Aachen

Aachen
View over Aachen with the town hall and the cathedral
Aachen Cathedral and St. Foillan's Church
Choir and apse with Shrine of Mary
Elise's Fountain
Flag of Aachen
Coat of arms of Aachen
Location of Aachen within Städteregion Aachen
BelgiumNetherlandsDüren (district)Euskirchen (district)Heinsberg (district)AachenAlsdorfBaesweilerEschweilerHerzogenrathMonschauRoetgenSimmerathStolberg (Rhineland)Würselen
Aachen is located in Germany
Aachen
Aachen
Aachen is located in North Rhine-Westphalia
Aachen
Aachen
Coordinates: 50°46′32″N 06°05′01″E / 50.77556°N 6.08361°E / 50.77556; 6.08361
CountryGermany
StateNorth Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. regionCologne
DistrictAachen
Government
 • Lord mayor (2020–25) Sibylle Keupen[1] (Ind.)
 • Governing partiesThe Greens / SPD [2]
Area
 • Total160.85 km2 (62.10 sq mi)
Elevation
173 m (568 ft)
Population
 (2022-12-31)[3]
 • Total252,136
 • Density1,600/km2 (4,100/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
52062–52080
Dialling codes0241 / 02405 / 02407 / 02408
Vehicle registrationAC / MON
Websiteaachen.de (in German)
location of Aachen in the Meuse (Dutch and German: Maas) river system (WurmRurMeuseNorth Sea)

Aachen (/ˈɑːxən/ AH-khən, German: [ˈaːxn̩] ; French: Aix-la-Chapelle;[a] Aachen dialect: Oche [ˈɔːxə]; Latin: Aquae Granni or Aquisgranum) is the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 252,000 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 the southwest, and the Netherlands in the northwest. The Vaalserberg, highest elevation in the European Netherlands, with the three-country point on its summit, is located within Aachen's city limits. 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, the vicus Aquae Granni was Germanized by the Franks 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 finally constituted as the main royal residence of the Frankish Empire ruled by Charlemagne. Because of that the city is sometimes called cradle of Europe.[4] After the Treaty of Verdun, the city found iself within the borders of Middle Francia, until it became part of East Francia after the Treaty of Meerssen (870). It subsequently was a city within 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 (Otto the Great) to 1531 (Ferdinand I), until Frankfurt am Main became 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 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 the city is best known is Aachener Printen, a type of gingerbread.

  1. ^ Wahlergebnisse in NRW Kommunalwahlen 2020 Archived 17 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine, Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, accessed 19 June 2021.
  2. ^ Peltzer, Albrecht (28 October 2022). "Koalitionsvertrag: Grüne und Rote geben jetzt in Aachen die Richtung vor". Aachener Zeitung. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  3. ^ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden Nordrhein-Westfalens am 31. Dezember 2022 – Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes auf Basis des Zensus vom 9. Mai 2011" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  4. ^ https://www.dw.com/en/aachen-history-meets-high-tech-at-the-cradle-of-europe/a-2324829


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