Our city exploration of Aachen starts at the central station. We mainly came to Aachen to see the historical testimonies of Charlemagne, like the Aachen Cathedral and the Town Hall, as well as the Christmas Market, but we show these parts in separate posts and videos.
About 300 m west of the central station is the Marschiertor gate, built in the 13th century. It used to be the ancient southern gate of the Aachen city wall. Today it serves as the clubhouse of the carnival society Stadtgarde “Oecher Penn von 1857 e.V”. In addition to a festival hall, there is a wine cellar, a taproom, and other rooms. The festival hall offers space for 200 guests.
In Theaterstraße, we pass the Historical Institute of the RWTH (Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen), obviously in a former government building.
To the right is the back of the Theater Aachen, a cultural institution for drama and musical theater. The theater opened in 1825.
Only a few meters from the Elisenbrunnen fountain, a market takes place.
This time we take the time to have a closer look at the hall with the fountains and the archaeological excavations in the park.
Passing the fountain “Circulation of money” and the puppet fountain, we reach the Hof square.
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More InformationThe square is one of the most popular and beautiful places in the city. In summer, you can sit here outside and drink a glass.
The monument at the Hühnermarkt square shows a chicken thief. A boy wanted to steal a hen in the dark. Unfortunately, he caught a cockerel. The cockerel began to crow loudly, and thus the crime came to light.
We have already wondered several times about a sign, which can be found in many places on brass plates on the pavement.
On the market square in front of the town hall, we discover it on the wall of a pharmacy. And here we get the explanation. Since Charlemagne could not write, he signed documents with the Golden Stroke.
At the Büchel, we find a monument of the Bahkauv. This legendary figure from Aachen is said to live in the sewers of the thermal springs.
Adalbertstraße is one of several shopping streets in the city. We follow it to the St. Adalbert priory church. After the death and canonization of Bishop Adalbert of Prague, Emperor Otto III ordered to build the church to store relics of Adalbert and St. Hermes.
To the north of the church is the Kaiserplatz square, dominated by the equestrian monument of Emperor Frederick III. Emperor William II, son of Frederick III, and Germany’s last emperor, formally inaugurated the statue in 1911. Frederick III reigned 99 days before he died of cancer.
In Großkölnstraße, another shopping street next to the City Church of St. Nicholas, we find the Umbrella Women, also known as Aachen Weather. The statue was built by the artist Heinz Tobolla.
Finally, we visit the Fischmarkt square near the entrance to Aachen Cathedral. The fountain monument Fischpüddelchen, erected in 1911, is the symbol of the fish market that used to take place here. The name comes from the word Püddelchen which is Aachen dialect and means naked toddler.
At the Fischmarkt square, you see one of the oldest buildings in the city, the Grashaus, completed in 1267. It was the first city hall of Aachen. Among others, it used to be the seat of jurisdiction, prison, and in later times city archives.
We end a tour that gave us again many new impressions, at the Aachen Cathedral. From there we go back to the a&o Hostel.
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Soundtracks in video
- Time Has Come (Unwind) by Papa_Zulu (c) copyright 2013
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Papa_Zulu/44376 - Tumbatamba by reiswerk (c) copyright 2017
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Reiswerk/55745 Ft: Milton Paredes