Heimbach is a town in the district of Düren of the state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is located on the river

Rur Rur or RUR may refer to: * Rur (river), a tributary of the Meuse, mostly in Germany * '' R.U.R.'', a 1920 Czech sci-fi play by Karel Čapek * Russian ruble, a currency (pre-1998 ISO 4217 code: RUR) * Ohaw, or rur, a Japanese soup dish * Rur., a ...

, in the

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

hills, approx. 20 km south of

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

. Heimbach has the smallest population of any town in North Rhine-Westphalia. The town districts of Heimbach are Blens (300 residents), Düttling (85 residents), Hasenfeld (1200 residents), Hausen (270 residents), Hergarten (500 residents) and Vlatten (900 residents), which prior to 1972 were villages with their own administration. Heimbach main town has about 1100 residents. Between Hausen and Hergarten lies the hamlet of Walbig, and between Hasenfeld and Schmidt (City of Nideggen) is the hamlet of Buschfelder Hof, which formerly belonged to Blens.

History

Heimbach and the city's Hengebach Castle was the seat of the local noble family which inherited the County of Jülich in 1207, with Heimbach annexed to the County (later the

Duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important differe ...

) since 1237. After the fire of 1687 the city of Heimbach was rebuilt to house the town's population; however, the castle of Hengebach was left a ruin until 1904 when restoration work began. Now restored, the castle is owned and operated as a tourist attraction by the city of Heimbach. The castle is located on a rocky outcrop in the middle of Heimbach. Today it is used as a restaurant and a location for public events. There are also castles in the villages of Blens, Hausen and Vlatten, now part of Heimbach.

Tourism

Heimbach and monastery of Mariawald are aims of the "Heimbach-Wallfahrt"https://heimbach-wallfahrt.de/ (Heimbach-Pilgrimage), to visit the

pietà The Pietà (; meaning "pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Mary (mother of Jesus), Blessed Virgin Mary cradling the mortal body of Jesus Christ after his Descent from the Cross. It is most often found in sculpture. ...

(

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

together with the corpus of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

) in the parish church of Heimbach, and the historical location (until 1804), the historical Cistercian Monstery of Mariawald. Regulary in early July ist observed the "Pilgrimage Octave", oriented towards the feast day "Visitation of Mary". Heimbach is a popular town for tourists, particularly on day trips from the nearby cities of

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

and

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

but also from the Netherlands. The main attractions are the

Eifel National Park The Eifel National Park () is the 14th national park in Germany and the first in North Rhine-Westphalia. The park was founded in 2004, and is classified as a "national park in development". Eifel National Park is part of the much larger High ...

, the Art Nouveau power station, the Rur dam, the monastery of Mariawald and the Hengebach castle. The renowned

Spannungen Spannungen ("Tensions" or "Voltages") is an annual summer festival for chamber music in Heimbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, founded by pianist Lars Vogt in 1998. It is subtitled Musik im Kraftwerk Heimbach (Music in the Heimbach power pla ...

chamber music concerts, founded by

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 Johannes Brahms, Brahms, Vogt performed as a soloist with major orchestr ...

, which take place in the power station are also popular and have attracted musicians such as Sharon Cam and

Sabine Meyer Sabine Meyer (born 30 March 1959) is a German classical clarinetist. Biography Born in Crailsheim, Baden-Württemberg, Meyer began playing the clarinet at an early age. Her first teacher was her father, also a clarinetist. She studied with Otto ...

. The villages of Hausen and Blens, located in northern Heimbach, provide great views of rocky outcrops which are now part of a nature conservancy area. One of the many campgrounds around Heimbach lies in the shadow of these rocks.

Demographics

Most residents of Heimbach are Roman Catholics, attending the churches in Heimbach (St. Clemens), Hausen (St. Nikolaus), Vlatten (St. Dinysius) and Hergarten (St. Martin) and chapels in Blens (St. Georg), Hasenfeld (St. Nepomuk), Düttling (St. Apollonia) and Vlatten (St. Michael).

Politics

The Mayor of Heimbach is Jochen Weiler (CDU), elected in 2020. The Council of Heimbach contains 9 members of the Christian Democratic Union, 5 members of the SPD, one member of the Green Party, 2 members of the FDP, 2 members of the UWV and one member of the AfD.

Notable people

* Johann Peter Schroeder (1794–1876), politician * Georg Frentzen (1854–1923), architect and university lecturer; built the Kraftwerk Heimbach (hydroelectric power plant of the Urfttalsperre) in Heimbach-Hasenfeld in 1904 * Franz Binz (1896–1965), Reichstag deputy of the NSDAP, lived in Heimbach * Luise Kött-Gärtner (born 1953), sculptural artist * Stephan Meyer (born 1947), director, lives from time to time in Heimbach *

Oliver Krischer Oliver Krischer (born 26 July 1969) is a German politician of the Alliance '90/The Greens who has been serving as State Minister for Environment, Nature Protection, and Transport in the government of Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia ...

(born 1969 in Zuelpich), Minister for Environment, Nature Protection, and Transport of the country of North Rhine-Westfalia, lived in Heimbach-Hergarten

References

{{Authority control Düren (district) Districts of the Rhine Province