Rurberg

Rurberg community Simmerath
	Coordinates: 50 ° 36 ′ 51 ″ N , 6 ° 22 ′ 53 ″ E
Height :	334 m
Area :	9.4 km²
Residents :	902 (December 31, 2014)
Population density :	96 inhabitants / km²
Incorporation :	January 1, 1972
Postal code :	52152
Area code :	02473
Location of Rurberg in North Rhine-Westphalia
	Rurberg and Rursee

Rurberg with Rursee and Eiserbachdamm

Rurberg ( until 1955 Ruhrberg ) is part of the municipality of Simmerath and - like Gemünd , Heimbach and Höfen - the Eifel National Park . Due to its favorable location in the network of the Rurtalsperre , the place is a popular recreational destination for people from Aachen (approx. 40 km northwest) and Cologne (approx. 60 km northeast), the Netherlands and Belgium. Rurberg is a tourist center especially for water sports enthusiasts, cyclists and hikers as well as a popular destination for motorcyclists.

geography

Rurberg with the Eiserbachsee outdoor pool and the Obersee dam

Rurberg lies on the southern edge of the Rursee in the network of the Rurtalsperre ; the Paulushof dam separates the Rursee from the two arms of the Obersee , the southern branch of which accumulates the water of the Rur at the end of Einruhr , while the eastern arm on the territory of the national park to the Urfttalsperre with extension to the Urftsee, Urfttal, Ordensburg Vogelsang and to Gemünd . Another dam of the Rursee is the Eiserbach dam ; Here the stream of the same name is dammed up into a small lake used as a bathing and leisure facility , the Eiserbachsee natural swimming pool .

history

The history of the place has not yet been systematically processed by the Eifelverein . As has been documented by archaeological finds, the Rur valley was already inhabited by the Romans in various places north of the town. In particular, the Weidenauel peninsula on the northwest bank between Rurberg and Woffelsbach is a site for Roman ceramics. However, there is a lack of supporting written sources and evidence of settlement continuity.

Place names such as Breuershof and Paulushof go back to medieval cultivation. However, nothing can be traced back to the original systems. The oldest surviving buildings date from the 17th / 18th centuries. Century.

Since the Rur valley was flooded after the dam was built in 1934, part of the population had to be relocated to the hillside and the St. Barbara church had to be rebuilt at a higher point; this explains why there is only a little older building fabric in those higher-lying streets that existed before the flooding in today's Rurberg.

Like the entire Monschauer Land, the Rur Valley also belonged to the Duchy of Jülich at the end of the 18th century . After the entire Left Bank of the Rhine was occupied during the First Coalition War in 1794 , the area belonged to France from 1798 to 1814 . Simmerath and the surrounding area belonged to the canton of Montjoie in the Aachen arrondissement in the Rur department . Due to the agreements reached at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 , the area was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia , and from 1822 until the end of World War II it was part of the Rhine Province .

The beginnings of tourism in Rurberg go back to the time after the first expansion of the Rur dam (1934-1937). The Second World War, which brought heavy fighting around the Urft Barrier Wall in 1944, constituted a slump for tourism. A revitalization took place with the second expansion stage of the Rurtalsperre in the years 1955-1959, when a wide range of hotels, guest houses, apartments, campsites, cafes and restaurants was created. 250 km of hiking and cycling trails were laid out and mapped by the Eifelverein; An excursion boat trip was set up on the lakes.

Until 1955 the place was still written Ruhrberg . The local council at that time decided to adapt the place name to the name of the river and to remove the "h". The state government approved the decision and with a document dated April 15, 1955, the new, today's place name Rurberg came into force.

Through the law of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia on the reorganization of the communities and districts of the reorganization area Aachen (the so-called Aachen law ) of December 14, 1971, the previously independent community came to Simmerath on January 1, 1972 . Six residents were reclassified to Nideggen , Düren district . At the same time, the Monschau district was dissolved.

In 1994, the water from the Rur and Obersee lakes was completely drained for renovation purposes at the dams. Numerous bunkers, bomb craters and other relics from the Second World War came to light. The Eifel National Park was founded on January 1st, 2004.

In 2011, Rurberg was identified as the most unknown place in Germany in a representative survey by the renowned forsa Institute among 3,532 participants. Despite numerous measures to increase awareness throughout Germany as a tourist destination, a survey of the same type in spring 2013 did not result in any improvement for Rurberg.

Culture, sights and tourism

Museums

The permanent exhibition The Lifelines of Nature in the Rurberg National Park Information Center on Seeuferstraße focuses on the regional flora and fauna in and around the water.

Buildings

A farm in the typical Eifel Winkel construction from 17th / 18th centuries. Century and a half-timbered house from the 2nd half of the 19th century form a historical ensemble on the street corner Hövel / Steinbüchelstraße.

Rurberg sailing harbor; opposite the slate rock on the Kermeter ( Eifel National Park )

Above Rurberg, on the border with Kesternich, is the Soviet war cemetery Simmerath-Rurberg , the entrance hall has been awarded the BDA 1993 Aachen Architecture Prize

Bike paths

The lakeside paths (around the Rursee approx. 22 km, around the Obersee approx. 14 km) are passable by bike and easy to walk on.

The long-distance cycle paths lead through the village:

Eifel-Höhen-Route , which leads as a circuit around the Eifel National Park ;
RurUfer cycle path , which connects the highest point of the High Fens with the confluence of the Rur and the Meuse .

Sports

The Rursee offers activity space for anglers, sailors, surfers, swimmers and divers. Different sections of the lake are dedicated to specific sports; Numerous associations and clubs have their demarcated area with accommodation in the partly deeply cut bays of the tributaries as well as on the capes of the peninsulas that reach far into the lake on the north-western shore of the lake between Rurberg, Woffelsbach and the Schwammenauel dam. The south-east side of the lake on the slopes of the Kermeter high forest (national park area) between Paulushofdamm (bikers' meeting point) and the eastern drainage of the Rur is free of infrastructural facilities.

Water sports are prohibited on the Obersee (drinking water reservoir).

Regular events

Every year in July, the villages of Rurberg and Woffelsbach are on fire under the sign of Rursee , an event with tens of thousands of visitors. The absolute highlights are the fireworks over the Rursee.

Many tourist facilities are closed in winter. The Rurberg Christmas market presents local handicraft traditions, and St. Nicholas trips take place on the Rursee. The scheduled passenger boat trip on the Rursee stops in the cold season.

Economy and Infrastructure

traffic

The Rursee shipping ( route and special events) operates between Rurberg, Woffelsbach and the Schwammenauel dam. Since 2005 there has been a connection to the Rursee tourist train, a pathway that enables tours around the Heimbach reservoir. On the Obersee (drinking water reservoir) three passenger ships with electric drives operate from the landing stage near Paulushofdamm to Einruhr and the Urfttalsperre.

Rurberg can be reached via bus line 68 of BVR Busverkehr Rheinland of the Aachener Verkehrsverbund :

line	course
68	(Lammersdorf -) Simmerath Bushof - Strauch - Steckenborn - Woffelsbach - Rurberg (- Einruhr)

literature

Maria Pfeifer u. a .: Eifel National Park . Topic Tours, 1st edition Cologne 2004, Bachem-Verlag

Web links

Commons : Rurberg - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Population figures in the community of Simmerath (main residence). Municipality of Simmerath, December 31, 2014, accessed on January 26, 2016 .
↑ Sometimes with, sometimes without "H": Peculiarities of Eifel place names. In: Aachener Zeitung. Retrieved November 20, 2017 .
^ 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 .

[1] Population figures in the community of Simmerath (main residence). Municipality of Simmerath, December 31, 2014, accessed on January 26, 2016 .

[2] Sometimes with, sometimes without "H": Peculiarities of Eifel place names. In: Aachener Zeitung. Retrieved November 20, 2017 .

[3] 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 .