . The gradual adoption of Romanized names by local elites and the Romanization of laws under local authority demonstrate

824-661: A venue for major concerts. The jazz festival Dürener Jazztage is hosted in Düren annually. At the edge of the forest in the Niederau district lies Burgau Castle . The water castle ways inhabited by the Counts of Heinsberg at the beginning of the 14th Century. After it was destroyed in 1944, the restoration process lasted from 1979 to 1998. In Theodor Heuss Park is the Bismarck Memorial, erected in 1892 to commemorate

927-694: Is divided into seven administrative districts, or boroughs, each with its own district council, district leader, and district authority. The councils are elected locally by those who live within the district, and these districts are further subdivided into smaller sections for statistical purposes, with each sub-district named by a two-digit number. The districts of Aachen, including their constituent statistical districts, are: Regardless of official statistical designations, there are 50 neighbourhoods and communities within Aachen, here arranged by district: The following cities and communities border Aachen, clockwise from

1030-565: Is mostly found in the lower areas of Aachen, the hills of the Aachen Forest and the Lousberg were formed from upper Cretaceous sand and chalk deposits. More recent sedimentation is mainly located in the north and east of Aachen and was formed through tertiary and quaternary river and wind activities. Along the major thrust fault of the Variscan orogeny , there are over 30 thermal springs in Aachen and Burtscheid . Additionally,

1133-944: Is the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is located at the northern foothills of the High Fens and the Eifel Mountains. It sits on the Wurm River , a tributary of the Rur , and together with Mönchengladbach , it is the only larger German city in the drainage basin of the Meuse . It is the westernmost larger city in Germany, lying approximately 61 km (38 mi) west of Cologne and Bonn , directly bordering Belgium in

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1236-506: Is the in 2009 founded Stadtmuseum Düren. This museum shows an exhibition of the local history. The former Stadttheater Düren was opened in January 1907. In the bombing of November 16, 1944, the theatre was almost completely destroyed. Today cultural performances take place mainly at the Haus der Stadt . Since 2004 the multi-functional Arena Kreis Düren , which has around 2000 seats, serves as

1339-485: The 1755 Lisbon earthquake . The businesses in the area of Düren was affected since the 15th century by the drapery and metal industry. Since the beginning of the 17th century, paper industry had settled here, advantaged by the exceptionally soft water of the Rur . Rütger von Scheven built the first paper mill in Düren. In 1812, there were already 17 paper factories, 11 cloth- and blanket factories, an iron rolling mill or slitting mill and two iron foundries . In

1442-510: The Belgae , as the largest tribal confederation in the area. However, it also included the territories of the Treveri , Mediomatrici , Leuci , Sequani , and others who Caesar did not explictly designate as Belgic. The province was re-organised several times, first increased and later decreased in size. Diocletian brought the northeastern Civitas Tungrorum into Germania Inferior , joining

1545-509: The Eifel and the High Fens and its subsequent prevailing westerly weather patterns, rainfall in Aachen (on average 805 mm/year) is comparatively higher than, for example, in Bonn (with 669 mm/year). Another factor in the local weather forces of Aachen is the occurrence of Foehn winds on the southerly air currents, which results from the city's geographic location on the northern edge of

1648-789: The Low Countries as the Latin language name of the entire territory until the modern period. In the 1500s, the Seventeen Provinces were then divided into the independent Belgica Foederata or the federal Dutch Republic and the Belgica Regia or the royal Southern Netherlands under the Habsburgian crown . Belgica Foederata continued to be used from 1581 up to the French Revolution. Even after that,

1751-596: The Meuse , and about 30 km (19 mi) north of the High Fens , which form the northern edge of the Eifel uplands of the Rhenish Massif . The maximum dimensions of the city's territory are 21.6 km ( 13 + 3 ⁄ 8  mi) from north to south, and 17.2 km ( 10 + 3 ⁄ 4  mi) from east to west. The city limits are 87.7 km ( 54 + 1 ⁄ 2  mi) long, of which 23.8 km ( 14 + 3 ⁄ 4  mi) border Belgium and 21.8 km ( 13 + 1 ⁄ 2  mi)

1854-682: The Neolithic era, about 5,000 years ago, attracted to its warm mineral springs . Latin Aquae figures in Aachen's Roman name Aquae granni , which meant "waters of Grannus ", referring to the Celtic god of healing who was worshipped at the springs. This word became Åxhe in Walloon and Aix in French, and subsequently Aix-la-Chapelle to distinguish it from Aix-en-Provence , after Charlemagne had his palatine chapel built there in

1957-637: The Nervians were either burnt down (Nemetacum ( Arras )) or had to be rebuilt in the last quarter of the second century, Colonia Morinorum ( Thérouanne ) and Bagacum Nerviorum ( Bavay ). With the Crisis of the Third Century and the partition of the Empire , Roman control over Gaul deteriorated in the 3rd century. In 260, Postumus became emperor of a breakaway Gallic Empire . He proved able to stop

2060-511: The Palace . Charlemagne spent most winters in Aachen between 792 and his death in 814. Aachen became the focus of his court and the political centre of his empire. During the Carolingian empire, a Jewish community lived near the royal palace. In Jewish texts, the city of Aachen was called Aish or Ash (אש). In 797, Isaac, a Jewish merchant, accompanied two ambassadors of Charlemagne to

2163-667: The RWTH Aachen (Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule), known especially for mechanical engineering, automotive and manufacturing technology as well as for its research and academic hospital Klinikum Aachen , one of the largest medical facilities in Europe. Aachen is located in the middle of the Meuse–Rhine Euroregion , close to the border tripoint of Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium . The town of Vaals in

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2266-611: The Scheldt river) a part of which ( Ile de France ), from the middle of the 10th century became the kernel of modern France , and Middle Francia which was succeeded by Lotharingia . Though often presented as the dissolution of the Frankish empire, it was in fact the continued adherence to Salic patrimony . Lotharingia was divided in 870 by the Treaty of Meerssen under West and East Francia. The name Belgica continued to be used in

2369-576: The Treaty of Verdun , the city was within the borders of Middle Francia , until it became part of East Francia after the Treaty of Meerssen (870). It subsequently was part of the Holy Roman Empire and was granted city rights in 1166 by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa , becoming an imperial city . It served as the coronation site where 31 Holy Roman Emperors were crowned Kings of the Germans from 936 to 1531, until Frankfurt am Main became

2472-800: The United Kingdom of the Netherlands , created in 1815 was still known as Royaume des Belgiques , and it was only with the 1831 separatist revolution in the south of the country and subsequent creation of modern Belgium and Dutch recognition of the new nation in the Treaty of London (1839) that the name became reserved for Belgium to the exclusion of the Netherlands . Aachen Aachen ( / ˈ ɑː k ən / AH -kən , German: [ˈaːxn̩] ; Aachen dialect : Oche [ˈɔːxə] ; Dutch : Aken [ˈaːkə(n)] ; French: Aix-la-Chapelle ; Latin: Aquae Granni or Aquisgranum )

2575-691: The War of Devolution . The second congress ended with the second treaty in 1748, ending the War of the Austrian Succession . In 1789, there was a constitutional crisis in the Aachen government, and in 1794 Aachen lost its status as a free imperial city . In 1629, the Aachen Jewish community was expelled from the city. In 1667, six Jews were allowed to return. Most of the Aachen Jewish community settled in Burtscheid. As recently as

2678-668: The Western Roman Empire had already collapsed in Galla Belgica for some time the Gallo-Roman " Kingdom of Soissons " (457–486) managed to maintain control over the area around Soissons . The Franks however emerged victorious and Belgica Secunda in the 5th century became the center of Clovis ' Merovingian kingdom. During the 8th century in the Carolingian Empire the former area of Gallia Belgica

2781-468: The migration period . The last Roman coin finds are from the time of Emperor Gratian (AD 375–383). Rome withdrew its troops from the area, but the town remained populated. By 470, the town came to be ruled by the Ripuarian Franks and subordinated to their capital, Cologne . During the Roman period, Aachen was the site of a flourishing Jewish community. Pepin the Short had a castle residence built in

2884-567: The vicus Aquae Granni was Frankized around the 5th century. This was followed by a period of sedentism under first Merovingian and then Carolingian rule. With the completion of the Carolingian Palace of Aachen at the transition to the 9th century, Aachen was constituted as the main royal residence of the Frankish Empire ruled by Charlemagne . Because of that the city is sometimes called "cradle of Europe". After

2987-788: The " chef-lieu du département de la Roer " in Napoleon's First French Empire . In 1815, after the Napoleonic Wars , the Kingdom of Prussia took over within the new German Confederation . The city was one of its most socially and politically backward centres until the end of the 19th century. Administered within the Rhine Province , by 1880 the population was 80,000. Starting in 1838, the railway from Cologne to Belgium passed through Aachen. The city suffered extreme overcrowding and deplorable sanitary conditions until 1875, when

3090-564: The 57 BC conquest. The largest revolt was led by the Bellovaci in 52 BC, after the defeat of Vercingetorix . During this rebellion, it was the Belgae who avoided direct conflict. They harassed the Roman legions, led personally by Caesar, with cavalry detachments and archers. The rebellion was put down after a Bellovaci ambush of the Romans failed. The revolting party was slaughtered. Following

3193-616: The Belgae had some ancestry from east of the Rhine, which he referred to as Germania. Indeed, the Belgian tribes closest to the Rhine he distinguished as the Germani cisrhenani . ( Strabo stated that the differences between the Celts and Belgae, in language, politics and way of life was a small one. ) Modern historians interpret Caesar and the archaeological evidence as indicating that the core of

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3296-526: The Belgian alliance was in the present-day northernmost corner of France; the Suessiones , Viromandui and Ambiani as well perhaps as some of their neighbours who lived in the area, Caesar identified as Belgium or Belgica. These were the leaders of the initial military alliance he confronted, and they were also more economically advanced (and therefore less "Germanic" according to Caesar's way of seeing things) than many of their more northerly allies such as

3399-527: The Canadian city of Regina, Saskatchewan which is located at a similar latitude but at the heart of the North American landmass, far away from the sea's moderating effects, is classified as being in zone 3a. In the 1991–2020 period, the last freeze (at 2 m above ground) of spring occcured on April 28th and the first fall freeze on October 13th, on average. The Aachen weather station has recorded

3502-600: The Celtic god, and it seems it was the Roman 6th Legion at the start of the 1st century AD that first channelled the hot springs into a spa at Büchel, adding at the end of the same century the Münstertherme spa, two water pipelines, and a probable sanctuary dedicated to Grannus. A kind of forum, surrounded by colonnades, connected the two spa complexes. There was an extensive residential area. The Romans built bathhouses near Burtscheid . A temple precinct called Vernenum

3605-454: The Eifel. Because the city is surrounded by hills, it suffers from inversion-related smog. Some areas of the city have become urban heat islands as a result of poor heat exchange, both because of the area's natural geography and from human activity. The city's numerous cold air corridors, which are slated to remain as free as possible from new construction, therefore play an important role in

3708-631: The Moselle valley. They subsequently destroyed large parts of Gallia Belgica, before eventually moving on to Hispania (present-day Spain ). This invasion and the accompanying widespread destruction broke the backbone of Roman power in at least the northern part of Gallia Belgica. After this invasion the Franks were able to conquer valuable agricultural land south of the Via Belgica , the very important main road between Cologne and Boulogne, that had been

3811-591: The Nervii and Germani Cisrhenani. Apart from the southern Remi, all the Belgic tribes allied against the Romans, angry at the Roman decision to garrison legions in their territory during the winter. At the beginning of the conflict, Caesar reported the allies' combined strength at 288,000, led by the Suessione king, Galba . Due to the Belgic coalition's size and reputation for uncommon bravery, Caesar avoided meeting

3914-586: The Netherlands lies nearby at about 6 km (4 mi) from Aachen's city centre, while the Dutch city of Heerlen and Eupen , the capital of the German-speaking Community of Belgium , are both located about 20 km (12 mi) from Aachen city centre. Aachen lies near the head of the open valley of the Wurm (which today flows through the city in canalised form), part of the larger basin of

4017-497: The Netherlands. The highest point in Aachen, located in the far southeast of the city, lies at an elevation of 410 m (1,350 ft) above sea level. The lowest point, in the north, and on the border with the Netherlands, is at 125 m (410 ft). As the westernmost city in Germany (and close to the Low Countries), Aachen and the surrounding area belongs to a temperate climate zone ( Cfb ), with humid weather, mild winters, and warm summers. Because of its location north of

4120-444: The Rhineland colonies. The remaining part of Gallia Belgica was divided into Belgica Prima (in the eastern area of the Treveri, Mediomatrici and Leuci, around Luxembourg and the Ardennes), and Belgica Secunda (between the English Channel and the upper Meuse ). The capital of Belgica Prima, Trier , became an important late western Roman capital. In 57 BC, Julius Caesar led the conquest of northern Gaul, and already specified that

4223-532: The Roman Curia as such. In 936, Otto I was crowned king of East Francia in the collegiate church built by Charlemagne. During the reign of Otto II , the nobles revolted and the West Franks under Lothair raided Aachen in 978. Aachen was attacked again by Odo of Champagne , who attacked the imperial palace while Conrad II was absent. Odo relinquished it and was killed afterwards. The palace and town of Aachen had fortifying walls built by order of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa between 1172 and 1176. Over

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4326-448: The architecture in Düren therefore dates from the 1950s. The most famous museum of Düren is the Leopold Hoesch Museum. The in 1905 in Baroque Revival architecture erected building presents changing exhibitions of contemporary art. Since 1986, can also be seen artworks of the international Biennale PaperArt. Since 2006, is in the former nurses' home of the St. Augustinus Hospital Lendersdorf the Düren Carnival Museum. The most recent museum

4429-483: The backbone of Roman defense strategy between 260 and 406. In 452, a major battle was fought at the Catalaunian fields (between the Seine and the Moselle). A coalition of Romans, Visigoths and Franks fought an army led by the legendary Hunnic leader Attila . The outcome of this battle itself was inconclusive, but as a consequence of this battle the Huns and their allies left the area of Gallia Belgica, where they had plundered nearly all major cities, except Paris. After

4532-408: The city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows: The emblem of the city of Düren is divided. It shows on the top a red castle, below that, a black eagle and in the lower half a black lion with a red tongue. The black eagle refers to the old history of Düren as a royal city and Reichsstadt . In 1242–46 Düren was bonded to

4635-414: The city is best known is Aachener Printen , a type of gingerbread . The name Aachen is a modern descendant, like southern German Ach(e) , German: Aach , meaning "river" or "stream", from Old High German ahha , meaning "water" or "stream", which directly translates (and etymologically corresponds) to Latin Aquae , referring to the springs. The location has been inhabited by humans since

4738-449: The city. On Kristallnacht in 1938, the synagogue was destroyed. By the onset of World War II in 1939, many Jews had emigrated or were arrested, and only 782 remained in the city. At the end of the war in 1945, only 62 Jews lived in the city. As of 2003, 1,434 Jews were again living in Aachen. The city of Aachen has developed into a technology hub as a by-product of hosting one of the leading universities of technology in Germany with

4841-415: The city. The first killed 1,525, including 212 children, and bombed six hospitals. During the second, 442 aircraft hit two railway stations, killed 207, and left 15,000 homeless. The raids destroyed Aachen-Eilendorf and Aachen-Burtscheid . The city and its fortified surroundings were besieged from 12 September to 21 October 1944 by the US 1st Infantry Division with the 3rd Armored Division assisting from

4944-441: The combined forces of the tribes in battle. Instead, he used cavalry to skirmish with smaller contingents of tribesmen. Only when Caesar managed to isolate one of the tribes did he risk conventional battle. The tribes fell in a piecemeal fashion and Caesar claimed to offer lenient terms to the defeated, including Roman protection from the threat of surrounding tribes. Most tribes agreed to the conditions. A series of uprisings followed

5047-418: The court library were also produced locally. During the reign of Louis the Pious (814–840), substantial quantities of ancient texts were produced at Aachen, including legal manuscripts such as the leges scriptorium group, patristic texts including the five manuscripts of the Bamberg Pliny Group . Finally, under Lothair I (840–855), texts of outstanding quality were still being produced. This however marked

5150-434: The court of Harun al-Rashid . He returned to Aachen in July 802, bearing an elephant called Abul-Abbas as a gift for the emperor. After Charlemagne's death, he was buried in the church which he had built; his original tomb has been lost, while his alleged remains are preserved in the Karlsschrein , the shrine where he was reburied after being declared a saint; his saintliness, however, was never officially acknowledged by

5253-446: The dukes of Jülich (later, Napoleon was also Duke of Jülich). Their emblem was a lion passant, with open mouth and a red tongue. Düren is twinned with: Düren has its own radio station ( Radio Rur ). The station broadcasts on 92.7 and 107.5 MHz, and on cable at 87.5 MHz. There are two daily newspapers (Dürener Zeitung, Dürener Nachrichten) and several weekly papers. Gallia Belgica Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul")

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5356-409: The early 13th century. Around 1200, the construction of the city wall was started, which includes 12 towers and 5 gates. The gates faced all directions: in the north, the Philippstor and the Wirteltor , in the east the Kölntor (Cologne gate), in the south the Obertor and in the west the Holztor (wooden gate). There are still ruins of the gates today. The chiseler Leonhard stole a small box with

5459-448: The effectiveness of this concilium Galliarum . With that said, the concept and community of Gallia Belgica did not predate the Roman province, but developed from it. During the 1st century AD (estimated date 90 AD), the provinces of Gaul were restructured. Emperor Domitian reorganized the provinces in order to separate the militarized zones of the Rhine from the civilian populations of the region. The northeastern part of Gallia Belgica

5562-405: The effects of World War II. After the bombing of November 16, 1944, on March 1, 1945, only four German residents lived in the city, including forced laborers etc. there were 21 people. On April 1, the number of inhabitants had risen to 180 and on May 1, 1945, there were already 1218 people. In December 1945 the number increased to 25,000 inhabitants and in 1958 it was 45,000, the same number as before

5665-432: The end of 2009, the foreign-born residents of Aachen made up 13.6 percent of the total population. A significant portion of foreign residents are students at the RWTH Aachen University . 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. Aachen's local dialect is called Öcher Platt and belongs to Ripuarian . The city

5768-402: The end of the period of manuscript production at Aachen. In 1598, following the invasion of Spanish troops from the Netherlands , Rudolf deposed all Protestant office holders in Aachen and went as far as expelling them from the city. From the early 16th century, Aachen started to lose its power and influence. First the coronations of emperors were moved from Aachen to Frankfurt . This

5871-466: The following extreme values: The geology of Aachen is very structurally heterogeneous. The oldest occurring rocks in the area surrounding the city originate from the Devonian period and include carboniferous sandstone , greywacke , claystone and limestone . These formations are part of the Rhenish Massif , north of the High Fens. In the Pennsylvanian subperiod of the Carboniferous geological period, these rock layers were narrowed and folded as

5974-424: The former province of Gallia Belgica and start the Merovingian kingdom , the first immediate forerunner state of Western civilization. Emperor Diocletian restructured the provinces around 300, and split Belgica into two provinces: Belgica Prima and Belgica Secunda. Belgica Prima had Augusta Treverorum (Trier) as its main city, and consisted of the eastern part. The border between Belgica Prima and Belgica Secunda

6077-483: The holy Martinus). Saint Anne became the patron saint of Düren. Every year, the saint's day of Saint Anne (July 26) is celebrated for one week with the Anna octavos and the Anna parish fair, one of the biggest folk festivals of Germany . In 1642, Düren was embroiled in the Thirty Years' War . Opposing troops destroyed the city. After the war has finally ended in 1648, plague broke out and caused many lives to be lost. A second plague epidemic broke out in 1665. Due to

6180-412: The incursions from the Franks. Only in 274 was Roman control restored by the new emperor Aurelian in the Battle of Châlons . The cost of this defeat in the long run proved very high indeed. With the Gallic army defeated and not returning to the Rhine border , the Franks overran the neighbouring province of Germania Inferior . The Rhineland (to the Ripuarian Franks ) and the area between the Rhine and

6283-448: The late 18th century the Abbess of Burtscheid was still prevented from building a road linking her territory to the neighbouring estates of the duke of Jülich ; the city of Aachen deployed its handful of soldiers to chase away road-diggers. On 9 February 1801, the Peace of Lunéville removed the ownership of Aachen and the entire "left bank" of the Rhine from Germany (the Holy Roman Empire ) and granted it to France. In 1815, control of

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6386-402: The late 8th century and then made the city his empire's capital. The city is known by a variety of different names in other languages: Flint quarries on the Lousberg , Schneeberg, and Königshügel, first used during Neolithic times (3000–2500 BC), attest to the long occupation of the site of Aachen, as do recent finds under the modern city's Elisengarten pointing to a former settlement from

6489-416: The main road between Boulogne and Cologne, present-day South Holland, Zeeland, Flanders, Brabant and Limburg, the last three in both the present-day Netherlands and Belgium (to the Salian Franks ) were de facto lost forever for the Roman empire. This gave the Salian Franks a base from which they could expand some 130 years later, beginning after the disastrous Rhine crossing in 406, to conquer the whole area of

6592-475: The medieval fortifications were abandoned as a limit to building and new, better housing was built in the east of the city, where sanitary drainage was easiest. In December 1880, the Aachen tramway network was opened, and in 1895 it was electrified. In the 19th century and up to the 1930s, the city was important in the production of railway locomotives and carriages, iron, pins, needles , buttons, tobacco, woollen goods, and silk goods. After World War I , Aachen

6695-427: The middle of the 17th century, the city had developed a considerable reputation as a spa, although this was in part because Aachen was then – and remained well into the 19th and early 20th century – a place of high-level prostitution. Traces of this hidden agenda of the city's history are found in the 18th-century guidebooks to Aachen as well as to the other spas. The main indication for visiting patients, ironically,

6798-440: The most famous honorary citizen from Düren. The town hall was inaugurated in 1959. It now ranks as an example of 1950s architecture under Cultural heritage management . The current mayor of Düren is Frank Peter Ullrich of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) since 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows: The Düren city council governs

6901-470: The next 500 years, most kings of Germany who ruled the Holy Roman Empire were crowned in Aachen. The original audience hall built by Charlemagne was torn down and replaced by the current city hall in 1330. During the 13th century, many Jews converted to Christianity, as shown in the records of the Aachen Minster (today's Cathedral). In 1486, the Jews of Aachen offered gifts to Maximilian I during his coronation ceremony. The last king to be crowned here

7004-467: The northwest: Herzogenrath , Würselen , Eschweiler , Stolberg and Roetgen (which are all in the district of Aachen ); Raeren , Kelmis and Plombières ( Liège Province in Belgium) as well as Vaals , Gulpen-Wittem , Simpelveld , Heerlen and Kerkrade (all in Limburg Province in the Netherlands). The current mayor of Aachen is Sibylle Keupen , an independent endorsed by Alliance 90/The Greens , since 2020. The most recent mayoral election

7107-415: The part to the north of the Seine and Marne rivers was inhabited by a people or alliance known as the Belgae . This definition became the basis of the later Roman province of Belgica. Caesar said that the Belgae were separated from the Celtic Gauls to their south by "language, custom and laws" ( lingua, institutis, legibus ) but he did not go into detail, except to mention that he learnt from his contacts that

7210-403: The preferred place of coronation. One of Germany's leading institutes of higher education in technology, the RWTH Aachen University ( Rheinisch-Westfälisch Technische Hochschule Aachen ), is located in the city. Its university hospital Uniklinikum Aachen is Europe's largest single-building hospital. Aachen's industries include science, engineering and information technology. In 2009, Aachen

7313-435: The relic of Saint Anne out of the Mainzer Stiftskirche St. Stephan in 1501 and brought it to Düren. Pope Julius II decided on March 18, 1506, that Düren could keep the remains. They were kept in the Martinskirche (church of Saint Martin ) which was renamed the Annakirche (church of Saint Anne ) in 1505. (Probably the church was renamed much later, because in the 19th century it was still called sometimes parish church of

7416-468: The respective northern and northwestern coast of present-day Netherlands and Germany . The attack occurred in the drainage basin of the river Scheldt (present-day Flanders and Hainaut ). Archaeologists have found evidence that large farms near Tournai and the village Velzeke (near Ghent ) had to be abandoned. Further the capitals in the areas of the former tribes of the Atrebates , Morini and

7519-518: The royal household for several months. In the year of his coronation as king of the Franks , 768, Charlemagne came to spend Christmas at Aachen for the first time. He remained there in a mansion which he may have extended, although there is no source attesting to any significant building activity at Aachen in his time, apart from the building of the Palatine Chapel (since 1930, cathedral) and

7622-607: The same period. Bronze Age (around 1600 BC) settlement is evidenced by the remains of barrows (burial mounds) found, for example, on the Klausberg. During the Iron Age , the area was settled by Celtic peoples who were perhaps drawn by the marshy Aachen basin's hot sulphur springs where they worshipped Grannus , god of light and healing. The 25-hectare Roman spa resort town of Aquae Granni was, according to legend, founded by Grenus, under Hadrian , around 124 AD. Grenus refers to

7725-520: The south. Around 13 October the US 2nd Armored Division, coming from the north, and got as close as Würselen , while the 30th Infantry Division completed the encirclement of Aachen on 16 October 1944. With reinforcements from the US 28th Infantry Division the battle continued involving direct assaults through the heavily defended city, which forced the German garrison to surrender on 21 October 1944. Aachen

7828-526: The south. The newer Gallia Belgica included the cities of Camaracum ( Cambrai ), Nemetacum ( Arras ), Samarobriva ( Amiens ), Durocortorum ( Reims ), Dividorum ( Metz ) and Augusta Treverorum ( Trier ). In 173, the later emperor Didius Julianus , then governor of Gallia Belgica, had to repel a serious invasion of the Chauci , a Germanic tribe that lived along the shores of the Wadden Sea at

7931-403: The southwest, and the Netherlands in the northwest. The city lies in the Meuse–Rhine Euroregion and is the seat of the district of Aachen ( Städteregion Aachen ). The once Celtic settlement was equipped with several thermae in the course of colonization by Roman pioneers settling at the warm Aachen thermal springs around the 1st century. After the withdrawal of the Roman troops,

8034-492: The subsurface of Aachen is traversed by numerous active faults that belong to the Rurgraben fault system, which has been responsible for numerous earthquakes in the past, including the 1756 Düren earthquake and the 1992 Roermond earthquake , which was the strongest earthquake ever recorded in the Netherlands . Aachen has 245,885 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2015), of whom 118,272 are female, and 127,613 are male. At

8137-584: The three parts of Gaul (Tres Galliæ), the other two being Gallia Aquitania and Gallia Lugdunensis . Belgica stretched from the Marne and Seine rivers, which Caesar described as a cultural boundary between the Belgae and the Celtic Gauls . In the north and east it stretched all the way to the Rhine . The official Roman province of this name was later created by emperor Augustus in 22 BC, and named after

8240-494: The town was passed to the Kingdom of Prussia through an agreement reached by the Congress of Vienna . The third congress took place in 1818, to decide the fate of occupied Napoleonic France. By the middle of the 19th century, industrialisation had swept away most of the city's medieval rules of production and commerce, although the remains of the city's medieval constitution were kept in place until 1801, when Aachen became

8343-620: The town, due to the proximity of the hot springs and also for strategic reasons as it is located between the Rhineland and northern France. Einhard mentions that in 765–766 Pepin spent both Christmas and Easter at Aquis villa ( Et celebravit natalem Domini in Aquis villa et pascha similiter ) ("and [he] celebrated the birth of the Lord [Christmas] in the town Aquis, and similarly Easter"), which must have been sufficiently equipped to support

8446-485: The urban climate of Aachen. The January average is 3.0 °C (37 °F), while the July average is 18.5 °C (65 °F). Precipitation is almost evenly spread throughout the year. The city's oceanic climate provides comparably mild winters: While Aachen falls within the coldest extents covered by USDA plant hardiness zone 8b in the 1991–2020 period, having an average yearly minimum of -9.22 °C (15.4 °F),

8549-488: The various attacks on the debilitated city, Düren was destroyed again in 1679. In this time, the settlement Miesheim was destroyed, never to be rebuilt. Towards the end of the year 1755 in the area around Düren and Aachen began a series of earthquakes , which reached its peak on February 18, 1756 with an earthquake with the strength 8 on the Mercalli scale . The series of earthquakes affected all of Europe, most famously

8652-491: The war. Due to the incorporation of several places in the area, the city's population grew on January 1, 1972, by 35,522 to 89,087. On February 25, 1945, U.S. troops crossed the Rur at Düren. After the war was over in the summer that year, many evacuated people came back to the destroyed city and started to rebuild their homes against the advice of the American troops. By June 1945, the population had risen to 3,806. Most of

8755-558: The year 1794, Düren was occupied by French revolutionary troops . From 1798 until 1814, Düren was the main city of the same named canton in the arrondissement Aachen of the French Roerdepartements (from the name of the River Rur (Roer) and département ). After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Düren was ceded to the Kingdom of Prussia and was subsequently administered within the Rhine Province . By 1900, Düren

8858-476: Was Ferdinand I in 1531. During the Middle Ages , Aachen remained a city of regional importance, due to its proximity to Flanders ; it achieved 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 neighbours. The only dominion it had

8961-426: Was Reims , according to the geographer Strabo, though later the capital moved to modern-day Trier . The date of this move is uncertain. Modern historians however view the term 'Gaul' and its subdivisions as a "product of faulty ethnography" and see the split of Gallia Comata into three provinces as an attempt to construct a more efficient government, as opposed to a cultural division. Successive Roman emperors struck

9064-573: Was syphilis ; only by the end of the 19th century had rheumatism become the most important object of cures at Aachen and Burtscheid. Aachen was chosen as the site of several important congresses and peace treaties: the first congress of Aachen (often referred to as the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle in English) on 2 May 1668, leading to the First Treaty of Aachen in the same year which ended

9167-551: Was a province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul , in what is today primarily northern France , Belgium , and Luxembourg , along with parts of the Netherlands and Germany . Before the Roman province came into existence in about 50 BC, the region was conquered by Julius Caesar during his Gallic Wars . His report, the Commentarii de Bello Gallico , described Belgic Gaul as one of

9270-584: Was also the site of many important church councils, including the Council of 837 and the Council of 1166 , a council convened by the antipope Paschal III . Aachen was an important site for the production of historical manuscripts. Under Charlemagne's purview, both the Ada Gospels and the Coronation Gospels may have been produced in Aachen. In addition, quantities of the other texts in

9373-558: Was among Germany's richest cities (with 42 millionaires and 93 factories) and had a population of 27,168. By comparison, fewer than 5,000 people had lived in Düren a century earlier. The city of Düren was located on the main fighting front during the Allied invasion of Germany in World War II . During 1944 and 1945, the protracted and bloody Battle for Hürtgenwald was fought on Düren's district area, and on November 16, 1944, Düren

9476-656: Was approximately along the Meuse . The eastern part of Gallia Belgica, especially the valley of the Moselle became very prosperous in the fourth century, particularly in the decades that Augusta Treverorum (Trier) was the capital of the Western Roman Empire . The Roman poet Ausonius wrote a famous poem on the Mosella . Around 350 Salian Franks who were already living in Batavia were settled in Texandria . Texandria

9579-463: Was built near the modern Kornelimünster/Walheim . Today, remains have been found of three bathhouses, including two fountains in the Elisenbrunnen and the Burtscheid bathhouse. Roman civil administration in Aachen eventually broke down as the baths and other public buildings (along with most of the villae rusticae of the surrounding countryside) were destroyed around AD 375 at the start of

9682-538: Was completely destroyed by Allied air bombings . Approximately 22,000 people lived in Düren at that time, and 3,000 of them died during the bombing. Those who survived were evacuated to central Germany. Destroyed buildings included the Stadttheater Düren (1907), designed in Jugendstil by Carl Moritz . By 1939, the population had risen to over 45,000, but then fell to just 3,806 by June 1945 due to

9785-478: Was followed by the religious wars and the great fire of 1656. After the destruction of most of the city in 1656, the rebuilding was mostly in the Baroque style. The decline of Aachen culminated in 1794, when the French, led by General Charles Dumouriez , occupied Aachen. In 1542, the Dutch humanist and physician Francis Fabricius published his study of the health benefits of the hot springs in Aachen. By

9888-638: Was largely unscathed. 4,000 inhabitants remained in the city; the rest had followed evacuation orders. Its first Allied-appointed mayor, Franz Oppenhoff , was assassinated by an SS commando unit. On 16 May 1815, the Jewish community of the city offered an homage in its synagogue to the Prussian king, Friedrich Wilhelm III . In 1862, a large synagogue was built, later called the Old Synagogue  [ de ; fr ; id ] . By 1933, 1,345 Jews lived in

9991-723: Was most likely for a large part overlapping with the area now known as the Kempen . Eventually, in 406, a large alliance among the Vandals , Alans and Suebi , under great pressure from the Huns , after first having been defeated by the Ripuarian Franks in the neighbourhood of Cologne in Germania Inferior, successfully crossed the Rhine in the neighbourhood of present-day Koblenz and entered Gallia Belgica by way of

10094-750: Was occupied by the Allies until 1930, along with the rest of German territory west of the Rhine. Aachen was one of the locations involved in the Rhenish Republic . On 21 October 1923, an armed mob took over the city hall. Similar actions took place in Mönchengladbach , Duisburg , and Krefeld . This republic lasted about a year. Aachen was heavily damaged during World War II . According to Jörg Friedrich in The Fire (2008), two Allied air raids on 11 April and 24 May 1944 "radically destroyed"

10197-539: Was over Burtscheid , a neighbouring territory ruled by a Benedictine abbess , which was forced to accept that all of its traffic must pass through the "Aachener Reich". As an imperial city, Aachen held certain political privileges that allowed it to remain independent of the troubles of Europe for many years. It remained a direct vassal of the Holy Roman Empire throughout most of the Middle Ages. It

10300-400: Was ranked eighth among cities in Germany for innovation. The regional dialect spoken in the city is a Central Franconian , Ripuarian variant with strong Limburgish influences from the dialects in the neighbouring Netherlands. As a Rhenish city, Aachen is one of the main centres of carnival celebrations in Germany , along with Cologne and Mainz . The culinary specialty for which

10403-592: Was split into Neustria (roughly Belgica Secunda, main cities Paris , Reims ) and Austrasia (roughly Belgica Prima and Germania Inferior , main cities Trier , Metz , Cologne ). After the death of Charlemagne 's son, Louis the Pious , the Carolingian Empire was divided by the Treaty of Verdun in 843. The three sons of Louis the Pious divided his territories into three kingdoms: East Francia (the forerunner of modern Germany ), West Francia (west of

10506-403: Was split off and renamed Germania Inferior , later to be reorganized and renamed as Germania Secunda . This included the eastern part of modern Belgium , the southernmost part of the modern Netherlands , and a part of modern Germany. The eastern part was split off to become Germania Superior (parts of western Germany and eastern France) and the southern border of Gallia Belgica was extended to

10609-580: Was the first German city to be captured by the Western Allies, and its residents welcomed the soldiers as liberators. What remained of the city was destroyed—in some areas completely—during the fighting, mostly by American artillery fire and demolitions carried out by the Waffen-SS defenders. Damaged buildings included medieval churches of and the Rathaus (city hall), although Aachen Cathedral

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