Aachen

Aachen ( ; Aachen dialect: Oche [ˈɔːxə]; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle"Aix-la-Chapelle"  (US) and  ; Latin: Aquae Granni or Aquisgranum; ) is a German city in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has about 260,000 inhabitants and a well-known university, the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH). It is also the location of the 1944 Battle of Aachen during World War II where the United States fought Nazi Germany .

 History 
The Romans built a spa over hot water springs here in ancient times.

In the Middle Ages, it was the capital city of the Frankish emperor, Charlemagne. The city was called Aix-la-Chapelle by the French.

Charlemagne ordered the building of a cathedral in 786 AD. He was buried in a tomb in this cathedral. German emperors were crowned in the cathedral in Aachen until 1531.

European countries made two important peace agreements in Aachen. In 1668, the first treaty (agreement) ended the War of Devolution between France and the alliance of England, Holland and Sweden. The treaty allowed France to keep most of the towns it had captured in Flanders the year before. In 1748, the second treaty ended the War of the Austrian Succession. In this war, France, Prussia, and other nations tried to take territory from the Austrian Empire. The treaty said that Maria Theresa of Austria was the ruler of these territories. It also gave Prussia the territory of Silesia.

Since 1972, Aachen has been part of the Cologne Government Region.

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Other websites

Category:Spa towns in Germany
Category:Cities in North Rhine-Westphalia

Category:1300s establishments
Category:14th-century establishments in Germany
Category:1801 disestablishments
Category:1800s disestablishments in Germany