Aachen Empire

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Map of the Aachen Empire

Aachen Empire refers to an area that comprised the Free Imperial City of Aachen and its immediate surroundings outside the medieval city wall from the Middle Ages to the end of the 18th century .

history

After Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa granted the city of Aachen city ​​rights in 1166 , these were renewed and confirmed in writing by Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian in 1336. Since then, the term Aachener Reich has prevailed. This definition of the area around the city center has meanwhile become necessary, as the city had expanded significantly in the previous almost two hundred years with its core area around the Aachen royal court, which was surrounded by the inner Barbarossa Wall and roughly along today's moat . As a result, the second city wall was built in the middle of the 13th century with funding from Richard of Cornwall (1209-1272), which in parts still runs roughly along today's ring of avenues.

Aachen around 1647

At that time, the Aachen Empire comprised both the territory of the city itself located within this second city wall and the area outside the wall, namely the Glockenklang, the seven quarters, the Aachener Heide, the Aachener Wald and the Reichswald. The area was almost 9,000 hectares and had a limit length of about 70 kilometers.

The designation bell sound symbolized the alarm area, an area in which the population was warned of intruders with the help of loud bells. This bell sound was divided into nine so-called counties and was located immediately in front of and along the second city wall. The seat of each of these individual counties, which were each under the command of a captain, was a city gate integrated into the wall. Specifically, there were Kölntor , Adalbertstor , Wirichsbongardstor , Marschiertor , Rostor , Jakobstor , Königstor , Ponttor as well as Berg and Sandkaultor , of which only the Pont and Marschiertor are preserved today.

Quarters of the Aachen Empire

The seven quarters that the Aachen Empire also comprised were localities and lands in front of the city and these included Berg (today's Laurensberg ), Haaren , Orsbach , Soers , Vaalserquartier , Weiden (part of today's Broichweiden ) and Würselen . For the purpose of optical and acoustic communication, eight towers were erected in these areas, which were in eye contact with each other and with the central tower on the city wall, the so-called Long Tower . In this way it was possible to warn of enemies in good time by smoke or light signals or with gunfire. Of these eight towers, which were inhabited and secured by local foresters, the Alt-Linzenshäuschen , Beeck, Haus Hirsch, Adamshäuschen and Orsbach Castle have been preserved in addition to the Long Tower . The towers in Würselen-Morsbach , Weiden-Wambach and Verlautenheide , on the other hand, no longer exist, but the Türmchenweg there still reminds of them.

Land moats, watchtowers and boundary stones

The borders of the Aachen Empire were secured with the Aachener Landgraben , which consisted of a four meter high main wall and two smaller, approximately 1.20 m high secondary walls, between which a three to four meter deep ditch ran. In addition, the main wall was planted with beeches and oaks, which were matted to form an impenetrable thicket thanks to a properly shaped cut.

The Aachen Empire bordered in the west on the Duchy of Limburg, ruled in personal union by Brabant , and the first Spanish and then Austrian Netherlands , in the north and east on the Duchy of Jülich and the Imperial Abbey of Kornelimünster and in the southeast on the then also independent area of ​​the Imperial Abbey of Burtscheid . The border was marked at regular intervals with so-called eagle stones, on which the Aachen city coat of arms, the eagle, was engraved and some of which can still be seen today.

Since the resolutions laid down in the Aachen Gaffelbrief of 1450 , the Aachen Empire has been ruled by a Grand Council consisting of 124 members, who from the 14th century were elected half of the 15 guilds and the lay jury and were headed by two mayors one of whom belonged to the jury's chair. The jurisdiction was incumbent on the High Royal Jury of Aachen and this was at the same time also the High Court for the localities outside. Its members co-opted from the nobility resident in the city, but were also supported, depending on the legal case, by a Vogt -Meyer provided by the Duke of Jülich , since the duchy, as the temporary patron of the city, also had certain sovereign rights for the Aachen Empire. Under canon law, the Aachen Empire was subordinate to the Diocese of Liège , before an independent Diocese of Aachen existed from 1802 , which was then integrated into the Archdiocese of Cologne in 1825 and finally declared a suffragan diocese of Cologne from 1930 .

With the first invasion of the French in 1792 as part of the First Coalition War and the subsequent occupation of the left bank of the Rhine from 1794, the almost 600-year-long existence of this historic territory ended, but also a year-long phase of political instability, commonly known as Aachen grievances . The municipality was introduced in Aachen and the former imperial city was declared the canton of Aix-la-Chapelle in the new Arrondissement d'Aix-la-Chapelle of the Département de la Roer .

gallery

  • Long tower ( ⊙ )

  • Old Linzenshäuschen guard and signal tower ⊙

  • Watch and reporting tower Beeck ( ⊙ )

  • Adam's house ⊙

  • Orsbach Castle watchtower and signaling tower ( ⊙ )

  • Defense tower "Hirsch" ⊙

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Aachener Reich  - Collection of images, videos and audio files