With the coronation of Ferdinand I in 1531, Aachen’s important time as the coronation site of the German kings ended. The removal of the Netherlands from the Holy Roman Empire caused Aachen to lose its geographical central location. Frankfurt am Main became the new coronation site for the German kings.
In the confessional age (1517 / 1545-1648), many Protestant refugees from the west came to Aachen in 1544 and revitalized the economy, but in 1581 they forcibly occupied the city council and expelled the Catholic citizens. After these developments were legally countered by Emperor Rudolf II in 1598 and the Order of the Jesuits (Societas Jesu or Compañía de Jesús) founded by Ignacio de Loyola in the 16th century, the Catholic counter-reform in AachenHowever, in 1611 there were renewed Protestant attempts to usurp the city government. However, this failed in the long term. The religious struggles in the city culminated until 1614, when the Spanish military leader Spinola took violent action against the Protestants on behalf of the Habsburgs. Aachen was “re-Catholicized” after Spinola’s victory and lost the Protestant craftsmen by fleeing. The economy was heavily burdened as a result.
In 1656 one of the greatest disasters in Aachen occurred. As a result of a devastating city fire, around 4,660 of the approximately 5,300 houses in the city were destroyed, but “only” 17 people were killed. Almost all of medieval Aachen burned down. After this disaster, Aachen was developed into one of the most modern European bathing and fashion resorts by the spa doctor Franciscus Blondel. A large number of spa establishments emerged, various halls, casinos, etc. attracted celebrities to the city.
Within about 80 years, two very important peace agreements were made in Aachen, a city of Germany according to a2zdirectory. These were on the one hand the First Peace of Aachen in 1668, which brought the end of the Franco-Spanish wars of devolution (wars of retransmission), and in 1748 the Second Peace of Aachen, which ended the War of Austrian Succession.
Late 18th century until today
In 1792 the French revolutionary troops came to Aachen, but had to leave the city as early as 1793 after a defeat by the Austrians near Aldenhoven. In the same year, however, they came back as occupiers and were to remain until 1814. In 1797, against the backdrop of the Peace of Campo Formio, Aachen finally fell to France and became the capital and administrative center of the Roer department. From 1802 the city was also the seat of a bishopric.
At the beginning of the 18th century, Aachen experienced an enormous economic boom, for which in particular the support from Napoléon Bonaparte was responsible, who was to have his son baptized in Aachen in 1811. After the dissolution of the guilds and the end of trade restrictions, freedom of trade prevailed. At that time, the Aachen Chamber of Commerce was founded in Burtscheid. The French occupation of Aachen ended in 1814 and was incorporated into the Kingdom of Prussia by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Aachen received the status of an independent city and from 1824 belonged to the Rhine Province. In 1825 the diocese of Aachen was dissolved.
The first half of the 19th century was marked by the arrival of industrialization, which manifested itself in the introduction of the steam engine, women and child labor, low wages and large-scale measures for mechanization and culminated in an uprising among the workers in 1830. This protest was violently suppressed by the citizens and soldiers of Aachen. Aachen has had a railway connection to Cologne since 1841 and one to Belgium since 1843. As a result of the incorporation of Burtscheid (1897) and Forst (1906), the population of Aachen rose to over 150,000 at the beginning of the 20th century.
After the First World War, Aachen was occupied by French and Belgian forces in 1918. The French left the city two years later and the Belgians eleven years later. In 1930 the diocese of Aachen was re-established. In 1938, on the night of November 9th to 10th, the synagogue in Aachen was destroyed as part of the anti-Semitic pogrom known as Reichskristallnacht (Reichskristallnacht) for propaganda purposes. Since 1995 there has been a synagogue again in Aachen.
In World War II, Aachen was repeatedly bombed and after six weeks of 1944 to Aachen battle conquered the first West German city by the troops of the Allies. In 1944 only a little more than 11,100 residents lived in the city, which had had 150,000 residents at the turn of the century. By 1946 the population rose again to around 100,000.
Aachen became part of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia in the Federal Republic of Germany, which was founded in 1949, and was rebuilt in the following decades.
The International Charlemagne Prize has been awarded in Aachen since 1950. It honors people who have made outstanding contributions to unification and peace in Europe. Since the 1980s, the Aachen Peace Prize has also been awarded in Aachen, which goes to people who have contributed to an understanding between peoples in the interpersonal area.
In 1972 a regional reform took place, in the course of which the communities Brand, Eilendorf, Haaren, Kornelimünster, Laurensberg, Richterich and Walheim were added to the urban area, which resulted in a population increase to around 237,000.
In 2001 the Carolus Thermen Bad Aachen were opened. These are probably the most modern and magnificent thermal baths in all of Europe. In the first three years they were already visited by around 1.5 million people.
