Schleiden

Schleiden is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies in the Eifel hills, in the district of Euskirchen, and has 12,998 inhabitants as of 30 June 2017. Schleiden is connected by a tourist railway to Kall, on the Eifel Railway between Cologne and Trier. The town consists of 18 settlements, the largest of which are Gemünd and Schleiden proper.

Sub-divisions 
The borough of Schleiden is divided into 18 settlements (population figures of those at their main residence as at September 2020):

Neighbouring municipalities 
 North: Heimbach (Eifel) (County of Düren)
 East: Mechernich, Kall (both in the county of Euskirchen)
 South: Hellenthal (County of Euskirchen)
 West: Monschau, Simmerath (both in the Borough of Aachen)

History

In the Middle Ages and Early Modern times, Schleiden was the centre of a lordship, later the County of Schleiden, which itself was part of the Duchy of Luxembourg, from 1441/43 as part of the Burgundian Netherlands (first under the Burgundians, then the Habsburgs). After the division of the Netherlands, the Duchy of Luxembourg with Schleiden remained as part of the Spanish line of the Habsburgs. After the War of Spanish Succession, the Duchy of Luxembourg, along with Schleiden, went to the Austrian line of the House of Habsburg. When revolutionary France conquered the Austrian Netherlands in 1794/95, the Duchy of Luxembourg was quickly divided into the three French departments: Forêts, Sambre-et-Meuse and Ourthe. Schleiden was in Ourthe (capital: Liege). At the Vienna Congress of 1815, the formerly Luxembourgian areas east of the Our, Sauer and Moselle rivers were given to the Kingdom of Prussia. Thus, Schleiden became "Prussian" and, in 1871, part of the German Empire after having belonged to the Duchy of Luxembourg for centuries.

The small town of Schleiden has produced two important Christian humanists: Johannes Sleidanus and Johannes Sturm, also known as Ioannes Sturmius.

In 1944 the Battle of Wahlerscheid took place nearby.

Mayors

 1972−1975: Max Fesenmeyer (independent)
 1975−1984: Herbert Hermesdorf (1914-1999) (CDU)
 1984−1995: Alois Sommer (CDU)
 1995−1997: Dieter Wolter (CDU)
 1997−2004: Christoph Lorbach (CDU)
 2004−2012: Ralf Hergarten (independent)
 2012–2018: Udo Meister (FDP)
 2018– : Ingo Pfennings (CDU)

Education
There are the following schools in the city:
Municipal High School 
Clara-Fey-High School, Schleiden (carrier is the diocese of Aachen)
Municipal Secondary School 
Primary school 
Elementary school 
Elementary school Gemünd
Elementary school Dreiborn
Astrid Lindgren School, Schleiden

Sights 

 Castle and church (1230 castle chapel, 1516–1525 late Gothic hall church, König organ from 1770)
 From 1900 to 1905 the Urft Dam was built as the largest dam in Europe at the time. Today it is part of the Eifel National Park.
 Ordensburg Vogelsang on the former Vogelsang Training Area
 "Tempelchen" war memorial for the victims of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 and the First World War
 Jewish Cemetery
 Forest Experience Centre

Olef Valley Railway 

The Olef Valley Railway (from Kall to Hellenthal) stopped at Schleiden station; regular passenger services were discontinued by Deutsche Bundesbahn in 1981. Because of the Eifel National Park, which was newly established in 2004, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia is supporting tourism with a two-year programme of passenger services in the tourist season on Sundays and public holidays. These services terminated in 2004 in the district of Gemünd, and in 2005 they continued to Schleiden. The regional railway was managed by the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg; Rurtalbahn was the operator. Regular traffic ended on 16 October 2005. Since 2006 services have been operated privately as a museum railway in the summer season, with the 2008 season being operated by the Rhein-Sieg-Eisenbahn. From 2010, the trains will run again to Hellenthal station, using an historic MAN railbus. Due to massive damage caused by the 2021 European floods, museum railway services were suspended.

Until 1997 there was regular freight traffic via Schleiden to Hellenthal, after that only military traffic to Schleiden-Höddelbusch (tank loading ramp). The last troop loading took place there in winter 2002 with diesel and steam locomotives from a private railway.  Belgium handed back the Vogelsang Training Area on 1 January 2006. The training area on the Dreiborn Plateau was turned over to non-military use and has a documentation centre and hiking area.

Public figures

Johannes Sturm (Sturmius) (1507–1589), educator and scholar of the Renaissance, a professor in Paris and founder of the University of Strasbourg
Johannes Sleidanus (1506–1556), historian, professor, Schleiden / Strasbourg
Leopold Schoeller (1792–1884), industrialist and Privy Councillor of Commerce
Gustav Poensgen (1824–1904), industrialist and Privy Councillor of Commerce
Rudolf Poensgen (1826–1895), industrialist and councillor of commerce
Carl Poensgen (1838–1921), industrialist and Privy Councillor of Commerce
Larres Albert (1900–1987), painter 
Francis Albert Heinen (born 1953), journalist and nonfiction writer
George Schreiber (born 1958), photographer
Vera Hilger (born 1971), painter

References 

Euskirchen (district)
Districts of the Rhine Province