District of Aachen

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coat of arms Germany map
Coat of arms of the Aachen district
District of Aachen
Map of Germany, position of the Aachen district highlighted

Coordinates: 50 ° 50 ′  N , 6 ° 10 ′  E

Basic data (as of 1971)
Existing period: 1816-1971
State : North Rhine-Westphalia
Administrative region : Aachen
Administrative headquarters : Aachen
Area : 337.14 km 2
Residents: 280,730 (Dec. 31, 1971)
Population density : 833 inhabitants per km 2
License plate : AC
Circle key : 05 4 31
Circle structure: 19 municipalities
District Administrator : Edmund Tersluisen ( CDU )
Aachen district 1971

The district of Aachen (from October 1, 1969, district of Aachen ) was a district in North Rhine-Westphalia that existed from 1816 to 1971 , which was formed in 1816 in the then administrative district of Aachen in the Prussian Rhine province from the French cantons of Burtscheid ( French: Borcette ) and from 1798 to 1814 Eschweiler in the Arrondissement d'Aix-la-Chapelle of the Département de la Roer and parts of the canton Rolduc in the Arrondissement de Maastricht of the Département Meuse-Inférieure . The administrative seat was the city of Burtscheid until it was incorporated into Aachen in 1897, then the independent city of Aachen . The group went on 1 January 1972 as part of the North Rhine-Westphalian government reform along with three municipalities of the circle Monschau in the new district of Aachen , and this went on 21 October 2009 in the newly created authority Aachen region on.

From the initially more than twenty communities, only five remained after January 1, 1972: Alsdorf, Eschweiler, Herzogenrath, Stolberg and Würselen.

geography

Neighboring areas

In 1971, the Aachen district bordered clockwise in the north, starting with the Selfkant district of Geilenkirchen-Heinsberg and the districts of Jülich , Düren and Monschau . In the southwest it bordered the Belgian province of Liège and in the west on the Dutch province of Limburg .

history

prehistory

Stone Age, Celts and Romans

Important prehistoric finds were discovered in the district, for example in the Korkus near Eschweiler-Volkenrath , in Simmerath-Strauch and in Monschau-Kalterherberg . Primitive hand axes and stone tools show that this area of ​​land dates back to the Paleolithic, i.e. more than 500,000 years ago. BC, was inhabited by hunters and fishermen. Later nomadic peoples moved through. First Celts settled here , then the Romans conquered the area shortly before the turn of the century. They exterminated the tribe of the Eburones , who lived between the Maas and Rur , in AD 57 and settled the Germanic tribes of the Segnier and Condruser to the west of the Wurm and the Ubier to the east of the Wurm .

During the 400-year Roman rule , the Aachen area experienced an economic and cultural heyday. In addition, they spread Christianity. Over time, other tribes followed. The withdrawing Roman legions were followed by tribes of Ripuarian and Salian Franks from the Rhine and the Meuse.

Francs

Clovis I (466 to 511), king of the Franks since 482 and founder of the Franconian empire, destroyed the rest of the Roman rule in Gaul (today's France and Belgium ) and crossed the Wurm. Around 500 AD he stood at the gates of Cologne .

Charlemagne (742 to 814), who had been King of the Franks from 768, elevated the then royal court of Aachen to the Palatinate in 769 , that is, to a preferred residence of the court. In addition to the hot springs and the favorable location of Aachen in the middle of his empire, he was also attracted by the large hunting areas in the Eifel and the Ardennes .

Aachen Empire

Over the centuries Aachen and the region around the imperial Palatinate developed from a rural royal estate to a free imperial city and center of the Aachen Empire . The rise was followed by the decline, but also a tough struggle for freedom and independence.

Princes, emperors, kings, dukes and knights feuded incessantly in the past and repeatedly devastated the country. Normans , Staufen and Welfs , Austrians , Spaniards , Lorraine , Hesse , Dutch , Swedes and French , they all passed through or fought here. The citizens and farmers suffered from this. The rural people often had to flee, they lost their belongings or even their lives. Epidemics and famine came on top of that, so that the land, which kept pulling itself up, sank deeper and deeper.

Arrondissement d'Aix-la-Chapelle in the French era

Despite the many wars and inheritance disputes, the territorial relationships established in the 14th century in the " Aachen Empire " remained until the first French revolutionary armies occupied the left bank of the Rhine in 1792. After the temporary occupation of the Aachener Land from December 15, 1792 to March 2, 1793 by the French , permanent possession took place in September 1794. The new rule was to last for twenty years.

Instead of the many secular and ecclesiastical rulers, the administrative districts were restructured according to the French model. The area on the left bank of the Rhine was divided into four departments in 1798, headed by prefects. They were divided into arrondissements headed by sub-prefects , which in turn consisted of cantons . Aachen was also the seat of the Arrondissement d'Aix-la-Chapelle . The Mairien ( German mayor's offices) acted as the lowest administrative unit . The arrondissements corresponded to our administrative districts. Aachen became the capital of the Rur department ( Département de la Roer ) for 42 cantons (in the former district of Aachen: Borcette ( German: Burtscheid ), Eschweiler and Montjoie ( German: Monschau )) and 331 Mairien, i.e. also for the whole country around Aachen and Monschau. Exceptions were parts of Herzogenrath , Alsdorf , Merkstein and Rimburg , which were assigned to the Meuse-Inférieure department.

The administration in the new districts was strictly centralized. The Battle of the Nations near Leipzig in October 1813 ended French rule in Germany . On January 17, 1814, the prefect left the old imperial city. Allied troops entered Aachen that same evening. Although the "Département" remained in place at first, a central government commission now took over the administration.

Prussian district since 1816

At the Congress of Vienna (1815), the fundamental reorganization of the state after the defeat of Napoleon was decided. Thanks to its participation in the wars of freedom, Prussia was awarded the Aachen area by the Vienna treaty, among other areas. In November 1815, the Rhineland was divided into two provinces ( Province of the Grand Duchy of Lower Rhine and Province of Jülich-Kleve-Berg ), each with three administrative districts. One of them was the administrative district of Aachen in the province of Grand Duchy of Lower Rhine. In accordance with the Prussian administrative structure, so-called circles were also formed, the borders of which were largely predetermined by the French cantons. The size of these new state administrative districts was determined according to whether the citizen could do his business in one day without staying overnight at the district administration. With a travel time of about one hour, the conditions at the beginning of the 19th century resulted in a speed - on foot or by horse and carriage - of 5 kilometers per hour. In 1816, Prussia made up the district of Aachen from the former French canton Burtscheid , the former French canton Eschweiler and parts of the canton Rolduc . The district was initially divided into 21 mayor's offices, including Alsdorf (today the city of Alsdorf ), Burtscheid (today Aachen- Burtscheid ), Eschweiler (today the city of Eschweiler ), Herzogenrath (today the city of Herzogenrath ), Stolberg (today the city of Stolberg ) and Würselen (today the city Würselen ).

According to the provisions of § 34, the highest cabinet order of Friedrich Wilhelm III was at the head of the new administrative facility . a "Landrath". The birth certificate of the district of Aachen is the order of the royal Prussian government in Aachen , which was published in the official gazette No. 1 of April 27, 1816. On May 1, 1816, District Administrator Karl Rudolf von Strauch assumed his important office for the Aachen district. The Aachen district was allocated 6.16 square miles of space for 43,349 souls. In 1822 the province of the Grand Duchy of Lower Rhine was united with the province of Jülich-Kleve-Berg to form the Prussian Rhine Province by means of a cabinet order.

In the 19th century the district in the Inderevier and the Wurmrevier experienced a huge industrial boom. Families such as Wältgens-Englerth , Schleicher , Prym , Peltzer , Pastor , Neuman and Hoesch were in charge .

With the introduction of the municipal code for the Rhine Province in 1845, the mayor's office of Eschweiler was subdivided into the city of Eschweiler and the municipality of Kinzweiler . The Forst mayorry comprised the communities of Eilendorf and Forst . All other mayor's offices each formed a single municipality.

In 1856, Burtscheid and Stolberg received the Rhenish Town Code . The mayor's office in Rimburg was incorporated into the mayor's office in Merkstein in 1857, which has since included the two communities of Merkstein and Rimburg . After Eschweiler also received the Rhenish Town Code in 1858, the municipality of Kinzweiler was raised to its own mayor's office. The municipality of Eilendorf was separated from the mayor's office of Forst in 1886 and raised to its own mayor's office.

Ausgemeindungen 1897 and 1906

The town of Burtscheid was the district town until 1897, when Burtscheid was incorporated into the non-district town of Aachen. Since then, Aachen has been a district town without being a district municipality. The district house is still located today on the area of ​​the former town of Burtscheid. The municipality of Forst was also incorporated into the city of Aachen on April 1, 1906. The district of Aachen suffered considerable land losses through the separation of Burtscheid and Forst; because 2000 hectares went to the city of Aachen.

22 municipalities from 1906

Boroughs
Rural communities

Further incorporations

The municipality of Rimburg was incorporated into Merkstein in 1927. In 1932 came from the Office of Nothberg Düren communities Nothberg and Hastenrath together with their villages Bohl , Volkenrath and Scherpenseel the city Eschweiler. Broich and Weiden were united to form Broichweiden in 1934 , and in 1935 the town of Stolberg (Rhld.) Grew significantly: Büsbach was incorporated and several districts were added by Eschweiler, including Donnerberg and Stolberg's main train station .

The 19 municipalities from 1935

Cities
Other communities

District after World War II

The district of Aachen belonged to the administrative district of Aachen in the Prussian Rhine province until 1945 and after the Second World War from 1946 to the remaining administrative district of Aachen in the, from the northern part of the Rhine province and the province of Westphalia by ordinance no. 46 of August 23, 1946 regarding the dissolution of the provinces of the former state of Prussia in the British zone and their new formation as independent states of the British military government , newly formed state of North Rhine-Westphalia .

Alsdorf received city rights in 1950.

Since 1 October 1969 all the North Rhine-Westphalian counties were named in each county, including who was the district Aachen in Aachen district renamed.

The 19 municipalities until 1971

The Aachen district in 1971

From 1937 to 1971 there were 19 cities and municipalities in the district or district. The statistical status on December 31, 1971 was: 337.14 square kilometers and 280,730 inhabitants.

The district was dissolved by the Aachen law on January 1, 1972. At the same time, a comprehensive reform of the community was carried out. With the exception of the town of Rimburg, which became part of the Heinsberg district , the old district area merged into the new Aachen district . The following table shows the current affiliation of the municipalities of the old Aachen district:

former parish today's parish until 2009 too Pop. December 31, 1969
Alsdorf Alsdorf Aachen district -
Bardenberg Würselen , Herzogenrath Aachen district -
fire Aachen City Aachen -
Broich willows Würselen Aachen district -
Eilendorf Aachen City Aachen -
Eschweiler Eschweiler Aachen district 39,622
Gressenich Stolberg Aachen district 9.222
Hair Aachen City Aachen -
Herzogenrath Herzogenrath Aachen district -
Hoengen Alsdorf Aachen district -
Kinzweiler Eschweiler Aachen district 2,942
Kohlscheid Herzogenrath Aachen district -
Kornelimünster Aachen , Stolberg City Aachen -
Laurensberg Aachen City Aachen -
Merkstein Herzogenrath
Übach-Palenberg 		District of Aachen
District of Heinsberg 		-
Richterich Aachen City Aachen -
Stolberg Stolberg Aachen district 39,489
Walheim Aachen City Aachen -
Würselen Würselen Aachen district -

Population development

year Residents
1816 43,349
1825 49,219
1852 64.992
1871 92,250
1880 102,754
1890 122,136
1900 127.198
1910 149,744
1925 171,449
1939 195.251
1950 221,957
1960 258,300
1971 280.730

History of the railway in the Aachen district

Due to the increasing individual traffic and the end of mining in the Aachen hard coal mining area , numerous secondary routes were shut down and dismantled due to insufficient profitability. These are the following routes:

Eschweiler Hbf

The railway history of Eschweiler began in the 1840s with the opening of the Eschweiler main station in the Röthgen district . Originally the route and the main station were planned on today's Jülicher Strasse between Eschweiler and Dürwiß ; it was used in the 1930s to build federal motorway 4 . Three routes run through Eschweiler: the main route Cologne-Aachen with Nothberg , Eschweiler Hbf and until 1935 Stolberg Hbf , the Mönchengladbach – Stolberg railway with Eschweiler-Weisweiler , Eschweiler-Nothberg , Eschweiler Tal (today: Eschweiler-Talbahnhof / Raiffeisenplatz ), Eschweiler- West , Eschweiler-Röhe (closed) and Eschweiler-Aue and the Ringbahn with Eschweiler-St. Jöris .

Railway development in the 19th century in Stolberg
Stolberg depot

The railway history of Stolberg is closely linked to the expansion of the Stolberg industry, where Kuperhöfe and other large companies pushed the construction of railway stations and track systems. Near the Stolberg main station a railroad was to 1976 operational factory entertained. Other stations were the Stolberg-Atsch station and the Velau station .

politics

District administrators from 1816 to 1971

Upper District Directors

  • 1946–1947: Christian Wilhelm Berling
  • 1947–1953: Rudolf Deku
  • 1954–1958: Felix Seulen (1900–1958)
  • 1959–1971: Otto Korn

Results of the district elections from 1946 to 1969

The list only shows parties and constituencies that received at least two percent of the votes in the respective election.

Share of votes of the parties in percent

year CDU SPD FDP DZP KPD
1946 59.6 30.4 9.4
1948 45.6 40.1 4.1 10.02
11952 1 42.1 36.7 7.6 4.1 5.1
1956 43.9 44.3 7.6 2.8
1961 51.4 40.8 7.8
1964 48.2 45.4 6.4
1969 49.7 45.6 4.7

Footnote 1 1952: additionally: BHE: 2.12%, DP: 2.06%

coat of arms

For the coat of arms see here .

  • Swan in antlers in the Burtscheider coat of arms

  • Jülich lion in the Eschweiler coat of arms

  • District coat of arms

License Plate

On July 1, 1956, the district was assigned the distinctive sign AC when the license plates that were still valid today were introduced . It is still issued in the Aachen city region to this day.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Federal Statistical Office (ed.): Historical municipality directory for the Federal Republic of Germany. Name, border and key number changes in municipalities, counties and administrative districts from May 27, 1970 to December 31, 1982 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart / Mainz 1983, ISBN 3-17-003263-1 , p. 309 .
  2. ↑ Administrative association and regional authority for the Aachen region ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.staedteregion-aachen.de
  3. ↑ a b Statistics of the administrative district of Aachen 1827, p. 108
  4. ↑ a b Statistics of the district of Aachen 1852, p. 38
  5. ↑ a b GenWiki: Rimburg
  6. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Administrative affiliation Übach-Palenberg on: archive.nrw.de (19 Aug 2010)@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.archive.nrw.de
  7. ^ Community encyclopedia for the Kingdom of Prussia 1885, p. 212 ff.
  8. ↑ aachen.de: Historical overview Eilendorf
  9. ↑ eschweiler.de: Eschweiler - historical development
  10. ↑ Ordinance No. 46: Dissolution of the provinces of the former Land of Prussia in the British Zone and their new formation as independent states
  11. ↑ Announcement of the new version of the district regulations for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia from August 11, 1969 in the Law and Ordinance Gazette for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, year 1969, No. 2021, p. 670 ff.
  12. ^ Contributions to the statistics of the Königl. Prussian Rhineland. 1829, p. 22 , accessed November 11, 2014 .
  13. ↑ a b Community encyclopedia for the Kingdom of Prussia 1885, p. 248
  14. ↑ a b c d e f g Michael Rademacher: German administrative history from the unification of the empire in 1871 to the reunification in 1990. aachen.html. (Online material for the dissertation, Osnabrück 2006).
  15. ↑ Statistical Yearbook for the Federal Republic of Germany 1973
  16. ↑ Source: respective issue of the State Statistical Office (LDS NRW), Mauerstr. 51, Düsseldorf, with the election results at the district level.

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