Bonn-Aachener Heerstrasse
The Bonn-Aachener Heerstraße was a medieval trade and military road that followed the course of old Roman side streets for long stretches . It continued to gain importance when it was used as a section of a so-called coronation path. Later the route remained a travel and mail route, which was frequented as such until the 19th century.
history
Medieval roads, which were cited as military roads, military routes, royal roads, public country roads or trade routes in German history, were military roads and at the same time long-distance connections between large, mostly fortified cities. They were not developed paved roads, but simple paths according to today's standards, which differed from the others only by their width. They usually ran in a straight line, creating the shortest possible distance. Along these streets there were often castles , hostels and stations for the care of the horses , so that there was a minimum of safety on the long stretches. These considerations also prompted the merchants to bring their goods safely to their destination via these routes. The increasing density of the road network in the later modern era and the emergence of rail traffic meant that the last beneficiary of these long-distance routes, horse mail with its established stations, was also abolished.
Course of the Heerstrasse along early settlements
The Heerstraße Bonn - Aachen ran from Bonn via the previously mentioned places Dransdorf (1139) and Bornheim (945), where it is still called Königsstraße in the latter, along the Villehang , branched off at Brühl (1180) from Bonnstraße (the today's Römerstraße), which continues to Hermülheim and Cologne , and led uphill to Gabjei, where the Brühler water tower stands today, then over the Villerücken, through Spurk (later desertification ) to Liblar (1155). It met there on Cologne - Zülpicher Strasse, the former Roman road Cologne - Trier . Combined with this, it crossed the military route Bonn - Aachen, which was heavily used as a trade route from Liblar and ran via Bornheim, Hemmerich (1163), Swisterberg (1310), Buschfeld (1276), Brüggen (1293) and Blatzheim (1057).
About 1200 m after the Erftübergang at the Frauenthal monastery (beginning of the 13th century) it branched off from Cologne-Zülpicher Strasse just before the Römerhof and now led through a Busch-Heidegebiet, which was called "Eilau", to Lechenich . It is noteworthy that the town plan of Lechenich is oriented towards this street that is just passing through the town. From there on via Herrig (1155) Pingsheim (around 1020) to Nörvenich (mentioned around the first millennium). Here she crossed the Neffelbach and on the other side of the slope the old Roman road Neuss ( Novaesium ) - Zülpich (today federal road 477 ). It continues in the same alignment via Eschweiler via Feld (1003), Girbelsrath and Merzenich (1225) to the Rur crossing Birkesdorf (1126) / Mariaweiler (973) near Düren . There it leads past today's LVR clinic Düren as Heerweg ; from here on the edge of the High Fens via Eschweiler (828) to Aachen .
It remains to be seen, however, whether in the Middle Ages the road after crossing the Ville led straight down past Buschfeld to the Erftübergang and on to Lechenich or whether the route handed down in the "Liblarer Weistum " in 1571 was taken. According to these records, the route ran as follows: “The common road leads from the village from the customs house along the canal , then through Spurk to the Hasenbroich. The path is so wide that one train car can drive there and avoid another. The neighbors also point out those who start at the Hasenbroich and lead through the bush to Brühl as a common path ”.
Heerstraße as Königsstraße
The elections of the respective German kings took place in different places, according to the Golden Bull issued by Charles IV in 1356 always in Frankfurt am Main , for the coronation ceremony the elected traveled to Aachen.
To do this, they chose different travel routes over the centuries. Accordingly, several variants have been shown in historical research and considered as a possibility. One of these variants, which led from Frankfurt to the coronation in Aachen, was the one on the Heerstraße from Sinzig to Aachen, but the more likely one led via Bonn. The kings probably covered the distance from their place of choice to Bonn by ship in order to ride overland from there, as was documented for 1442.
In 1314 King Frederick the Fair traveled to Bonn after his election in Frankfurt. The onward journey to Aachen was ended prematurely in Lechenich because the opposing king Ludwig the Bavarian was crowned in Aachen . Archbishop Heinrich II carried out the coronation of Frederick in Bonn. King Ludwig used a large section of the Heerstrasse when, after his coronation in Aachen, he moved with his army through the area of Archbishop Heinrich von Virneburg to Cologne. One of his documents is issued in Merzenich in 1314. After his election in Rhens, Charles IV traveled by ship to Bonn in 1346 and was crowned there by Archbishop Walram von Jülich . Even after his second election in Frankfurt and the subsequent coronation in Aachen in 1349, he chose the route via Bonn. He also moved from Bonn to Aachen for the coronation of his son Wenzel . King Sigismund took this route in 1414, as did King Friedrich III. in 1442.
After the coronations no longer took place in Aachen, in 1531 Ferdinand I was the last to be crowned in Aachen, the Bonn - Aachen road lost its function as a royal road and thus lost its importance.
Names of the street
The first traditional names of the street were in Bornheim Königsstraße (1272 conningxstroß), in Lechenich “Bonner Straße” (1357 bunre straß), and in Liblar “Brühler Straße” (1401 broelre straisse). Outside the places in the Eilau between Lechenich and the Erft, it was called the “Königspfad” (1587 kuningspath) and from Liblar through the Ville it was also called “Königspfad” (1670 Königsbath).
Pilgrimage route in the Lechenich - Aachen sub-area
In the Middle Ages, the road from Lechenich to Aachen was a pilgrimage route used by numerous believers. The occasion was especially the seven-annual Aachen Pilgrimage , where many believers participated, which were referred to as "Hungary pilgrims" and the first to the veneration of relics to Cologne Cathedral sought out and other places of worship in Cologne, and then on the Cologne Zülpicher Straße to move up to the Erft and after the Erftübergang over the Bonn-Aachener Straße to Lechenich and take quarters there. After an overnight stay, they continued their way to Aachen.
Change to the Bonn - Aachen highway
As a historical road that ran through the territories of the Jülich and Kurkölner area, the former Königsstrasse was primarily a trade route on which the Cologne electors with their entourage and other personalities from Bonn via Brühl, Liblar, Lechenich, Birkesdorf , Eschweiler to Aachen or traveled to Liège . The sovereigns , the Cologne archbishops and electors, as well as the counts and later dukes of Jülich , with the regalia assigned to them by the king, also assumed the obligation to ensure the protection of travelers on this road, insofar as they were on their territory , and also for to ensure the maintenance of their road section. They were able to collect customs duties on their territory , which they usually collected at the border posts or city gates. Armed riders, so-called official riflemen since the 17th century, protected travelers on the territory of the Electorate of Cologne.
Area of the Ville
In the area of the route from Lechenich to Brühl, the name "Brölische Strasse called Königspatt", which was common until the end of the 18th century, reminded of its former use and, by its width, which differentiated it from other routes, emphasized its former status as Königsstrasse.
In the further course of time, the unpaved road was hardly used by vehicles in the area of the Ville , as the “King's Path” had become more and more of a “stalemate”, a footpath “through the bush”. An order from the Electors obliged the residents of the offices of Brühl and Lechenich to maintain this section of the street. At that time, vehicles used the routes over the Cologne street (today's Luxemburger Straße ) to Hermülheim and from there to Brühl or Bonn. The Cologne electors also preferred the Bonn-Brühl-Hermühlheim-Liblar-Lechenich route for their travels. As an alternative, the route from Lechenich via Bliesheim to Swisterberg was also available for travelers to Bonn.
It was not until 1770–1772, by order of the Cologne Elector Maximilian Friedrich, that the dilapidated section of the former Königsstrasse between Brühl and Lechenich was thoroughly repaired to enable vehicle traffic again and to expand it as a post road from Bonn to Aachen.
Use as a post
The efforts of the representatives of the interests of the Imperial Post Office operated by the Thurn und Taxis in 1786 to obtain a concession for the post office route Bonn-Düren-Aachen from the electoral court chamber in Bonn were unsuccessful, since Elector Karl Theodor von der Pfalz had already been Düren citizen Johann Jakob Siegers had granted a concession as post holder for the section from Düren to Aachen. In 1791, however, an agreement was reached that provided for the entire route to be divided into two licensed areas. The post holder from the Electorate of Cologne, Peter Joseph Pauli the Younger, who operated the post route from Cologne to Bonn via Brühl, took over the part of the route from Bonn to Düren, after which Siegers drove on the previous post route from Düren to Aachen.
Since 1791, a mail wagon has run twice a week from Bonn to Aachen via Brühl, Liblar and Lechenich with a horse changing station in Liblar set up by Pauli. The second station was in Düren, for which Johann Jakob Siegers was responsible. The following day the course was repeated in reverse.
After the French revolutionary troops marched in in 1794, the post offices in Cologne took over the postal service as before. The postmen commissioned by the French administration received security passes and the words “Postwagen der French Republik ” on the doors of the post coaches , with a red Phrygian cap painted on them as a logo .
In the 1795 furnished main post routes frequented a state driving post , since March 1798 by private entrepreneurs competitive could be operated. As a freelance contractor, Siegers received the concession for the Aachen-Düren route and then for the Düren-Bonn route.
Repairs in Napoleonic times
During the Napoleonic era , numerous bridges and country roads were repaired, including in 1807 the road from Aachen to Bonn via Düren and Brühl (Route de 3me Classe de Aix la Chapelle à Bonn par Duren et Bruhl), its course via Nörvenich, Lechenich, Liblar and Brühl is specified. At that time, the section between Liblar and Brühl with the descent from Brühler Berg and the section (partie entre Lechenich et Liblar) from the Erftbrücke to Lechenich were repaired.
New road construction in Prussian times
The provincial road from Liblar to Brühl, the Brühler Chaussee , built in 1831 , replaced the old country road and the expansion of the Luxemburger Straße in 1854 replaced the section of the old country road with the Eilau from the Erftbrücke to Lechenich.
Todays situation
Change through industrialization
Due to the onset of industrialization , primarily due to the lignite mining in the region, the road from Liblar to Brühl was destroyed in the area of the Ville and ends today as a short spur road in front of the Liblarer See . The same thing happened on the Brühler side with Liblarer Straße, which ends today at the height of the local water tower . The B265n bypass road, completed in 2001, brought the places on the former Heerstraße to a peripheral location. Existing sections of the route became inner-city streets, bicycle paths or field lanes and are no longer recognizable as the formerly important Königsstraße and are largely unknown.
Attempt to reconstruct the Heerstrasse
Franz Schorn, who made the forgotten medieval military road Bonn - Aachen famous again in 1960, based his reconstruction on the investigations of former Roman roads carried out by geodesist Carl Hauptmann in 1912. One of the streets described by Hauptmann ran from Bonn via Roisdorf , Bornheim, Waldorf , Hemmerich to Weilerswist.
After Schorn, the Königsstraße followed the former Roman road over the Swister Berg, then went via Bliesheim to Lechenich and from there over the Dorweiler-Kelz route to Aachen. He took the route between Bliesheim and Lechenich from a land map of the St. Mariengraden Abbey in Cologne from around 1700 with a connection between Lechenich and Bliesheim marked as "Bönnische Straße".
The direct road connection between Lechenich via Liblar through the Ville to Brühl was not taken into account.
Kaiser route cycle path
From 1994 to 2014 there was a signposted cycle path , the Kaiser Route , which, based on the itinerary of Charlemagne, followed his route from Aachen to Paderborn .
The route ran with concessions to the current traffic situation from Aachen to Düren and Lechenich via the former Königsstraße. On the Erft, she then followed a developed cycle path that runs roughly parallel to the old Bonn- Neuss military road along the Erft to Bergheim , and from there via Bedburg to Paderborn .
literature
- Ferdinand Dohr: The postal system on the left Lower Rhine 1550 - 1900 . Viersen 1972.
- Franz Schorn: The old Heerstrasse . Euskirchen home calendar 1960.
- Norbert Zerlett: City of Bornheim in the foothills . Rheinische Kunststätten issue 243. Neuss 1981. ISBN 3-88094-349-4
Individual evidence
- ↑ Adelsarchiv Schloss Ehreshoven Holdings Archiv Gracht Akten 552
- ^ Wilhelm Kisky : The Regesta of the Archbishops of Cologne in the Middle Ages , Volume IV. Bonn 1915. No. 869, 874, 877, 878, 883, 884, 889
- ^ Wilhelm Janssen , The Regests of the Archbishops of Cologne in the Middle Ages. Volume V. Bonn 1973. Nos. 1340 and 1374
- ^ Manfred van Rey : The medieval Bonn . In: Bodo Hardenberg (Ed.): Chronicle of the City of Bonn . Chronicle Publishing House. Dortmund 1988. page 29
- ^ Norbert Zerlett: City of Bornheim in the foothills , page 3
- ^ Jörg Konrad Hoensch (ed.): Itinerar Emperor and King Sigismunds of Luxembourg 1368-1437 . Warendorf 1995
- ^ Wilhelm Brüning: The Aachen coronation trip of Friedrich III. in 1442 , messages from the association for customers of the Aachen prehistoric times No. 6/8, pages 81-104. Aachen 1898
- ^ Norbert Zerlett, City of Bornheim im Vorgebirge, page 3
- ↑ Stommel: Sources I No. 320
- ↑ Stommel: Sources I No. 786
- ^ Landesarchiv NRW, Duisburg location, Marienforst file 15f
- ^ Archives Schloss Gracht files 552
- ↑ Historical Archive of the City of Cologne ( HAStK ) holdings of St. Apostles' Certificate No. 3/211
- ^ Landesarchiv NRW, Duisburg, stock Kurköln IV 3486 ff., Published in Stommel, Sources Volume IV and Volume V No. 2363, 2474, 2498
- ↑ HSTAD Kurköln Fief Generalia 9 II sheets 14-16 and Kurköln Certificate No. 1790
- ↑ Archive Schloss Gracht files 20
- ^ Archives Schloss Gracht files 58 and 84
- ^ Archive Schloss Gracht files no.58
- ↑ Archive Schloss Gracht files No. 870.6 and 870.11, published in Stommel Quellen Volume V No. 2954
- ^ Archive Schloss Gracht files 11 and 84, published in Stommel, sources Volume V No. 2950
- ^ Ferdinand Dohr: The postal system on the left Lower Rhine 1550-1900, Viersen 1972. Pages 48-54
- ↑ HSTAD Roerdepartement Bridge and Road Construction 2003-2404 and 4107-4108
- ^ Franz Schorn: Die alte Heerstrasse , Euskirchener Heimatkalender 1960, pages 30–33
- ^ Carl Hauptmann: The preservation of the Roman roads , Bonn 1912
- ↑ HAStK inventory 7240 No. 1/23, published in Peter Simons: Bliesheim , page 36