Düren: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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EUR 60 - 110 Mariaweiler Hof
 The Superior Hotel Mariaweiler is located between the motorway and the city centre of Dueren, near to the cities of Cologne and Aachen, bordering the … MoreEUR 75 - 100 Mein Domizil Hotel
 This 4-star hotel offers a French atmosphere in a quiet neighbourhood in Düren. Guests benefit from free Wi-Fi internet, free breakfast buffets and f… MoreEUR 30 - 120 Pension Prell
 This guest house in Arnoldsweiher is a 10-minute drive from Düren’s historic Old Town, and 1.5 km from the A4 Motorway. It offers modern rooms with… MoreEUR 75 - 95 Hotel Jägerhof
 Just a 15-minute walk to the scenic River Ruhr, this traditional, family-run hotel offers a relaxing garden and regional cuisine. It is 4 km from Dür… MoreEUR 43 - 95 Hotel Hilgers
 This hotel stands in the Gürzenich district of Düren, on the edge of the Eifel National Park. All rooms and apartments feature elegant decor.
Hotel… MoreEUR 25 - 80 Gästehaus Peterhoff
 Boasting a large garden, this intimate guest house in west Düren enjoys a quiet location while being only 2 minutes from the A4 motorway connecting C… MoreEUR 43 - 79 Hotel & Restaurant Arnoldusklause
 This family-run hotel offers free parking and free Wi-Fi in its public areas. It is located in the quiet Arnoldsweiler district of Düren, a 6-minute … MoreEUR 56 - 106 Dürens Post Hotel
 Dürens Post Hotel is located in Düren town centre, just 250 metres from Düren Train Station. It offers well-equipped rooms with free Wi-Fi, free pa… More | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Düren: Guide
Düren is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, capital of Düren (district)|Düren district. It is located between Aachen and Cologne on the river Rur, and has a population of over 90,000.
History
Romans
The history of Düren probably started more than 2000 years ago. Before Christ's birth, the Germanic tribes settled this area. They were conquered by the Roman Empire|Romans unter Julius Caesar.
Durum became a supply area for the rapidly growing Roman city of Cologne. Furthermore, a few important Roman roads skirt Durum (including the road from Cologne to Jülich and Tongeren and the road from Cologne to Zülpich and Trier). the Romans remained in the area for about 400 years. The name "villa duria" occurred the first time in the Franconian Annals in the year 747.
After the authority of the Romans, in the 5th century the Franconians came to Düren. The Franconian king Pippin der Kleine (Pippin the Short) often visited Düren in the 8th century and held a few important conventions. Pippin was the father of the famous emperor Charlemagne. The Franconians made a Durum a royal castle. It was called Pfalz and Charlemagne sojurned a few times here. The castle was build at the place where today the Church of Saint Anne is located. Due to the frequent visits of Charlemagne, a few markets sprang up, such as the corn market, cattle market, wood market, chicken market, and butter market, all of which contributed to Düren's improvement.
Middle Ages
Düren obtained Town privileges|city rights in the early 13th century. Around 1200, the construction of the city wall was started, which includes 12 towers and 5 gates. The gates faced all directions: in the north, the Philippstor) and the Wirteltor, in the east the Kölntor (Cologne gate), in the south the Obertor and in the west the Holztor (wooden gate). There are still ruins of the gates today.
The chiseler Leonhard stole a small box with the relic of saint's day of Saint Anne (July 26) is celebrated for one week with the Anna octavos and the Anna parish fair, one of the biggest folk festivals of Germany.
17th to 19th century
In 1642, Düren was embroiled in the Thirty Years' War. Opposing troops destroyed the city. After the war has finally ended in 1648, plague broke out and caused many lives to be lost. A second plague epidemic broke out in 1665. Due to the various attacks on the debilitated city, Düren as destroyed again in 1679. In this time, the settlement Miesheim was destroyed, never to be rebuilt.
Towards the end of the year 1755 in the area around Düren and Aachen began a series of earthquakes, which reached its peak on February 18 1756 with an earthquake with the strength 8 on the Mercalli Intensity Scale|Mercalli scale. The series of earthquakes affected all of Europe, most famously the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.
The businesses in the area of Düren was affected since the 15th century by the drapery and metal industry. Since the beginning of the 17th century, paper industry had settled here, advantaged by the exceptionally soft water of the Rur. Rütger von Scheven built the first paper mill in Düren. In 1812, there were already 17 paper facotries, 11 cloth- and blanket factories, one masticator and two iron foundry|iron foundries.
In the year 1794, Düren was occupied by French revolution|French revolutionary troops. From 1798 until 1814, Düren was the main city of the same named canton in the arrondissement Aachen of the French Roerdepartements (from the name of the River Rur (Roer) and départment). After the Congress of Vienna Düren was ceded to Prussia in 1815.
20th century
Around 1900, Düren was counted among Germany's richest cities (42 millionaires lived here, and there were 93 factories). Düren was the second richest city in whole of Prussia. In 1805, 4,563 people lived here, and in 1900, the population increased to 27,168.
On November 16 1944, Düren was completely destroyed by Allies|Allied Aerial bombing of cities|air bombings during World War II. Approximately 22,000 people lived in Düren at that time; 3,000 of them died during the bombing. It was impossible to live in Düren after the city had been completely destroyed. Those who survived had to leave their homeland and were emergency evacuation|evacuated to central Germany. After the evacuations, only 4 people continued to live in Düren.
In 1945, the city was located on the main Front (military)|fighting front, and one of the bloodiest battles was fought on Düren's district area in the Battle of Huertgen Forest|Hürtgenwald. On February 25 1945, United States|U.S. troops crossed the Rur at Düren. After the war was over in the summer of 1945, many evacuated people came back to the destroyed city and started to rebuild their homes - against the will of the American troops. By June 1945, the population had risen to 3806. Much of the architecture in Düren therefore dates from the 1950s.
Emblem
The emblem of the city of Düren is divided. It shows on the top a red castle, below that, a black eagle and in the lower half a black lion with a red tongue. The black eagle refers to the old history of Düren as a royal city and Imperial Free City|Reichsstadt. In 1242-46 Düren was bonded to the dukes of Jülich (later, Napoleon was also Duke of Jülich). Their emblem was a lion rampant, with open mouth and a red tongue.
Twin cities
Düren has 6 twin cities:
Valenciennes in France
Cormeilles in France
Altmünster in Austria
Stryj in Ukraine
Gradacac in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Jinhua in China
Media
Düren has its own radio station (Radio Rur). The station broadcasts on 92.7 and 107.5 MHz, and on cable at 87.5 MHz.
Celebrities
1805, February 13, Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, died May 5 1859 in Göttingen, mathematician
1864, December 22, Hermann Schwarz (philosopher)
1915, September 4, Rudolf Schock, died November 13 1986, opera singer
1927, July 27 Georg Stollenwerk, Football (soccer)|football player with 1. FC Köln and Germany
1933 Prof. Dr. Manfred Donike, died 1995, cyclist
1939, March 31, Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, Football (soccer)|football player with 1. FC Köln, Internazionale Milano F.C. and Germany
1954, March 6, Harald Schumacher, called Toni, Football (soccer)|football player with 1. FC Köln and Germany
1957, May 17, Wilfried Hannes, Football (soccer)|football player
1973, March 22, , bicyclist
External links
(in German)
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "Düren". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.