Düren (;
ripuarian: Düre) is a town in
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, between
Aachen
Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...
and
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
on the river
Rur
The Rur or Roer (german: Rur ; Dutch and li, Roer, , ; french: Rour) is a major river that flows through portions of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It is a right (eastern) tributary to the Meuse ( nl, links=no, Maas). About 90 perce ...
.
History
Roman era
The area of Düren was part of
Gallia Belgica
Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul") was a province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul, in what is today primarily northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, along with parts of the Netherlands and Germany.
In 50 BC, af ...
, more specifically the territory of the
Eburones
The Eburones (Greek: ) were a Gallic- Germanic tribe dwelling in the northeast of Gaul, in what is now the southern Netherlands, eastern Belgium and the German Rhineland, in the period immediately preceding the Roman conquest of the region. Thou ...
, a people who were described as both
Belgae
The Belgae () were a large confederation of tribes living in northern Gaul, between the English Channel, the west bank of the Rhine, and the northern bank of the river Seine, from at least the third century BC. They were discussed in depth by Ju ...
and
Germani.
It was conquered by the
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...
under
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
and became part of
Germania inferior
Germania Inferior ("Lower Germania") was a Roman province from AD 85 until the province was renamed Germania Secunda in the fourth century, on the west bank of the Rhine bordering the North Sea. The capital of the province was Colonia Agrippin ...
.
Durum became a supply area for the rapidly growing Roman city of
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
(Roman name Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium). Furthermore, a few important Roman roads skirt Durum (including the road from
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
to
Jülich and
Tongeren
Tongeren (; french: Tongres ; german: Tongern ; li, Tóngere ) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg, in the southeastern corner of the Flemish region of Belgium. Tongeren is the oldest town in Belgium, as the onl ...
and the road from Cologne to
Zülpich
Zülpich ( ksh, Zöllech) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany between Aachen and Bonn. It belongs to the district of Euskirchen.
History
The town is commonly agreed to be the site with the Latin name of ''Tolbiacum'', famous for the ...
and
Trier
Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
). By the 4th century, the area was settled by the
Ripuarian Franks
Ripuarian or Rhineland Franks (Latin: ''Ripuarii'' or ''Ribuarii'') were one of the two main groupings of early Frankish people, and specifically it was the name eventually applied to the tribes who settled in the old Roman territory of the Ubii, ...
.
The name ''villa duria'' occurred the first time in the Frankish Annals in the year 747.
Frankish king
Pippin the Short
the Short (french: Pépin le Bref; – 24 September 768), also called the Younger (german: Pippin der Jüngere), was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian to become king.
The younger was the son of ...
often visited Düren in the 8th century and held a few important conventions there. The Franks made of Durum a royal palace, from which the name
Palatine
A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times. (
Pfalz
Pfalz, Pfälzer, or Pfälzisch are German words referring to Palatinate.
They may refer to:
Places
*Pfalz, the Palatinate (region) of Germany
**Nordpfalz, the North Palatinate
**Vorderpfalz, the Anterior Palatinate
**Südpfalz, the South P ...
in German) is derived.
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...
sojourned a few times there. Due to the frequent visits of Charlemagne, a few markets sprang up, such as the corn, cattle, wood, chicken, and butter markets, all of which contributed to Düren's development. The castle was built at the place where, since 1991, the
Saint Anne
According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...
Church is located.
Middle Ages
Düren obtained
city rights
Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...
in the early 13th century. Around 1200, the construction of the city wall was started, which includes 12 towers and 5 gates. The gates faced all directions: in the north, the ''Philippstor'') and the ''Wirteltor'', in the east the ''Kölntor'' (Cologne gate), in the south the ''Obertor'' and in the west the ''Holztor'' (wooden gate). There are still ruins of the gates today.
The chiseler Leonhard stole a small box with the relic of
Saint Anne
According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...
out of the Mainzer Stiftskirche St. Stephan in 1501 and brought it to Düren.
Pope Julius II
Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or th ...
decided on March 18, 1506 that Düren could keep the remains. They were kept in the ''Martinskirche'' (church of
Saint Martin) which was renamed the ''Annakirche'' (church of
Saint Anne
According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...
) in 1505. (Probably the church was renamed much later, because in the 19th century it was still called sometimes parish church of the holy Martinus). Saint Anne became the
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of Düren. Every year, the
saint's day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...
of Saint Anne (July 26) is celebrated for one week with the Anna octavos and the Anna parish fair, one of the biggest folk festivals of
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
17th to 19th century
In 1642, Düren was embroiled in the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
. Opposing troops destroyed the city. After the war has finally ended in 1648,
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
broke out and caused many lives to be lost. A second plague epidemic broke out in 1665. Due to the various attacks on the debilitated city, Düren was destroyed again in 1679. In this time, the settlement Miesheim was destroyed, never to be rebuilt.
Towards the end of the year 1755 in the area around Düren and
Aachen
Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...
began a series of
earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
s, which reached its peak on February 18, 1756 with an earthquake with the strength 8 on the
Mercalli scale
The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...
. The series of earthquakes affected all of Europe, most famously the
1755 Lisbon earthquake
The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In combination with ...
.
The businesses in the area of Düren was affected since the 15th century by the
drapery
Drapery is a general word referring to cloths or textiles (Old French , from Late Latin ). It may refer to cloth used for decorative purposes – such as around windows – or to the trade of retailing cloth, originally mostly for clothin ...
and metal industry. Since the beginning of the 17th century, paper industry had settled here, advantaged by the exceptionally
soft water
Hard water is water that has high mineral content (in contrast with "soft water"). Hard water is formed when water percolates through deposits of limestone, chalk or gypsum, which are largely made up of calcium and magnesium carbonates, bicarbo ...
of the
Rur
The Rur or Roer (german: Rur ; Dutch and li, Roer, , ; french: Rour) is a major river that flows through portions of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It is a right (eastern) tributary to the Meuse ( nl, links=no, Maas). About 90 perce ...
. Rütger von Scheven built the first
paper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...
in Düren. In 1812, there were already 17 paper factories, 11 cloth- and blanket factories, an iron
rolling mill
In metalworking, rolling is a metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through one or more pairs of rolls to reduce the thickness, to make the thickness uniform, and/or to impart a desired mechanical property. The concept is simil ...
or
slitting mill
The slitting mill was a watermill for slitting bars of iron into rods. The rods then were passed to nailers who made the rods into nails, by giving them a point and head.
The slitting mill was probably invented near Liège in what is now Belg ...
and two
iron foundries.
In the year 1794, Düren was occupied by
French revolutionary troops. From 1798 until 1814, Düren was the main city of the same named canton in the arrondissement
Aachen
Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...
of the French ''Roerdepartements'' (from the name of the River Rur (Roer) and ''départment''). After the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
in 1815, Düren was ceded to the
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...
and was subsequently administered within the
Rhine Province.
20th century
By 1900, Düren was among Germany's richest cities (with 42 millionaires and 93 factories) and had a population of 27,168. By comparison, fewer than 5,000 people had lived in Düren a century earlier.
The city of Düren was located on the main
fighting front during the
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
invasion of Germany in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. During 1944 and 1945, the protracted and bloody
Battle for Hürtgenwald was fought on Düren's district area, and on November 16, 1944, Düren was completely destroyed by Allied
air bombings. Approximately 22,000 people lived in Düren at that time, and 3,000 of them died during the bombing. Those who survived were
evacuated to central Germany. Destroyed buildings included the
Stadttheater Düren (1907), designed in
Jugendstil
''Jugendstil'' ("Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German counterpart of ...
by
Carl Moritz
Carl Moritz (27 April 1863 – 23 August 1944) was a German architect and real-estate entrepreneur. Based in Cologne, he built the Cologne opera house of 1902, and various banks, theatres and churches in Germany.
Career
Born in Berlin, ...
.
On February 25, 1945,
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
troops crossed the
Rur
The Rur or Roer (german: Rur ; Dutch and li, Roer, , ; french: Rour) is a major river that flows through portions of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It is a right (eastern) tributary to the Meuse ( nl, links=no, Maas). About 90 perce ...
at Düren. After the war was over in the summer that year, many evacuated people came back to the destroyed city and started to rebuild their homes against the advice of the American troops. By June 1945, the population had risen to 3,806. Most of the architecture in Düren therefore dates from the 1950s.
Culture and points of interest
The most famous museum of Düren is the Leopold Hoesch Museum. The in 1905 in
Baroque Revival architecture
The Baroque Revival, also known as Neo-Baroque (or Second Empire architecture in France and Wilhelminism in Germany), was an architectural style of the late 19th century. The term is used to describe architecture and architectural sculptur ...
erected building presents changing exhibitions of contemporary art. Since 1986, can also be seen artworks of the international Biennale PaperArt. Since 2006, is in the former nurses' home of the St. Augustinus Hospital Lendersdorf the Düren Carnival Museum. The most recent museum is the in 2009 founded Stadtmuseum Düren. This museum shows an exhibition of the local history.
Theatre and music
The former Stadttheater Düren was opened in January 1907. In the bombing of November 16, 1944 the theatre was almost completely destroyed. Today cultural performances take place mainly at the ''Haus der Stadt''. Since 2004 the multi-functional ''Arena Kreis Düren'', which has around 2000 seats, serves as a venue for major concerts.
Buildings
At the edge of the forest in the Niederau district lies
Burgau Castle. The
water castle ways inhabited by the Counts of
Heinsberg
Heinsberg (; li, Hinsberg ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the seat of the district Heinsberg. It is situated near the border with the Netherlands, on the river Wurm, approx. 20 km north-east of Sittard and 30 km ...
at the beginning of the 14th Century. After it was destroyed in 1944, the restoration process lasted from 1979 to 1998.
In Theodor Heuss Park is the Bismarck Memorial, erected in 1892 to commemorate the most famous honorary citizen from Düren.
The town hall was inaugurated in 1959. It now ranks as an example of 1950s architecture under
Cultural heritage management.
Politics
The current mayor of Düren is Frank Peter Ullrich of the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Fo ...
(SPD) since 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows:
! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Candidate
! rowspan=2, Party
! colspan=2, First round
! colspan=2, Second round
, -
! Votes
! %
! Votes
! %
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Frank Peter Ullrich
, align=left,
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Fo ...
, 10,641
, 36.1
, 14,853
, 69.8
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Thomas Floßdorf
, align=left,
Christian Democratic Union
, 7,877
, 26.7
, 6,435
, 30.2
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Maria Belka
, align=left,
Alliance 90/The Greens
Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...
, 6,724
, 22.8
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Siegfried Fahl
, align=left,
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
, 2,166
, 7.3
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Karl Cremer
, align=left,
Free Democratic Party
, 2,113
, 7.2
, -
! colspan=3, Valid votes
! 29,521
! 97.2
! 21,288
! 98.3
, -
! colspan=3, Invalid votes
! 837
! 2.8
! 364
! 1.7
, -
! colspan=3, Total
! 30,358
! 100.0
! 21,652
! 100.0
, -
! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout
! 69,324
! 43.8
! 69,257
! 31.3
, -
, colspan=7, Source: City of Düren
1st round
City council
The Düren city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:
! colspan=2, Party
! Votes
! %
! +/-
! Seats
! +/-
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
, 9,896
, 33.3
, 7.7
, 17
, 3
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Fo ...
(SPD)
, 8,555
, 28.8
, 3.7
, 15
, 1
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
Alliance 90/The Greens
Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...
(Grüne)
, 5,317
, 17.9
, 8.1
, 9
, 4
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
Alternative for Germany
Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist
*
*
*
*
*
*
* political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...
(AfD)
, 2,111
, 7.1
, 1.6
, 4
, 1
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
Free Democratic Party (FDP)
, 1,338
, 4.5
, 1.2
, 2
, ±0
, -
,
, align=left, Citizens for Düren (BfD)
, 943
, 3.2
, 1.1
, 2
, 1
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
The Left (Die Linke)
, 844
, 2.8
, 2.5
, 1
, 2
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
Pirate Party Germany
The Pirate Party Germany (german: Piratenpartei Deutschland), commonly known as Pirates (), is a political party in Germany founded in September 2006 at c-base. It states general agreement with the Swedish Piratpartiet as a party of the informa ...
(Piraten)
, 396
, 1.3
, New
, 1
, New
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Independent Harf
, 329
, 1.1
, New
, 1
, New
, -
! colspan=2, Valid votes
! 29,729
! 98.1
!
!
!
, -
! colspan=2, Invalid votes
! 581
! 1.9
!
!
!
, -
! colspan=2, Total
! 30,310
! 100.0
!
! 52
! 2
, -
! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout
! 69,324
! 43.7
! 1.7
!
!
, -
, colspan=7, Source
City of Düren
Worship
*The most important church in the city is the Annakirche. The church was completely destroyed by bombing in 1944 and rebuilt in the 1950s under the guidance of the architect
Rudolf Schwarz. Throughout the city there are 15 other Catholic parish and church communities, including in Arnoldsweiler.
* The most important Protestant church in Düren is the Christuskirche. At its inauguration in 1954, it possessed the highest freestanding
bell tower
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...
in Germany.
* Up to the destruction of
Kristallnacht
() or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...
, the
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
was located in Schützenstraße. In its place is now a stele from Düren artist Rückriem.
Main sights
*''
Burgau Castle'' (German: Schloss Burgau)
*''Dicker Turm'' ("Fat Tower"), a remain of the old city's fortifications
*''Annakirche'' (St. Anne Church)
*''Marienkirche'' (St. Mary Magdalene Church)
*Monument to
Bismarck
*Leopold Hoesch Museum
Emblem
The emblem of the city of Düren is divided. It shows on the top a red castle, below that, a black eagle and in the lower half a black lion with a red tongue. The black eagle refers to the old history of Düren as a royal city and
Reichsstadt
In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...
. In 1242–46 Düren was bonded to the dukes of Jülich (later,
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
was also Duke of Jülich). Their emblem was a lion passant, with open mouth and a red tongue.
Twin towns – sister cities
Düren is
twinned with:
*
Altmünster
Altmünster (Central Bavarian: ''Oidmünsta''), also known as Altmünster am Traunsee, is a market town located about 3 kilometres south of Gmunden in the Austrian state of Upper Austria, on the west shore of the Traunsee. Its economic base consis ...
, Austria
*
Cormeilles, France
*
Gradačac
Gradačac ( sr-cyrl, Градачац, ) is a city located in the Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the northeastern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, roughly south of ...
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
*
Jinhua
, alternately romanized as Kinhwa, is a prefecture-level city in central Zhejiang province in eastern China. It borders the provincial capital of Hangzhou to the northwest, Quzhou to the southwest, Lishui to the south, Taizhou to the east, ...
, China
*
Karadeniz Ereğli
Karadeniz Ereğli (or Ereğli) is a city and district in Zonguldak Province of Turkey on the Black Sea shore. Population of the city proper is 121,237 as of 2020. The mayor of the city is Halil Posbıyık. Mehmet Yapıcı is the District Governor o ...
, Turkey
*
Stryi
Stryi ( uk, Стрий, ; pl, Stryj) is a city located on the left bank of the river Stryi in Lviv Oblast (region) of western Ukraine 65 km to the south of Lviv (in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains). It serves as the administrative cen ...
, Ukraine
*
Valenciennes
Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France.
It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...
, France
Media
Düren has its own radio station (
Radio Rur). The station broadcasts on 92.7 and 107.5 MHz, and on cable at 87.5 MHz. There are two daily newspapers (Dürener Zeitung, Dürener Nachrichten) and several weekly papers.
Notable people
*
Karl Benrath
Karl Benrath (10 August 1845 in Düren – 21 July 1924 in Königsberg) was a German people, German church historian.
Benrath was educated in Bonn, Berlin and University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg. In 1871 went on a scientific tour of several y ...
(1845–1924), church historian
*
Johann Bollig (born 1821),
Pontifical Theologian and advisor to
Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...
*
Marita Breuer (born 1953), actress
*
Manfred Donike
Manfred Donike (23 August 1933, Köttingen, Rhine Province – 21 August 1995, on a flight from Frankfurt am Main to Johannesburg) was a German cyclist and chemist, known for his research on doping. Donike lived in Rölsdorf.
Donike stud ...
(1933–1995), cyclist
*
Gert Engels
Gert Engels (born 26 April 1957) is a former German footballer. He last coached Nadeshiko League club INAC Kobe Leonessa.
In 2018, Engels received the German Football Ambassador Award for sporting and social commitments abroad. He was succeeded ...
(born 1957), football coach
*
John Engels
John Engels (January 19, 1931 South Bend, Indiana - June 13, 2007 Vermont) was an American poet.
Life
John Engels graduated from University of Notre Dame in 1952. After Navy service, Engels studied at the University College, Dublin, then gradua ...
(born 1959), historian
*
Simon Ernst
Simon Ernst (born 2 April 1994) is a German handball player, currently playing for SC DHfK Leipzig Handball and the German national team.
Achievements
* European Championship:
**: 2016
Individual awards
*2015 Men's Junior World Handball Champi ...
(born 1994), Handball Player
*
Margot Eskens
Margot Eskens (12 August 1936 – 29 July 2022) was a German Schlager singer, most popular in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1956 and 1957 she had two #1 hits, "Tiritomba" (which sold over 800,000 copies) and "Cindy, oh Cindy", which was her biggest ...
(born 1939),
Schlager singer
*
Jerome Felton
Jerome Jean-Marie Felton (born July 3, 1986) is a former American football fullback. He previously played for the Minnesota Vikings, where he had been a fundamental part of Adrian Peterson's success, including Peterson's 2,097 rushing yards sea ...
(born 1987), American football player
*
Gossen, Hermann Heinrich (1810–1858), Prussian
economist
An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics.
The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
*
Georg Hamel
Georg Karl Wilhelm Hamel (12 September 1877 – 4 October 1954) was a German mathematician with interests in mechanics, the foundations of mathematics and function theory.
Biography
Hamel was born in Düren, Rhenish Prussia. He studied at A ...
(1877–1954), mathematician
*
Wilfried Hannes
Wilfried Hannes (born 17 May 1957) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defender, and manager, known for achieving his career despite being visually impaired after a pupil-tumour had caused him to lose his sight in his righ ...
(born 1957),
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player
*
Ute Hasse (born 1963), swimmer, Olympic silver medal
*
Rudolf Henke
Rudolf Paul Maria Henke (born 5 June 1954) is a physician and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as a member of the German Bundestag from 2009 until 2021.
Education and early career
Born in Düren, Henke completed hi ...
(born 1954), MP''
*
Leopold Hoesch (1820–1899), founder of Hoesch AG in
Dortmund
Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...
, founder of the Leopold Hoesch Museum in Düren
*
Friedrich Honigmann (1841–1913), mining entrepreneur
*
Gerd Hoppe (born 1968), Evangelist
*
Karin Jacobsen
Karin Jacobsen (1924–1989) was a German actress and screenwriter.Goble p.242 She was married to the actor Carl-Heinz Schroth and the film producer Gero Wecker.
Selected filmography
* ''Artists' Blood'' (1949)
* ''Furioso'' (1950)
* '' Weekend ...
(1924–1989), actress and screenwriter
*
Harald Konopka (born 1952), football legends
*
Karl Lauterbach
Karl Wilhelm Lauterbach (; born 21 February 1963) is a German scientist, physician, and politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who has served as Federal Minister of Health since 8 December 2021. He is professor of health ec ...
(born 1963), economist and politician
*
Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet
Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet (; 13 February 1805 – 5 May 1859) was a German mathematician who made deep contributions to number theory (including creating the field of analytic number theory), and to the theory of Fourier series and ...
(1805–1859),
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
*
Michael Lentz (born 1964), writer, musician
*
Christoph Moritz
Christoph Moritz (born 27 January 1990) is a German professional footballer. He plays as a defensive midfielder.
Career
Moritz began his footballing career in 1994, at the age of four, as a youth player with FC Viktoria 08 Arnoldsweiler. He stay ...
(born 1990), football player
*
Kalle Pohl
Kalle Pohl (born 20 August 1951 in Düren) is a German comedian and actor.
Life
Pohl works as comedian and actor in Germany. He plays guitarre.
Works
Theatre
* 2007: ''Norman, bist du es?''
* 2010: ''Denn sie wissen nicht, was sie erben' ...
(born 1951),
comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing
Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...
*
Eugen Prym (1843–1913), orientalist and linguist
*
Friedrich Prym
Friedrich Emil Fritz Prym (28 September 1841, Düren – 15 December 1915, Bonn) was a German mathematician who introduced Prym varieties and Prym differentials.
Prym completed his Ph.D. at the University of Berlin in 1863 with a thesis writ ...
(1841–1915), mathematician), musician
*
Sven Schaffrath
Sven Schaffrath (born July 13, 1984 in Düren) is a German footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American footb ...
(born 1984), football player
*
Karl-Heinz Schnellinger
Karl-Heinz Schnellinger (born 31 March 1939) is a German former footballer who played as a defender. An athletic and hard-tackling player, with a strong physique, he was nicknamed the "Volkswagen" for his continuity of performance, both in qu ...
(born 1939),
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player
*
Max von Schillings
Max von Schillings (April 19, 1868 – July 24, 1933 in Berlin) was a German conductor, composer and theatre director. He was chief conductor at the Berlin State Opera from 1919 to 1925.
Schillings' opera ''Mona Lisa'' (1915) was internationall ...
(1868–1933), conductor and composer
*
Sybille Schmitz (1909–1955), German
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
star
*
Rudolf Schock
Rudolf Johann Schock (4 September 1915 – 13 November 1986) was a German tenor.
Rudolf Schock was born in Duisburg, in the Prussian Rhine Province. He sang a wide repertoire from operetta to ''Lohengrin'', recording among others opera and lieder, ...
(1915–1986),
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
singer
*
Harald Schumacher
Harald Anton "Toni" Schumacher (born 6 March 1954) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. At club level, he won a Bundesliga title and three DFB-Pokal titles with 1. FC Köln. At international level, he represent ...
(born 1954)
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player with
1. FC Köln and Germany
*
Hermann Schwarz
Karl Hermann Amandus Schwarz (; 25 January 1843 – 30 November 1921) was a German mathematician, known for his work in complex analysis.
Life
Schwarz was born in Hermsdorf, Silesia (now Jerzmanowa, Poland). In 1868 he married Marie Kummer, ...
(1864–1951), philosopher
*
Georg Stollenwerk (born 1927),
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player
*
Klaus H. Carl (born 1935), photographer
*
Lars Vogt
Lars Vogt (8 September 1970 – 5 September 2022) was a German classical pianist, conductor and academic teacher. Noted by ''The New York Times'' for his interpretations of Brahms, Vogt performed as a soloist with major orchestras, including the ...
(1970–2022),
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
*
Paul J. J. Welfens (1957–2022), economist
References
External links
Düren, official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duren
Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia
Free imperial cities
Districts of the Rhine Province
Düren (district)
Articles containing video clips