Aachen

"Oche" redirects here; in darts the oche is the line players must throw from.

Coordinates: 50°46′N 6°6′E

Aachen
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Administrative region	Cologne
District	urban district
Population	257,089 source (2005)
Area	160.83 km²
Population density	1,599 /km²
Elevation	125-410 m
Coordinates	50°46′ N 6°6′ E
Postal code	52062-52080
Area code	0241
Licence plate code	AC
Mayor	Jürgen Linden (SPD)
Website	aachen.de

Aachen, Dutch Aken, French Aix-la-Chapelle, Latin Aquisgranum, Ripuarian Oche) is a spa city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the border with Belgium and the Netherlands, 65 km to the west of Cologne, and the westernmost city in Germany.^[1]

History

A quarry on the Lousberg which was first used in Neolithic times attests to the long occupation of the site of Aachen.

The Romans named the hot sulphur springs of Aachen Aquis-Granum. For the origin of the Granus several theories were developed, but it is now widely accepted that it derives from a local Celtic god of healing water, not elsewhere attested. Since Roman times, the hot springs have been channeled into baths (which are still in use).^[1] In French-speaking areas of the former Empire, the word aquas was turned into aix, hence Aix-la-Chapelle.

Construction of Aix-la-Chapelle, by Jean Fouquet

The Roman Architecture style is still kept in Aachen

After Roman times, Einhard mentions that in 765-66 Pippin the Younger spent both Christmas and Easter at Aquis villa ("Et celebravit natalem Domini in Aquis villa et pascha similiter.") [1], which must have been sufficiently equipped to support the royal household for several months. In the year of his coronation, 768, Charlemagne came to spend Christmas at Aachen for the first time. He liked the place, and twenty years later, he began to build a palace. The sole surviving remnant of the palace, its magnificent chapel constructed in 796, later became Aachen Cathedral. Charlemagne spent most winters between 800 and his death in 814 in Aachen in order to enjoy the hot springs. Afterwards, the king was buried in the chapel, where his tomb can still be found.^[1]

In 936, Otto I was crowned emperor in the cathedral. From then on, the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire were crowned "King of the Germans" in Aachen for the next 600 years. The last king to be crowned here was Ferdinand I in 1531.^[1]

During the Middle Ages, Aachen was one of the largest cities of the Empire. In the Imperial Circle Estates of the Reichsreform (Imperial Reform) concluded at Worms in 1495, Aachen was represented in the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian circle.

After the Thirty Years' War, Aachen only had regional importance. However, the city became the site of several important congresses and peace treaties: the first congress of Aachen (often referred to as congress of Aix-la-Chapelle in English) in 1668, leading to the First Treaty of Aachen in the same year which ended the War of Devolution. The second congress ended with the second treaty in 1748, finishing the War of the Austrian Succession.^[1] The third congress took place in 1818 to decide the fate of occupied France.

Until 1801, it was a free imperial city. Afterward, France acquired it before granting it to Prussia by 1814.^[1] By 1880, the population was 80,000. Several important railways met in Aachen. The city became a site for the manufacturing of railroad iron, pins, needles, buttons, tobacco, woolen goods, and silk goods.

The city was badly damaged in World War II,^[1] on October 21 1944. After the Battle of Aachen, it was the first German city to be overrun by Allied troops. Its first Allied-appointed mayor, Franz Oppenhoff, was murdered by Nazi Werwolf terrorists.

While Charlemagne's palace does not exist any more, the cathedral is still the main attraction of the city.^{[citation needed]} After its construction, it was the largest church north of the Alps for 400 years.^{[citation needed]} The tombs of Charlemagne and Otto III are in the cathedral. The cathedral of Aachen has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Aachen cityhall.

Tree-lined boulevard in Aachen.

German-Dutch-Belgian border as seen from the town area.

Miscellaneous

Aachen is an industrial centre and a major railway junction, including the Thalys high-speed train network. A major industry of the past was needle production, which led to the distinctive mark of the people from Aachen, the Klenkes. The small finger of the right hand is spread from the hand, which was originally the way women sorted the needles.^{[citation needed]}Robert Browning's poem "How they brought the good news from Ghent to Aix" refers to Aachen, but not to any historical fact.

The annual CHIO (short for the French Concours Hippique International Officiel) is the biggest equestrian meeting of Germany and among horsemen considered to be as prestigious for equitation as the tournament of Wimbledon for tennis. Aachen will also be host of the 2006 World Equestrian Games.

The local football team Alemannia Aachen plays in Germany's first division, since its promotion in 2006. Their stadium is called Tivoli.

Since 1950 the city annually awards the Karlspreis (German for Charlemagne Award) to persons who did extraordinary service for the unification of Europe. In 2003 the medal was awarded to Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. In 2004, Pope John Paul II's efforts to unite Europe were honored with an Extraordinary Charlemagne Medal, which was awarded for the first time ever.

The local speciality of Aachen are cookies called Printen, a local version of gingerbread. Unlike gingerbread (German:Lebkuchen), which is sweetened with honey, Printen are sweetened with sugar.

Aachen Cathedral.

In 1372, Aachen became the first coin issuing city in the world to regularly place an Anno Domini date on a general circulation coin, a groschen. It is written MCCCLXXII. None with this date are known to be in existence any longer. The earliest date for which an Aachen coin is still extant is dated 1373.

King Ethelwulf of Wessex, father of Alfred the Great was born in Aachen.

Mies van der Rohe, one of the titans of modern architecture and director of the Bauhaus during its period in Berlin was born in Aachen as well.

The food-water taken from the warm springs at Aix-la-Chapelle contains a considerable percentage of common salt and other sodium salts and sulphur.

Education

The main building of the Aachen Technical University.

Typical Aachen street with early 20th century Gründerzeit houses.

RWTH Aachen, established in 1870, is one of the major Institutes of Technology, especially for electrical and mechanical engineering, computer sciences and physics. As a part of it, the Klinikum Aachen is the biggest single-building hospital in Europe. Over time, a host of software and computer industries have developed around the university.

FH Aachen, Aachen University of Applied Sciences (AcUAS)founded in 1971,The AcUAS does not only offer the classical engineering education in professions like Mechatronics,Construction Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or Electrical Engineering – in an intensive dialogue with commerce, politics and professional practice new and application-oriented programs have been and are continually developed, which exceed today’s requirements by far.

Internationality is also underlined by the range of academic courses on offer: German and international students are educated in more than 20 international or foreign-oriented programs and can acquire German as well as international degrees (Bachelor/Master) or Doppeldiplome (double degrees). The fraction of foreign students meanwhile amounts to more than 21 %.

The German Army's Technical School (Technische Schule des Heeres und Fachschule des Heeres für Technik) is also situated in Aachen.

Sister cities

• Rheims, France, since January 28 1967
• Halifax/Calderdale, United Kingdom, since November 14 1979
• Toledo, Spain, since January 26 1985
• Ningbo (宁波), People's Republic of China, since October 25 1986
• Naumburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, since May 30 1988
• Arlington County, Virginia, USA, since September 17 1993
• Cape Town, South Africa, since 1999
• Kostroma, Russia, since June 9 2005

Name in different languages

Aachen is known in different languages by different names (see also Names of European cities in different languages).

See also: Aachen dialect

See also

• Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
• Aachen (district)
• List of mayors of Aachen
• Aachener

Notes

This article is missing citations and/or footnotes. To meet Wikipedia's style guidelines and conform to our policies regarding neutral point of view, original research, and verifiability, please provide appropriate inline citations and/or footnotes. For guidance in this area, see . This article has been tagged since December 2006.

Sources

• This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 edition of The Grocer's Encyclopedia.

External links

• City of Aachen (partly available in English)
• ASEAG (public bus transport) (in German)
• RWTH Aachen (University of technical science, Aachen)
• Fachhochschule Aachen (Aachen University of Applied Sciences)
• Google Earth placemark with official image overlays
• Einhard's Annals: first mention of Aquis villa, 765
• Aachen Zoo at Zoo-Infos.de (in English)
• Article on Aachen's historic buildings
• Map of the Aachen Area in 1789

	Urban districts and Districts in the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW)
Urban districts	Aachen | Bergisch Gladbach | Bielefeld | Bochum | Bonn | Bottrop | Dortmund | Duisburg | Düsseldorf | Essen | Gelsenkirchen | Hagen | Hamm | Herne | Köln (Cologne) | Krefeld | Leverkusen | Mönchengladbach | Mülheim | Münster | Oberhausen | Remscheid | Solingen | Wuppertal
Districts	Aachen | Borken | Kleve (Cleves) | Coesfeld | Düren | Ennepe-Ruhr | Euskirchen | Gütersloh | Heinsberg | Herford |Hochsauerland | Höxter | Lippe | Märkischer Kreis | Mettmann | Minden-Lübbecke | Oberbergischer Kreis | Olpe | Paderborn | Recklinghausen | Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis | Rhein-Erft-Kreis | Rhein-Kreis Neuss |Rhein-Sieg-Kreis | Siegen-Wittgenstein | Soest | Steinfurt | Unna | Viersen | Warendorf | Wesel

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