Aachen

This article is about the city. For the surrounding Landkreis, see Aachen Rural District.

Aachen Aachen
Aachen City Hall (rear)
Coat of arms
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Cologne
District	Urban district
Government
• Lord Mayor	Marcel Philipp (CDU)
• Governing parties	CDU / SPD / Grüne
Area
• Total	160.87 km2 (62.11 sq mi)
Elevation	266 m (873 ft)
Population
• Total	258,770
• Density	1,600/km2 (4,200/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	52062–52080
Dialling codes	0241 / 02405 / 02407 / 02408
Vehicle registration	AC
Website	www.aachen.de

Free Imperial City of Aachen / Aix-la-Chapelle
Freie Reichsstadt Aachen
Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire
1306–1801
Capital		Aachen
Government		Republic
Historical era		Middle Ages
•	Settlement founded	ca 6th millennium BC
•	Gained Reichsfreiheit	1306
•	Otto I crowned Emperor	936
•	Fire devastated city	1656
•	First Treaty ended     War of Devolution	May 2 1668
•	Second Treaty ended War     of Austrian Succession	April–May 1748
•	Annexed by France	1801
•	Third Treaty handles     post-Napoleonic France	October–November 1818
Succeeded by Roer (department)

Aachen is a German city in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has about 260,000 inhabitants and a well-known university, the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH).

History

The Romans built a spa over hot water springs here in ancient times.

In the Middle Ages, it was the capital city of the Frankish emperor, Charlemagne. The city was called Aix-la-Chapelle by the French.

Aachen Cathedral

Charlemagne ordered the building of a cathedral in 786 AD. He was buried in a tomb in this cathedral. German emperors were crowned in the cathedral in Aachen until 1531.

European countries made two important peace agreements in Aachen. In 1668, the first treaty (agreement) ended the War of Devolution between France and the alliance of England, Holland and Sweden. The treaty allowed France to keep most of the towns it had captured in Flanders the year before. In 1748, the second treaty ended the War of the Austrian Succession. In this war, France, Prussia, and other nations tried to take territory from the Austrian Empire. The treaty said that Maria Theresa of Austria was the ruler of these territories. It also gave Prussia the territory of Silesia.

Since 1972, Aachen has been part of the Cologne Government Region.