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134-719: Forschungszentrum Jülich's headquarters are located between the cities of Aachen , Cologne , and Düsseldorf on the outskirts of the North Rhine-Westphalian town of Jülich . FZJ has 15 branch offices in Germany and abroad, including eight sites at European and international neutron and synchrotron radiation sources, two joint institutes with the University of Münster , Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), and three offices of Project Management Jülich (PtJ) in

268-440: A basis for novel fuel cells and solid-state batteries. Forschungszentrum Jülich has a lattice steel mast (124 metres high) for meteorological measurements. It is equipped with platforms at 10 m, 20 m, 30 m, 50 m, 80 m, 100 m, and 120 m, on which measuring instruments are positioned. The measuring mast was erected in 1963/4 and is a triangular steel framework construction. The massively parallel supercomputer IBM p690 cluster Jump

402-473: A combined 3 tesla and 9.4 Tesla MRI PET tomograph as well as a 7 Tesla, 4 Tesla, and 3 Tesla MRI system. Forschungszentrum Jülich is a national competence centre for neutron scattering . The Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS), which operates instruments at various neutron sources all over the world, was established in 2006 – a few months before the original neutron source (the Jülich research reactor FRJ-2)

536-407: A globally parallel data system, applications had access to more than 60 terabytes of storage space and an integrated tape drive with a capacity of one petabyte. The IBM p690 cluster Jump was run on the operating system AIX 5.1. In 2008, the system was temporarily replaced by IBM Power6 p6 575 until JuRoPA began operating. JUBL was unveiled in 2006 and is considered to be JUGENE's predecessor. It

670-579: A high resolution. This technology is also used to investigate the structural basis for affinities and specificities of these macromolecules in protein-ligand interactions. The Biomolecular NMR Centre has one 900 MHz NMR spectrometer for liquid-state NMR spectroscopy, one 800 MHz NMR spectrometer for liquid- and solid-state NMR spectroscopy, a 700 MHz device for liquid-state NMR, two 600 MHz devices for liquid-state NMR, and another 600 MHz NMR spectrometer for solid-state NMR spectroscopy. A novel 600 MHz DNP-enhanced solid-state NMR device

804-532: A large Reaction Chamber), the Institute of Energy and Climate Research – Troposphere (IEK-8) explores photochemical reactions in the Earth's atmosphere . The Jülich Plant Phenotyping Center (JPPC) is a leading international institution for the development and application of non-invasive techniques for quantifying the structure and function of plants. At JPPC, technology is developed and plant traits are analysed on

938-509: A mechanistic level under high-throughput and field conditions. The Jülich Supercomputing Centre at Forschungszentrum Jülich operates supercomputers of the highest performance class and emerged from the first German high-performance computing centre (HLRZ), which was founded at Jülich in 1987. In 2003, a 1,000 m machine hall was built for the supercomputers next to the Jülich Supercomputing Centre. JSC joined forces with

1072-475: A national research infrastructure for ultrahigh-resolution electron microscopy. The electron-optical instruments at ER-C can also be used by external scientists and enterprises. They make it possible to investigate structures at the atomic and molecular level. The PICO electron microscope can be used for this work as it is can correct the lens errors of spherical and chromatic aberration. In the 20-metre-long SAPHIR chamber (Simulation of Atmospheric PHotochemistry In

1206-487: A performance of 274.8 teraflop/s with Linpack, which placed them tenth worldwide. The operating system was SUSE Linux Enterprise Server . This meant that three computers were effectively in operation in 2009. Both computers were decommissioned in June 2015 and replaced by JURECA . The supercomputer known as JUQUEEN went into operation in 2012. It has a peak performance of 5.9 petaflop/s and was Europe's fastest supercomputer at

1340-416: A pivotal role in founding the first national supercomputing centre (HLRZ) in 1987. In 2007, ZAM became the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC), which today operates the powerful supercomputer JUWELS and makes it available to European researchers. The new scientific orientation led to a name change and "Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH" (FZJ) came into being in 1990. Forschungszentrum Jülich is a founding member of

1474-605: 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 )

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1608-520: A wide range of users, for example to conduct research into energy materials and active ingredients for medications or to analyse protein structures and magnetic materials. The COSY cooler synchrotron is a particle accelerator ( synchrotron ) and storage ring (circumference: 184 m) for accelerating protons and deuterons operated by the Nuclear Physics Institute (IKP) at FZJ. COSY is characterized by beam cooling, which reduces

1742-608: Is a central technology platform for the production of nanostructures and circuits within the Helmholtz Association. Work at the HNF focuses on green microchips/computing, quantum computing, neuromorphic computing, bioelectronics, and microfluidics. The Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons (ER-C) was selected by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as

1876-416: Is a cooperation between the Institute of Biological Information Processing – Structural Biochemistry at Forschungszentrum Jülich and the Institute of Physical Biology at HHU Düsseldorf. It operates various high-field NMR spectrometers for liquid- and solid-state NMR spectroscopy for research into biologically and medically relevant proteins in order to determine, for example, the three-dimensional structure with

2010-694: 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

2144-828: Is involved in several research infrastructures in the ESFRI Roadmap, which identifies strategically important facilities and platforms in the EU. Examples include the neuroscientific digital platform EBRAINS, the EMPHASIS project for plant phenotyping, the coordination of the European supercomputer network PRACE, and the IAGOS cooperation for research into the Earth's atmosphere using instruments on commercial aircraft. The Ernst Ruska-Centre 2.0 for ultrahigh-resolution electron microscopy and

2278-568: Is located next to the largest open-pit coal mine in Germany, the Tagebau Hambach . In 1959, 15 municipal electric companies established the "Association of Experimental Reactor GmbH" (AVR Ltd) to demonstrate the feasibility and viability of a gas-cooled, graphite-moderated high temperature reactor. In 1961, BBC and Krupp began AVR construction, led by Rudolf Schulten , performed on almost purely industrial basis until 1964. The federal government provided financial assistance, supported by

2412-565: 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,

2546-458: Is still being dismantled today (see its dismantling and disposal ). The severe contamination of the reactor core with radioactive graphite dust particles proved particularly difficult. This contamination was caused by the coating of the fuel pellets made of silicon carbide and porous carbon, which leaked under the high temperatures in the reactor core and released radioactive fission products. The BBC and Krupp construction consortium had miscalculated

2680-889: 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

2814-499: Is to be the first exascale supercomputer in Europe. The machine is being installed in 2024 and should eclipse the threshold of one quintillion ("1" followed by 18 zeros) calculations per second. The Institute of Neurosciences and Medicine (INM) develops and applies medical imaging techniques using MRI and PET for clinical applications and to investigate neurological, neuropsychological, and psychological issues. Equipment at INM includes

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2948-509: 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

3082-596: 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)

3216-735: 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

3350-511: 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

3484-614: 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

3618-597: The State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia decided to establish an "atomic research centre". The Society for the Promotion of Nuclear Physics Research (GFKF) was thus established as a registered association (e. V.). Its founder is considered to be State Secretary Leo Brandt (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Transport of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia). Several locations were considered but

3752-628: 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

3886-691: 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

4020-586: 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

4154-567: 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

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4288-788: 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

4422-463: The 21st century. After the AVR vessel is moved into intermediate storage, the reactor buildings will be dismantled, and soil and groundwater will be decontaminated. Costs from 1988 to present are €700 million. The total AVR decommissioning costs are expected to be in the order of €1.5 to 2.5 billion, all public funds, i.e. to exceed its construction costs by far. From 2011 to 2014, outside experts examined

4556-651: The 7th most powerful in the world when the booster debuted on the November 2000 TOP500 list. Furthermore, the JUWELS booster module was the most energy-efficient system of the ten most powerful computers in the world when it was introduced. As part of the EuroHPC JU the Jülich Supercomputing Centre will host the JUPITER supercomputer (Joint Undertaking Pioneer for Innovative and Transformative Exascale Research), which

4690-725: The ANKE magnetic spectrometer, the TOF time-of-flight mass spectrometer , and the WASA universal detector , which was moved to COSY from the CELSIUS storage ring of The Svedberg Labors (TSL) in Uppsala, have been decommissioned and mostly dismantled. The synchrotron is used by scientists from German and international research institutions at internal and external target stations. It is one of the research facilities used for collaborative research funded by

4824-512: The AVR GmbH to ensure continued operation, since electricity generation only covered a small part of the operating costs . In the mid-1970s annual revenue was about 3 million DM, versus operating and fuel disposal costs of 11 million DM. JRC also subsidized AVR through procurement and disposal of fuel as JRC has been owner of AVR fuel. In addition, the AVR operation was scientifically supervised by JRC. From 1974 to 1978, mainly carbide BISO fuel

4958-527: 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

5092-600: 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

5226-476: The Central Institute for Applied Mathematics (ZAM) was established, combining a mathematical institute with a computer centre, which was unusual at that time. Research into what is now known as neuroscience began in 1964 when the Institute of Nuclear Medicine was founded and radiotracers were developed and used in imaging techniques. Another research priority was understanding solid states as a basis for

5360-553: The Düsseldorf municipal utilities (Stadtwerke Düsseldorf) as the owner and operator (other partners included the municipal utilities in Aachen, Bonn, Bremen, Hagen, Hanover, Munich, and Wuppertal). The aim was to demonstrate the feasibility and operability of a graphite-moderated, gas-cooled high-temperature reactor to produce electricity. BBC and Krupp were responsible for construction of the AVR reactor, which began in August 1961 and

5494-454: 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

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5628-507: The Federal Republic of Germany (90%) and the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (10%). In 1958, the foundation stone was laid for the research reactors MERLIN (FRJ-1) and DIDO (FRJ-2), and they went into operation in 1962. The FRJ-1 research reactor was decommissioned in 1985 and completely dismantled between 2000 and 2008. The FRJ-2 research reactor was a DIDO-class reactor and it was used for neutron scattering experiments. It

5762-800: The Federal Republic of Germany and the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Forschungszentrum Jülich has 6,796 employees (as of Dec. 2020). Almost 2,700 of these employees are scientists, and of these scientists 850 are doctoral researchers. The scientists work in the natural, life, and engineering sciences in the fields of information, energy, and bioeconomy. Around 867 people work in the administration and service areas; 1,380 individuals work for Project Management Jülich; and 500 employees are classed as technical employees. FZJ also has more than 300 vocational trainees and students on placement in 23 different professions. In 2020, 672 visiting scientists from 62 countries were conducting research at Jülich. On 10 December 2007, Peter Grünberg from Forschungszentrum Jülich

5896-581: The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research . EBRAINS is a digital, European research infrastructure that was created as part of the EU-funded Human Brain Project (HBP). Forschungszentrum Jülich supports the infrastructure by providing computing capacities for simulations and big data analyses. The aim is to further brain research and to apply scientific findings in this field to innovations inspired by

6030-542: The German Future Prize for the development of biological catalysts. In 2020, more than 300 people trained in 23 different professions at Forschungszentrum Jülich. In cooperation with RWTH Aachen University and Aachen University of Applied Sciences , FZJ also offers dual vocational and academic courses. After successful completion of their final exams, trainees are offered a six-month employment contract in their chosen profession. Since Forschungszentrum Jülich

6164-573: The German contribution to the European Aerosols, Clouds and Trace gases Research Infrastructure (ACTRIS-D) have been part of Germany's National Roadmap since 2019. In this Roadmap, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) prioritizes infrastructure projects that are important in terms of strategy and research policy. The Helmholtz Nano Facility (HNF) is a facility with a large (1,100 m) ISO 1–3 classified clean room. The HNF

6298-544: The German federal government and state government of North Rhine-Westphalia. The chair of the board of directors is Wolfgang Marquardt, who has been in office since 1 July 2014. The other members of the Board of Directors are – as of October 2021 – Karsten Beneke (vice-chair since 2011), Astrid Lambrecht (since 2021), and Frauke Melchior (since 2021). FZJ's committees are the Scientific Advisory Council and

6432-464: The German government in February 2010. Fuel removal out of AVR was difficult and lasted four years. During this time it became obvious that the AVR bottom reflector was broken; about 200 fuel pebbles remain wedged in its crack. Currently no dismantling method for the AVR vessel exists. It is planned to develop some procedure during the next 60 years and to start with vessel dismantling at the end of

6566-430: The Helmholtz Association. Research is conducted into the production, conversion, and storage (e.g. in liquid media, liquid organic hydrogen carriers) of hydrogen, as well as into the infrastructure of a hydrogen economy . The bioeconomy is an economic system based on the sustainable use of biological resources including plants , animals , and microorganisms . It is argued that a bioeconomy will become necessary due to

6700-759: The High Performance Computing Centre Stuttgart (HLRS) and the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ) in Garching near Munich to form the Gauss Centre for Supercomputing (GCS), which unites the three most powerful computing centres under one roof. In addition, JSC coordinates the development of the European supercomputer network PRACE. JSC is headed by physicist and computer scientist Thomas Lippert. The JURECA supercomputer replaced JUROPA in 2015 and

6834-771: The Japan Prize as well as the Israeli Wolf Prize in Physics. The Wolf Prize in Physics was also jointly awarded in 2011 to Knut Urban from Forschungszentrum Jülich, Maximilian Haider from CEOS GmbH, Heidelberg, and Harald Rose from the Technical University of Darmstadt for their breakthrough in electron microscopy. They also received the Japanese Honda Prize in 2008 for the same discovery. In 2002, Maria-Regina Kula und Martina Pohl won

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6968-406: 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

7102-497: 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

7236-434: The PhyTec experimental facility for plants in 2014. Collaboration with RWTH Aachen University was consolidated in 2007 by establishing the Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA). In 2011, Forschungszentrum Jülich, in partnership with the universities in Aachen, Bonn, Cologne, and Düsseldorf, founded the Bioeconomy Science Center (BioSc) as a scientific centre of excellence for sustainable bioeconomy. FZJ also works closely with

7370-532: 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

7504-490: The Scientific and Technical Council (WTR). The annual budget of Forschungszentrum Jülich was approximately €948 million in 2022. Of this, 48% was institutional funding from the German federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and 52% was external funding. External funding comprises international (EU) and national (federal and state government, DFG, and other) project funding, R&D and infrastructure services (contracts), as well as project management on behalf of

7638-415: The brain in computing, medicine, and industry. The European Infrastructure for Multi-Scale Plant Phenomics and Simulation for Food Security in a Changing Climate (EMPHASIS) is a pan-European, distributed infrastructure for plant phenotyping. The aim of this EU platform, which is coordinated by Forschungszentrum Jülich, is to analyse and quantify the external characteristics of plants (the "phenotype") such as

7772-437: The casks to the United States have been considered due to the extremely high disposal expenses. In 2014, a massive concrete wall to protect against terrorist plane crashes was to be built. On July 2, 2014, the Federal Environment ministry issued an evacuation order for the temporary storage. AVR was the basis of the technology licensed to China to build HTR-10 and the HTR-PM , which became operational in 2021. The reactor

7906-425: The cities of Bonn , Rostock , and Berlin . Jülich cooperates closely with RWTH Aachen University within the Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA). The institution was established on 11 December 1956 by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia as a registered association before it was renamed Nuclear Research Centre Jülich in 1967. In 1990, its name was changed to "Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH". On 11 December 1956,

8040-414: 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

8174-449: 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

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8308-415: 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

8442-480: The core. Helium flowed up through the core of pebbles. AVR's helium outlet temperature was 950 °C, but fuel temperature instabilities occurred during operation with localised exceedingly high temperatures. As a consequence the whole reactor vessel became heavily contaminated by Cs and Sr . Concerning beta-contamination AVR is the highest contaminated nuclear installation worldwide as AVR management confirmed 2001. Thus in 2008,

8576-418: 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

8710-434: 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

8844-438: The decision was made in favour of the Stetternich forest in what was then the district of Jülich. The Society for the Promotion of Nuclear Physics Research (GFKF) was renamed Nuclear Research Centre Jülich (or KFA for short, which was taken from the German). Seven years later, it was converted into a limited liability company (GmbH), and in 1990, it was named Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH. The partners of Forschungszentrum Jülich are

8978-546: The deviation of particles from their predetermined path (can also be understood as the thermal motion of particles) using electron or stochastic cooling. At COSY, there are a number of experimental facilities for studies in the field of hadron physics . Research currently focuses on investigating the electric dipole moment of protons, testing components and methods for the planned Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research , and on preparatory experiments constructing an accelerator-based neutron source. Previous core experiments such as

9112-416: The disposal of nuclear waste. Two subinstitutes of IEK are involved in atmospheric and climate research, focusing on the interactions between human activities, air quality, and climate, as well as on improving climate and atmospheric models in cooperation with the Jülich Supercomputing Centre. FZJ, with 265 full-time positions (as of 2019), boasts the largest site for investigating hydrogen technologies within

9246-401: The efficiency of fossil energy . In the context of the feasibility of the energy transition, Forschungszentrum Jülich explores and models energy systems. With its materials research, the institute is also involved in developing nuclear fusion reactors (such as ITER and Wendelstein 7-X). In the field of producing energy through nuclear fission (atomic energy), FZJ now only conducts research into

9380-432: 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

9514-402: 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

9648-423: The field of supercomputing, Jülich develops and operates its own supercomputers (see section on research infrastructures), which can be used for simulation calculations. Brain research also draws on these facilities. Brain research at Jülich aims to shed light on the molecular and structural organization of the brain to better understand illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease . Research is conducted in cooperation with

9782-534: The finite nature of oil reserves, on which many industrial and everyday products are based, anthropogenic climate change , and the continued growth of the world population. In the area of sustainable bioeconomy, FZJ concentrates on the transition from an oil-based economy to a bioeconomy. This research is conducted in the field of biotechnology in an effort to use renewable raw materials to biotechnologically produce industrially or pharmaceutically relevant base materials. Plant research focuses on optimizing crop yield and

9916-619: The first universal quantum computer developed in Europe as part of the OpenSuperQ project. Jülich research is aimed towards an energy system based on renewable energy sources. This research field is primarily covered by the Institute of Energy and Climate Research (IEK). IEK has 14 subinstitutes that focus on various tasks in collaboration with other institutes. Its research priorities include photovoltaics , fuel cells , and hydrogen as an energy carrier, research into batteries and new methods of energy storage, as well as processes for increasing

10050-702: 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

10184-524: The historical operations and operational hazards and in April 2014, published a report on the AVR operation. The report listed hidden or downplayed events and accidents and described serious concealed problems and wrongdoings. For example, in 1978 operators bypassed reactor shutdown controls to delay an emergency shutdown during an accident for six days. In 2014 the JRC and AVR publicly admitted to failures and issued

10318-458: The history of the AVR reactor, and in particular, to issue an official statement on Moormann's public disclosures. Source: In addition to research on nuclear physics and nuclear energy, work began soon after FZJ's foundation on new, non-nuclear topics and projects, such as environmental research and soil research for agriculture. One of the first institutes to be founded was the Institute of Biology (Botany department) on 1 May 1961. In autumn 1961,

10452-420: The investigation and modification of material properties, for example for new materials in energy research. In 1970, the Institute of Solid State Research was established. In the decades that followed, Jülich expanded its range of research fields to include life sciences, energy and environmental research, materials science, and information technologies. The Institute of Biotechnology was founded in 1977. In 1981,

10586-514: The large-scale facility TEXTOR was put into operation. It was Jülich's fusion experiment for exploring nuclear fusion reactor technology in the field of plasma-wall interaction. The facility was decommissioned at the end of 2013. In 1993, the COSY particle accelerator went into operation. In 1984, the CRAY X-MP supercomputer, one of the fastest computers in the world, was inaugurated at ZAM. ZAM played

10720-604: 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

10854-402: 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

10988-527: 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

11122-427: 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,

11256-478: The name "shipwreck." From 2011 to 2014, outside experts examined the historical operations and operational hazards and described serious concealed problems and wrongdoings in their final 2014 report. For example, in 1978 operators bypassed reactor shutdown controls to delay an emergency shutdown during an accident for six days. In 2014 the JRC and AVR publicly admitted to failures. Its decommissioning has been exceptionally difficult, time-consuming and expensive. Since

11390-506: The neighbouring university hospitals in Bonn, Cologne, Aachen, and Düsseldorf. Research into quantum technologies is associated with the research field of information. This includes work on quantum computers , with components, concepts, and prototypes being developed at Jülich. Forschungszentrum Jülich cooperated with Google in developing the Sycamore quantum computer, and it will be home to

11524-584: 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

11658-648: 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

11792-427: The original operators were overwhelmed by the effort, government agencies took over dismantling and disposal. In 2003 the reactor and its nuclear waste became government property. The temporary storage of 152 casks of spent fuel has been a controversy since 2009. The approval expired in 2013, because stress tests could not sufficiently demonstrate safety; no permanent solution has been reached. Since 2012 plans to export

11926-525: The pebble bed reactor. Karl Strauss said in 2016 that "the facility had generally been operated without any problems". The mean availability was 60.4%. AVR received scientific support and operating subsidies from the Nuclear Research Centre Jülich (KFA) but was formally independent. From the mid-1980s, the then KFA reduced its commitment to the further development of the gas-cooled high-temperature reactor. The AVR pebble bed reactor

12060-588: The politician and founder of the Jülich Research Center (JRC), Leo Brandt. In 1964, Schulten became Director of the JRC and started to devote more attention to the pebble bed reactor. In 1966, AVR first achieved criticality, and was connected to the national power grid in 1967. Construction cost figures vary between 85 and 125 million Deutsche marks Since about 1970 the AVR GmbH was de facto dependent on JRC, although it remained formally independent until 2003. JRC provided generous operating grants to

12194-477: 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

12328-420: The reactor vessel was filled with light concrete to fixate the radioactive fine particle dust. In 2012, the reactor vessel of 2100 metric tons was to be transported about 200 meters by air-cushion sled and seven cranes to an intermediate storage site. During a severe water accident in 1978, Sr leaked, and in 1999 soil and groundwater contamination below the reactor was discovered, as confirmed by

12462-421: The research area of information investigate how information is processed in biological and technical systems. They are working on simulation and data sciences within high-performance computing (HPC) or supercomputing , brain research, and research into bioelectronics- and nanoelectronics-based information technologies with the aim of transferring findings on biological information processing to technical systems. In

12596-424: The root architecture or the number of leaves. EMPHASIS integrates information systems with data acquisition using mathematical models and helps scientists to analyse plants for a sustainable European agriculture in different environments with the aim of enabling more efficient plant production in a changing climate. The EU has provided €4 million in funding for the creation of the platform. The Biomolecular NMR Centre

12730-518: 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

12864-607: 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

12998-467: 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

13132-462: 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,

13266-492: 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

13400-577: The successful transformation of the Rhineland region. These projects include the cultivation of novel plants, sustainable agriculture, and the hydrogen economy, as well as collaborations between the field of information and industry, for example in the area of artificial intelligence or data analysis. The aim is to create a locational advantage for innovative enterprises. Forschungszentrum Jülich operates numerous research infrastructures, which are available to internal and external users. FZJ coordinates and

13534-696: The suitability of the AVR for coal gasification , and thus contribute to long-term plans for coal in Northrhine-Westfalia . Because a pebble bed core cannot be equipped with instruments, the high AVR core temperatures were unknown until one year before the AVR shut-down, in 1988. In 2000, AVR admitted that it was contaminated with 100  TBq Sr , being the most heavily Sr contaminated nuclear facility worldwide. The core held about 100,000 fuel element pebbles. Each contained about 1g of U . On average each would take 6 to 8 months to pass through

13668-432: The system's peak performance to 23.5 petaflop/s. The JUWELS supercomputer (Jülich Wizard for European Leadership Science) was put into operation in 2018 and was expanded in 2020 to include a GPU-based booster module. The combined cluster and booster modules have a theoretical peak performance of 85 quadrillion floating point operations per second (85 petaflop/s), which made JUWELS the most powerful supercomputer in Europe and

13802-600: The temperatures in the reactor core as 300 K lower. FZJ solved the problem by filling the reactor core with foamed lightweight concrete, which binds the dust particles and stabilizes the reactor core. Safety researcher Rainer Moormann , who raised public attention to the graphite dust contamination, was awarded the Whistleblower Prize in 2011. Immediately after the Fukushima nuclear disaster , FZJ and AVR GmbH established an independent expert group to investigate

13936-614: The then Association of National Research Centres (AGF, 1970), which became the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres in 1995. In 2004, the Ernst Ruska-Centre for Electron Microscopy was founded. It is equipped with transmission electron microscopes . Soil and environmental research were interlinked with climate research. In 2001, the SAPHIR atmospheric simulation chamber was inaugurated, followed by

14070-404: The time of its inauguration. Ernst-Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons (ER-C): 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 )

14204-494: 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

14338-620: 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

14472-735: The universities in Bonn, Cologne, and Aachen within the Geoverbund ABC/J. In 2011, the ESS Competence Centre was established at Forschungszentrum Jülich. It coordinates the German contributions to the European Spallation Source (ESS) in Lund, Sweden. Forschungszentrum Jülich is a limited liability company (GmbH) with the following company bodies: Partners' Meeting, Supervisory Board, and Board of Directors. The Partners' Meeting comprises representatives of

14606-534: The universities, graduate and research schools are established (e.g. International Helmholtz Research School of Biophysics and Soft Matter with the universities in Cologne Düsseldorf). The idea behind this is to support and encourage the interdisciplinary scientific education of doctoral students. Forschungszentrum Jülich groups its research activities into three interdisciplinary strategic research areas: energy, information, and bioeconomy. Scientists in

14740-485: 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),

14874-443: The usability of plants as fuels. The third research area at FZJ focuses on chemical and physical processes in soil. The Rhineland lignite-mining region, where FZJ is located, is undergoing an important structural change due to the coal phase-out. The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia aims to transform the region into a European model region for energy supply and resource security. Through its research projects, FZJ will support

15008-476: 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

15142-573: 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

15276-436: Was a 15 MWe , 46 MWt test reactor used to develop and test a variety of fuels and machinery. The AVR was based on the concept of a "Daniels pile" by Farrington Daniels , the inventor of pebble bed reactors. Rudolf Schulten is commonly recognized as the intellectual father of the reactor. A consortium of 15 community electric companies owned and operated the plant. Over its lifetime the reactor had many accidents, earning it

15410-584: 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

15544-575: Was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics together with Albert Fert from Paris-Sud University in France. The two scientists were honoured for the discovery of giant magnetoresistance , which they had made independently of each other. This was the first Nobel Prize for an employee of Forschungszentrum Jülich or the Helmholtz Association . In 1998, Peter Grünberg had been awarded the German Future Prize, and in 2007, he and Albert Fert were joint recipients of

15678-463: 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

15812-417: Was completed in 1966, after the consortium had received the design contract in April 1957 and the construction contract in February 1959. The cost of construction was in the region of DM 100 million. In 1967, the AVR reactor was put into operation and began feeding electricity into the national power grid. On 31 December 1988, the AVR reactor was shut down; during its operation, it had proven the feasibility of

15946-505: Was decommissioned following JUGENE's successful installation in mid-2008. On 22 February 2008, the massively parallel supercomputer JUGENE, which was based on IBM's BlueGene /P architecture, went into operation. At times, it was the fastest computer in Europe and the fastest civil computer in the world. In 2012, it was replaced by JUQUEEN . On 26 May 2009, the two computers HPC-FF and JuRoPA went into operation. The two computers could be connected for specific tasks and together they achieved

16080-795: Was decommissioned. Six of the most important instruments were moved from FRJ-2 to FRM II; new instruments were also assembled there. In addition, JCNS has branch offices at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble and at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) in Oak Ridge . JCNS also plans to operate instruments at the European Spallation Source (ESS), which is currently being constructed in Lund, Sweden, as well as at future high-brilliance accelerator-driven neutron sources. The instruments will be made available to

16214-620: Was expanded to include a GPU-based booster module in 2017. This made JURECA the world's first supercomputer with a modular architecture to be put into productive operation. With a computer performance of 3.78 petaflop/s, the system ranked 29th in the TOP500 list of November 2017. Between autumn 2020 and the beginning of 2021, the JURECA cluster module was replaced by the JURECA-DC module, which is designed to process large volumes of data and increased

16348-530: 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

16482-426: Was founded, more than 5,000 trainees have completed their training in more than 25 different professions. In a joint procedure with the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the institute directors at Forschungszentrum Jülich are appointed professors at one of the neighbouring universities (e.g. in Aachen, Bonn, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bochum, Duisburg-Essen, Münster) in line with the "Jülich model". In cooperation with

16616-499: Was founded, reflecting Forschungszentrum Jülich's role as a national competence centre for neutron scattering. Six of the most important instruments were moved from FRJ-2 to FRM II; new instruments were also assembled there. In 1956, an interest group was formed to prepare the construction of the AVR reactor . In 1959, it became the "Arbeitsgemeinschaft Versuchsreaktor GmbH" (AVR GmbH) – a consortium of 15 local electricity suppliers headed by

16750-602: Was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows: The Aachen city council governs the city alongside the mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows: AVR reactor The AVR reactor ( German : Arbeitsgemeinschaft Versuchsreaktor ) was a prototype pebble-bed reactor , located immediately adjacent to Jülich Research Centre in West Germany , constructed in 1960, grid connected in 1967 and shut down in 1988. It

16884-477: Was in the core. From 1983 to 1988, oxide fuel with TRISO particles was used. During its initial years (1967-1973) the AVR was nominally operated with cooling gas outlet temperatures of 650–850 °C . In February 1974, the cooling gas outlet temperature was raised to 950 °C. These final high temperatures were a world record for nuclear facilities, though later exceeded by the US test reactor UHTREX . Such high temperatures were supposed to demonstrate

17018-505: Was installed in 2014. The Membrane Centre at Forschungszentrum Jülich (approx. 1550 m) provides a research infrastructure for the development of membrane systems, covering the entire spectrum of services from the production of the materials needed and the characterization using analytical instruments right up to the testing of modules and components. A priority is the development of novel membrane systems for energy technology in order to separate greenhouse gases from exhaust gases and to provide

17152-638: 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

17286-750: 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"

17420-575: Was operated by the Central Research Reactors Division (ZFR). FRJ-2 was the strongest neutron source in Germany until the research neutron source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz in Garching (FRM II) was put in operation. FRJ-2 was primarily used to conduct scattering and spectroscopic experiments on condensed matter. It was in operation from 14 November 1962 until 2 May 2006. In 2006, the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS)

17554-539: 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

17688-438: Was put into operation at the beginning of 2004. With 1,312 Power4+ 2C 1.7 GHz processors (41 nodes, each with 32 processors) and an internal memory of 5 terabytes (128 gigabytes per node), the computer had a maximum performance of 5.6 teraflop/s. It was ranked 30th in the list of the world's most powerful computers at the time of its inauguration. The nodes were connected to each other by a high performance switch (HPS). Through

17822-400: 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

17956-580: 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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