Aachen Germany, June 2013

Aachen, an historical spa town is also known to Germans as Bad Aachen, but the preference is to just use Aachen to keep it first alphabetically. Settled in prehistoric times, there traces of human activity there since 3000 AD. The Romans enjoyed the hot sulphur springs and built baths in the area by 124 AD. Romans packed up and left when they were taken over by the Franks and left by the beginning of the 5th century. Afterwards, Pippin the Younger had a castle residence built in the town. Most famous resident however was Charlemagne, The Holy Roman Emperor. Charlemagne made Aachen his winter home between 792 and his death in 814.  

The church of Charlemagne is quite spectacular. It was started in 796 and has had several additions. This church became a cathedral and is one of the great examples of Byzantine architecture in this part of Europe. Charlemagne’s remains are interred here in this cathedral. During the 11th century an altar was added and then a chandelier in the 12th century. The art and guilding are quite extensive, making it one of the most beautiful cathedrals that I have seen. From 936 to 1531 all 30 of the German kings were crowned in the cathedral and civil ceremonies were carried out in the Rathaus, town hall. Remnants of other medieval structures are two city gates, five towers and parts of the city walls.

During the medieval period, Aachen was prosperous due to its proximity to Flanders for trade in wool and other textiles. Since it was an important royal city, Aachen was left out of much of the politics of Europe at the time. But by the 16th century, the kings preferred to use Frankfurt as their royal city, leaving Aachen to be a spa town and a place for high paid prostitutes. During industrial times, Aachen again made use of its location, coal resources and train station to become an important city again. Aachen is well connected to all major cities in Europe, and has several high speed trains through it now. Currently Aachen is a major city for information technology in Germany and has several prominent universities. A lesser known fact is that Aachen is the birth place of Reuters News Agency. In 1850 Paul Julius Reuter founded a news agency in Aachen and used carrier pigeons to carry information between Aachen and Brussels.

Aachen was the first city in Germany to be captured by the Allies in WWII. Many historic buildings were damaged and have subsequently been restored. The cathedral however, was not damaged during WWII, but the Rathaus was fairly hard hit. Much of the area around the Rathaus square and cathedral retains their medieval charm, with narrow streets, cobblestones and ancient buildings. Inside the Rathaus you can see portraits of the kings of Germany, coronation items and beautiful frescos on the walls. The cathedral was the first building in Germany to make the UNESCO list. There is a treasury next to the cathedral with many historic religious articles and artifacts. All around town you can see many statues and fountains, some very old and some rather new. For such an ancient place, Aachen has a modern vibrant feel. It is a great place to make a day trip from any of the boarder countries or as we did from Cologne.