Pre-Eifel
The Voreifel is a settlement area in southern North Rhine-Westphalia at the foot of the northern Eifel , which, in contrast to this, lies entirely in the flatlands. Essentially, the localities of the Voreifel are located approx. 15–40 km southwest of the Cologne metropolitan area in an approx. 50–55 km long and approx. 5–10 km wide area band, which extends roughly from the west of individual localities of the city Düren over Zülpich , Euskirchen and Rheinbach to the east to individual localities of the municipality Grafschaft in Rhineland-Palatinate . In terms of its natural surroundings, this stretch of land lies on the border between the Eastern Eifel , to which the Mechernich Voreifel belongs, and the Lower Rhine Bay , to which the Zülpich Börde belongs.
term
The abbreviation Voreifel stands for the expression "in front of the Eifel".
The Voreifel describes a part of the northern region at the foot of the Eifel, not the entire neighboring region north of the Eifel. Exceptions are, for example, the areas bordering the Eifel to the north in the Aachen city region .
In the course of time, the term “Voreifel” initially only emerged in local language. However, since it only includes very specific and not all localities bordering north of the Eifel, it is (so far) not an official geographical name, such as B. "Eifel". The term was also adopted for the regional train " Voreifelbahn " leading from Bonn to Euskirchen .
Many institutions in this area use the term Voreifel, such as Rhein-Voreifeltouristik in Wachtberg , the Raiffeisenbank Rheinbach Voreifel in Swisttal , the VorEifel energy cooperative in Weilerswist , the Voreifel sports community in 1995 in Ginnick and the surrounding area, the Voreifel Lions Club in Erftstadt (and Zülpich ), Voreifel.tv for the western Rhein-Sieg district , Euskirchen and Bad Münstereifel and many others.
Differences and demarcation from the neighboring Eifel region
The term "Voreifel" is intended in particular to delimit the still sparsely forested and therefore heavily agricultural or commercial flat areas from the hilly, mountainous, mostly heavily wooded and structurally weak areas of the Eifel that are directly adjacent to the Voreifel. Possibly the term is an outgrowth of the desire for an own identity of the inhabitants of the Voreifel, who therefore apparently do not feel part of the Eifel.
In addition, the localities of the Voreifel differ significantly in several respects compared to the neighboring areas of the Eifel. In the Voreifel there are still noticeably higher numbers of inhabitants and, associated with this, relatively larger towns. Furthermore, the area in the Voreifel is much more densely populated than in the neighboring Eifel, which is due to the relative proximity to the major cities of Cologne and Bonn. As a result of this proximity, the Voreifel is culturally and economically more strongly influenced by the two large cities than the villages in the neighboring Eifel. In contrast to the structurally weaker Eifel, the Voreifel can be reached more easily via the motorways 1 and 61 , as well as the Voreifelbahn to Bonn , which ends in Euskirchen, and another regional train to Cologne. Furthermore, there are larger industrial areas and numerous commercial enterprises in the Voreifel, which ensure a wide range of job opportunities and higher incomes.
geography
Geographically, the Voreifel forms the southeastern branch of the Zülpicher Börde and is largely congruent with the so-called Rheinbacher Lössplatte on the plateau between the Ahr and the Rhine . The overall landscape is determined by the wide valley of the Swist and the Erft . To the east it is framed by Kottenforst and Ville , to the south by the Eifel foot with the Rheinbacher Wald and the Ahr Mountains . To the south-east, it merges into the Drachenfelser Ländchen , which is naturally already part of the Lower Middle Rhine region . To the northwest, the transition to the wide plains of the Bördeland landscape is fluid, but can be roughly delimited by the course of the Erft.
Due to the ascent of the foothills with heights between approx. 130 m and 200 m, the areas of the Voreifel are already significantly higher than the eastern Rhine valley with approx. 50 m . The Voreifel rises only after the towns of Rheinbach and Euskirchen towards the south with heights of well over 250 m in the mountains of the Eifel.
From a broader perspective, the Voreifel forms the southern end of the North German lowlands in western Germany.
cities and communes
The cities and communities listed below in the table belong to the Voreifel. Due to the lack of a more precise geographical delimitation, it should be noted that not all of the localities belonging to a city or municipality are always located in the Voreifel area. It can therefore be the case that a town or municipality as a whole or with certain districts or localities also has affiliations to other areas.
| City / municipality | circle | location | Restriction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alfter | Rhein-Sieg district | east | only southern towns |
| Düren | District of Düren | west | only south-western towns |
| Erftstadt | Rhein-Erft district | center | only southern towns |
| Euskirchen | District of Euskirchen | center | |
| county | Ahrweiler district | east | northern towns only |
| Kreuzau | District of Düren | west | northern towns only |
| Meckenheim | Rhein-Sieg district | east | |
| Nideggen | District of Düren | west | northern towns only |
| Rheinbach | Rhein-Sieg district | east | |
| Swisttal | Rhein-Sieg district | east | |
| Vettweiß | District of Düren | west | only southern towns |
| Wachtberg | Rhein-Sieg district | east | western towns only |
| Weilerswist | District of Euskirchen | center | |
| Zülpich | District of Euskirchen | center |
Population structure and sub-regions
The Voreifel region is characterized by a very different settlement structure and population density.
The eastern part around Rheinbach and Meckenheim is more densely populated with larger and generally more developed localities due to its direct proximity and good transport links to the city of Bonn.
Euskirchen, the largest city in the middle of the area, as a former site of the cloth making industry and today's district town of the Euskirchen district, has the highest population of all cities and municipalities in the Voreifel.
The further course of the Voreifel to the west in the direction of Zülpich to Düren shows a clear population and a noticeable structural gradient. The areas here are overall less densely populated and structurally less developed than the eastern areas.
Due to their location and traffic routes, the respective sub-regions of the Voreifel also have different connections or orientations to the major cities in their vicinity. While z. B. the east with Rheinbach and Meckenheim is more oriented towards Bonn, the center around Euskirchen is more strongly oriented towards Cologne. In the western areas around Zülpich to Düren, there are ties to the city of Cologne and Bonn as well as stronger links to the city of Aachen .
Climate and Weather
The climate of the Voreifel differs from that of the surrounding area due to the somewhat lower rainfall. The reason for this is the leeward location to the Eifel, especially with winds from west and south. In northern weather conditions, however, the congestion in front of the heights of the Eifel can also lead to the opposite phenomenon and persistent heavy rain. The Swist in particular is then feared for strong floods.
The annual mean temperatures are around 9 ° C to 10 ° C. The average temperatures are thus higher than in the low mountain range of the Eifel, but are still far below those in the mesoclimate of the Rhine Valley. A significant temperature jump and a change in the weather can often be observed at the transition from the Eifel to the Voreifel or from the Voreifel to the Rhine Valley.
history
The area of the Voreifel has always been characterized by agriculture. Already in Roman times there were many farms, various settlements and military camps along the Eifel aqueduct to Cologne. In the Middle Ages the region was crossed by the coronation road Frankfurt am Main - Aachen, which was laid out in the Carolingian era . At that time, numerous castles were built in the Voreifel area and later rebuilt or expanded. Many of them have been preserved and can still be visited today, for example along the moated castle route . In the 18th century, the Archbishops and Electors of Cologne, Clemens-August and Maximilian, worked as far as the Voreifel region. Many buildings in the Baroque style and various conversions from castles to palaces fall into this period, for example Miel Castle . From the 19th century to the early 20th century, the Voreifel was then influenced by industrialization in the area, especially the Euskirchen cloth industry and the development of the Rhenish lignite mining area on the Ville .
After the Second World War, the short distance to Bonn, the seat of government at the time, was decisive; the Voreifel developed into a popular residential area for employees of the various authorities. From the 1960s onwards, the influence of the swamping measures on the lignite opencast mines of Frechen and Hambach, some 50 km to the north, became clear: large parts of the Voreifel lie on the so-called Erftscholle . In this the uppermost groundwater levels were emptied; as a result, numerous bodies of water and wetlands fell dry. In addition, there are increased movements along geological fault zones with an impact on buildings and infrastructure.
From around the 1970s, nature and landscape were found to be of ever greater value; numerous protected areas were created. The recreational function of the region was emphasized and used more and more. Along with Ville and Kottenforst, the Voreifel is an integral part of the Rhineland Nature Park . In 2004 some of the municipalities founded the Integrated Rural Development Concept (ILEK) Voreifel . It aims to coordinate the future development of the region.
economy
Commercial and industrial
Larger industrial and commercial areas are particularly located in the urban areas of Euskirchen, Rheinbach and Meckenheim.
The EURO-Park and the IPAS business park are located in Euskirchen . In the IPAS there are particularly large areas that are suitable for the construction of industrial plants and large plants. In the past, there have already been applications and inquiries from car manufacturers such as BMW , Toyota and Smart . So far, there has been no settlement of the size mentioned beyond a factory of the manufacturer Procter & Gamble that has been in existence for decades . A Pfeifer & Langen sugar factory is located in Euskirchen , where the relatively large quantities of regional sugar beet production are processed into sugar on site.
Another larger industrial area can be found in the direct periphery around the city of Rheinbach. A special feature here is the so-called start-up and technology center Rheinbach (GTZ) , which offers space and support for young companies.
The Kottenforst industrial park in Meckenheim is also a larger industrial and commercial area in the Voreifel with numerous companies, which particularly benefits from the very short distance to Bonn and its own stop for the Vorgebirgsbahn to and from Bonn.
As a result of the close proximity to the metropolitan areas, there is a strong integration with and orientation towards the neighboring economic areas of the Rhine Valley with the cities of Cologne and Bonn.
Agriculture
The areas of the Voreifel have been used intensively for agriculture for centuries because of the fertile soil and the favorable climate. The region is divided into two parts in terms of agricultural management. While in the eastern areas around Rheinbach and Meckenheim fruit growing with special crops such as apples and strawberries is more dominant, in the west there is more traditional agriculture with the cultivation of cereals such as wheat, rye and barley. In the east there are therefore the largest orchards in the area around Meckenheim. In the west, due to the very fertile loess soil, especially in the Zülpicher Börde near Zülpich and near Düren, sugar beet cultivation is widespread.
education and Science
In Rheinbach, due to its close proximity to Bonn, after the Federal Government moved from Bonn to Berlin in 1999 as part of the so-called Bonn-Berlin Compensation, the Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences , renamed the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences in 2009 , as a structural compensation measure for no jobs created in the region. Another location of the university is in Sankt Augustin , also in direct proximity to Bonn. The study opportunities offered stem mainly from the fields of business and technology.
The Klein-Altendorf campus is located in Klein-Altendorf , a part of Rheinbach , and is an agricultural experimental farm run by the agricultural faculty at the University of Bonn to research the usability of the soil for agriculture. There, the various gravel and gravel deposits located under the upper loess layer of the soil are extracted and examined in several pits in the opencast mine. In addition, basic research takes place there in the fields of plant sciences, horticultural sciences and renewable raw materials.
The Euskirchen Vocational Training Center (BZE) is located in Euskirchen. A cooperation with the Aachen University of Applied Sciences was established there in the field of wood engineering .
traffic
The Voreifel is mainly developed in road traffic by the Autobahn 1 and Autobahn 61 , as well as in rail traffic by the Voreifelbahn to Bonn and the regional train to Cologne. At the same time, the two autobahns form almost the rough western and eastern edge of the Voreifel area. There are no waterways or shipping routes.
Tourism and culture
Regional tourism and larger leisure activities
The term “Voreifel” has also made a lasting impression in the tourism sector. For some time now it has served as the institution of Rhein-Eifel-Touristik for the independent tourist marketing of the region.
In 2014 , the horticultural show of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia took place for the first time in a place in the Voreifel, in the city of Zülpich . The Landesgartenschaupark is to be used beyond 2014 and is thus to be permanently developed into the Landesgartenschaupark Zülpich . In addition to the parks, a national model garden exhibition is also to be established as an attraction.
In 2015, a large leisure pool with hotel was opened in Euskirchen, which, due to its special features and size, is aimed at regional tourism and thus also at visitors from the nearby cities of Cologne and Bonn.
Museums
There are several museums in the Voreifel:
| place | museum |
|---|---|
| Euskirchen | The former cloth factory Müller was expanded as the LVR industrial museum Euskirchen. |
| Rheinbach | In the Glass Museum Rheinbach regional glass art can be visited. |
| Zülpich | Römerthermen Zülpich - Museum of Bathing Culture |
Web links
- Integrated rural development concept Voreifel-Ville
- Regional historical homepage of Hans-Dieter Arntz on the topic: History of Judaism, National Socialism and World War II as well as the history of the Eifel and Voreifel.
- Klein-Altendorf campus of the Agricultural Faculty of the University of Bonn
literature
- Landschaftsverband Rheinland , Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe : Cultural landscape specialist article on regional planning in North Rhine-Westphalia , chap. 7: Significant and state-relevant cultural landscape areas in North Rhine-Westphalia (PDF; 7.0 MB), in particular p. 420ff. Cologne, Münster Nov. 2007.
- Hans-Dieter Arntz : End of war 1944/45 - between Ardennes and Rhine , Euskirchen 1984, 3rd edition 1986, ISBN 3-9800787-1-X .
- Hans-Dieter Arntz: End of the war - through the Voreifel to the Rhine . Helios-Verlag Aachen 2007. ISBN 978-3-938208-61-8 .
- Hans-Dieter Arntz: JUDAICA - Jews in the Voreifel . Kümpel-Verlag Euskirchen 1983/3. Edition 1986, 560 pages. ISBN 3-9800787-0-1 .
- Klaus Grewe , Manfred Knauff: "The long line of the Romans" - The Roman Canal hiking trail Nettersheim-Cologne. Eifelverein, 2012. ISBN 978-3-921805-81-7 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cycling in the different landscapes of the Düren district. District of Düren, accessed on January 10, 2015 .
- ↑ LEP area Euskirchen / Weilerswist. City of Euskirchen, accessed on January 10, 2015 .
- ^ Campus Klein-Altendorf. University of Bonn, accessed on January 10, 2015 .
- ↑ Research areas. Klein-Altendorf campus. University of Bonn, accessed on January 10, 2015 .
- ↑ Wood engineering: New joinery system at the Euskirchen study site. (No longer available online.) FH Aachen, September 18, 2012, formerly in the original ; accessed on January 10, 2015 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ We between the Rhine and the Eifel. Rhein-Voreifel Touristik e. V., accessed January 10, 2015 .
- ↑ Now it's blooming in the Voreifel. State garden show opened in Zülpich. In: Express Bonn. April 16, 2014, accessed January 10, 2015 .
- ↑ Claudia Roberz: Horticultural show in Zülpich. So much laga remains after laga. In: Kölnische Rundschau. September 22, 2014, accessed January 10, 2015 .
- ^ Johannes Bühl: Euskirchener Badeparadies. Always bigger, always more expensive. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. March 12, 2014, accessed January 10, 2015 .
