The district of Aachen (german: link=yes, Städteregion Aachen) is a district in the west of

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 ...

. Neighboring districts are

Heinsberg Heinsberg (; li, Hinsberg ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the seat of the Heinsberg (district), district Heinsberg. It is situated near the border with the Netherlands, on the river Wurm, approx. 20 km north-east of Si ...

Düren Düren (; ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne on the river Rur. History Roman era The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the territory of the Eburones, a people ...

Euskirchen Euskirchen (; Ripuarian: ''Öskerche'') is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the district Euskirchen. While Euskirchen resembles a modern shopping town, it also has a history dating back over 700 years, having been granted to ...

, and also the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

province of

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

and the

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

province of

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

. Its administrative body is the ''Städteregionsparlament'' ("regional parliament"), headed by the ''Städteregionspräsident'' or "region president" (Tim Grüttemeier ( CDU) since 2019).

History

Becoming effective on 21 October 2009, the ''Städteregion Aachen'' (literally: "cities region" Aachen) was formed from the former district Aachen (''Kreis Aachen'') and the city of Aachen. This is the first ''Städteregion'' that was formed in North Rhine-Westphalia. Its status is similar to that of the district Hanover (''Region Hannover'') in Lower Saxony, in that the powers of the city of Aachen are slightly less than those of a district-free city (''Kreisfreie Stadt''). The former district Aachen was created in 1975 in the reorganization of the district

, by merging the previous districts (''Landkreise'') of Aachen and Monschau, and some parts of the districts of Düren, Jülich and Schleiden as well as the Selfkant district, while a part of the former district was incorporated to the district-free city of

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- ...

. The ''Landkreis Aachen'' was formed in 1816 from the two French cantons Burtscheid and

Eschweiler Eschweiler (, Ripuarian: ) is a municipality in the district of Aachen in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany on the river Inde, near the German-Belgian-Dutch border, and about east of Aachen and west of Cologne. History * Celts (fir ...

, with its capital set to the city of

Burtscheid Burtscheid ( la, Porcetum) is a district of the city of Aachen, part of the Aachen-Mitte Stadtbezirk. It is a health resort. History It was inhabited since ancient times by Celts and Romans, who were attracted by the presence of hot springs. Bu ...

. In 1897 Burtscheid was incorporated into the city of

, but the administrative seat stayed there, even though the capital was no longer part of the district.

Geography

Geographically the district covers a part of the

Eifel The Eifel (; lb, Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of ...

mountains in the south, but also the lowlands of the

Lower Rhine Bay The Lower Rhine Bay (german: Niederrheinische Bucht), sometimes called the Lower Rhine Bight,Luttig, G.W. (ed.), ''General Geology of the Federal Republic of Germany'', Nagel u. Obermiller, 1980, pp. 29 and 44. is a lowland plain in the German sta ...

Coat of arms

The top of the coat of arms shows the black lion, the sign of Jülich, as the district contains mostly former parts of the

duchy of Jülich The Duchy of Jülich (german: Herzogtum Jülich; nl, Hertogdom Gulik; french: Duché de Juliers) comprised a state within the Holy Roman Empire from the 11th to the 18th centuries. The duchy lay west of the Rhine river and was bordered by th ...

. In the bottom the swan on a deer antler is the sign of the city of Burtscheid, which was the capital of the ''Landkreis Aachen'' until 1897, when it was incorporated into the city of Aachen.

Towns and municipalities

References

External links

Official Website
(German, English, Dutch, French, Polish) {{Authority control Districts of North Rhine-Westphalia