Aachen

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Template:Infobox Town DE Aachen (French Aix-la-Chapelle, Dutch Aken, 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.

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. Image:Aachen Cathedral from north.jpg Image:Aachen-ElegantStreet.JPG

1 History
2 Miscellaneous
3 Town twinning
4 Buildings and Constructions
5 Name in different languages
6 External links

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History

A quarry on the Lousberg, where flint was obtained 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. Many other Celtic toponyms are identifiable in the immediate locale. Since Roman times, the hot springs have been channeled into baths (which are still in use). âh- is an Old German cognate with Latin aqua, both meaning "water". In French-speaking areas of the former Empire the word aquas was turned into aix, hence Aix-la-Chapelle or Aix-en-Provence, an old Roman spa in Provence, France. Image:Construction d Aix-la-Chapelle.jpg After Roman times the place passed without comment but could not have been totally abandoned, for Einhard mentioned that in 765-66 Pippin 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.

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.

During the Middle Ages Aachen was one of the largest cities of the Empire. Aachen remained a free city within the Holy Roman 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. The third congress took place in 1818 to decide the fate of occupied France.

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.

Badly damaged in World War II, on October 21 1944 Aachen was the first German city to be overrun by Allied troops, the U.S. 1st Infantry Division(aka the Big Red One).

While Charlemagne's palace does not exist anymore, the cathedral is still the main attraction of the city. After its construction it was the largest church north of the Alps for 400 years. The tombs of Charlemagne and Otto III can be found in the church. The cathedral of Aachen is listed in the UNESCO World Heritage. Image:Aachen-SomeBoulevard.JPG

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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.

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.

Image:GermanyNetherlansBelgiumBORDER.jpg

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.

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.

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Town twinning

Aachen has several partner cities:

Template:Flagicon - Reims (France) since January 28 1967
Template:Flagicon - Halifax/Calderdale (United Kingdom) since November 14 1979
Template:Flagicon - Toledo (Spain) since January 26 1985
Template:Flagicon - Ningbo (宁波) (China) since October 25 1986
Template:Flagicon - Naumburg (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany) since May 30 1988
Template:Flagicon - Arlington County (Virginia, USA) since September 17 1993
Template:Flagicon - Kostroma (Russia) since June 9 2005

The municipality Walheim had a partnership with the French Montebourg since 1960, which was continued by Aachen in 1972 when Walheim was incorporated into the town and became the borough Aachen-Kornelimünster/Walheim.

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Buildings and Constructions

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Name in different languages

Aachen is known in different languages by different names (see also Names of European cities in different languages). The names derive from either German, French or Latin.

Language	Name	Pronunciation in IPA
German	Aachen	Template:IPA
Ripuarian	Oche	Template:IPA
Anglicized version of the German	Aachen	Template:IPA
French	Aix-la-Chapelle	Template:IPA
Catalan	Aquisgrà	Template:IPA
Chinese (Simplified)	亚琛	Template:IPA
Czech	Cáchy	Template:IPA
Polish	Akwizgran
Dutch	Aken	Template:IPA
Spanish	Aquisgrán	Template:IPA
Italian	Aquisgrana	Template:IPA
Latin	Aquīsgrānum	Template:IPA
Serbian	Ahen/Ахен	Template:IPA