Aachen, Germany, historic center and cathedral

We are taking you on a trip to Aachen, Germany's westernmost city, right next to the Netherlands and Belgium. It is a typical place but famous for one very special building, the cathedral. Aachen is a city with a very ancient cathedral, and most famous as the home of Charlemagne.
See our series of 24 Netherlands movies here: bit.ly/2pw5u7d
Charlemagne, was the Holy Roman Emperor who came here in the year 768. Charlemagne spent most of his final years in Aachen and he ordered the cathedral to be constructed, and it still stands today, as you will see while we explore that magnificent building, which is one of the most important architectural landmarks in Europe.
Two other main sites are City Hall and the market square. Everything is quite close together here in the pedestrian center of the old town. In a few minutes we will show you these charming lanes with the outdoor restaurants and locals taking a stroll. We will have a look at the market square with its colorful produce and inexpensive eating - less than five euros for a casual standup bratwurst and fries. Next to that we will bring you inside the City Hall. Aachen's other remaining historic building dates to the early 14th century. Take a lunch break in the park and enjoy the historic old buildings.
The pedestrian zone is rather small, just 400 meters across, with the Dom, or cathedral at the center, as usual in a medieval town plan.
The cathedral was built in two different architectural styles in two different time periods, early ninth-century Byzantine, that's 1200 years ago, and then later Middle Ages, the gothic extension of the choir with the stained glass windows around it. The surface area of the stained glass is more than 1000 square meters, based on the model of Sant' Chapelle in Paris. From the outside you can see the gothic features of the pointed arches and the buttresses holding up the walls.
It's one of the oldest cathedrals in Europe. The original part is the octagonal chapel in the middle called the Palatine Chapel with eight large columns holding it up, and beyond, there are some smaller chapels around it. That early Byzantine architectural style was influenced by churches in Ravenna and Constantinople. It was huge for its day. The width and height of the chapel were the largest ever built north of the Alps until the Middle Ages, when the large gothic cathedrals were constructed.
Not only is the cathedral a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it was in the very first list ever published. The first 12 sites were declared in 1978 with this cathedral among them. Now there are over a thousand UNESCO World Heritage Sites. So that's another indication of the extreme cultural and historic importance of the dome.
As usual with such an extraordinarily beautiful and complicated structure, you have to see it in person. Its pictures just do not do it full justice. You'll get some idea from looking at the images but being inside this building is an otherworldly experience.
You will be an enraptured and awestruck in looking around at the dazzling beauties of this amazing structure. The best way to appreciate such a complicated space is walk to various locations so that you can gain perspective on the different angles, and then you may sit down in peace and just absorb the quiet beauty of this wonderful space.
Aachen and the Cathedral were so important to the Emperor Charlemagne that he is buried here in this golden coffin in a place of honor in the choir, with the vaulting Gothic arches and stained-glass windows all around him.
The building stands in the middle of the pedestrian zone, so all of a sudden outdoors is quite lively with people walking and they're shops and restaurants. So let's go take a look.
You've seen how Aachen is worth visiting just because of that one building, the magnificent cathedral, but now you'll see that the town itself, especially here in the historic center in the pedestrian zone, is really a most enjoyable place to spend some time. As we've seen already, this central zone is not huge. It's about 400 meters across, so, really quite easy to wander around. You might spend a couple hours here, have a meal, do a little shopping and just relax.
No cars allowed in this peaceful neighborhood, but you've got the bicycles and some bikers appear able to carry large cargo on their bike.
The large historic building next to the marketplace is the Rathaus, or City Hall, with 50 statues of kings of Germany on its façade. The building was constructed between 1330 and 1380, open to the public with a small admission fee as a museum.
Most impressive is the Coronation Hall, or Kaiseraal, where banquets were held after crowning a king. It's 45 meters long, spanning the entire length of the building.
Naturally this Town Hall has gone through some renovations and reconstructions during its 650 year history. It was severely damage in World War II, but you'd never know it with the way it looks today.

[@wasserimkopf4149]

Meine Hood 😂✌ OCHE❤

[@princessmoonshine872]

Wasser im Kopf SAME 😂😂

[@WhoamI27676]

Meine auch❤❤❤

[@serefx3000]

Meine auch 😂😂

[@leajackson6809]

Me too 😂

[@lilmo3941]

Wasser im Kopf meine auch

[@tiffytattoo2450]

Vür sönd allemole Öcher Jonge... ♡

[@Frxhb2]

I am coming from Aachen and to be honest, this is the best movie I saw about Aachen. Thanks

[@simonrix5953]

Bratwurst 5 euro!! dann lieber Döner für 3,50 bei Deniz ^^

[@sufftruppler800]

Simon Rix pommdöner 2.90 🤣

[@aylin326]

Ahhh du bist einer von denen die bei deniz essen... Nenenene der Berliner döner am karlsgraben ist LEBEN!

[@davidmc971]

Pont Grill finde ich am besten :P

[@DiamondGrowDE]

@@davidmc971 3,50?

[@davidmc971]

@@DiamondGrowDE 3,50€ Pommdöner, 3,20€ Döner Kebap

[@fritzwalmrath4057]

Nice video, I live in Aachen my self, The bear you mentioned actually is supposed to be a wolf, there is a story that Aachen needed money and made a deal with the devil and in this story the wolf played an important role. Also part of this story is that in the main door of the cathedral in the door handle there is one finger stuck of the devil and it is said who ever gets it out will get a bag of gold. If you want to know the complete story just write me. Also i think it is very sad that you missed out on Printen, because in Germany itself Aachen is most famous for its Printen, Printen are a little bit like gingerbread but its hard to compare to other food. Have a nice day, Fritz

[@BKH_Family]

Yeah , I would love to , i am also living in aachen just recently came here

[@fritzwalmrath4057]

@@BKH_Family the best thing for you would just be to visit the cathedral yourself and get a guided tour

[@RichardRenes]

I love printen. Whenever I go to Aachen, I am sure to bring some home with me :)

[@DiamondGrowDE]

Fck afd my friend

[@ivyfamily178]

I love aachen, best place to live

[@JustAlexander721]

I live in Aachen for 5 years is a quiet city perfect for raising children

[@gourishankarsubramanian9677]

When i attended the Messe in Dusseldorf i stayed in Aachen. Beautiful town.

[@slimfast67]

Aachen has a really nice spa!! Must visit!

[@lilij3947]

The best time to visit in my opinion is the winter time when the Christmas market is open.

[@romyblum2806]

Definitly. I live in Aachen myself and can guarantee you will find it very beautiful.

[@tajothy2692]

wow ich live here and i have to appreciate this town a lot more

[@aaylasecura9592]

The ‘bear’ is not a bear but a wolf, and it’s also not a guardian but goes back to a local legend where the people of Aachen tricked the devil by sacrificing a wolf’s soul when he actually wanted the soul of a human being

[@WernerConsten]

Thanks for the video about my home town! The bus from Maastricht to Aachen is now 350 (instead of 50), and it stops at Elisenbrunnen (instead of Theater). At the beginning of the video you showed the way by train from Aachen West to the city. I think it's better to leave the train at Main Station - shorter to old town and easier to find.

[@denniscallan]

Thanks for the update. So both the bus and train are closer to the Dom, easy access.

[@tsegayhabte892]

Ich liebe in Aachen. Aachen ist wunderschön Staat. ❤❤❤💐💐💐💐💐💐

[@Lili-fq9ry]

I've visited Canada, America, Australia and New Zealand, but I've never been to a European country. This video give me a vicarious trip to Europe maybe it's also an inspiration or draws me to plan a trip from Formosa to Europe.

[@ichbinsnicht2273]

Aachen has so much beautiful places. I love it. ❤

[@WhoamI27676]

You missed out on our Printen😔💜💜

[@niklasjeanscapbauer7855]

Danke dass du mich hungrig machst

[@WhoamI27676]

@@niklasjeanscapbauer7855 Sorry🙈hab mich damit auch selber voll hungrig auf Printen gemacht😂

[@laserbeam002]

Wonderful vid as usual. I had never seen inside the cathedral of Aachen. Thank you for posting.

[@alifouad6742]

😄 😬 Wer ist auch aus Aachen 👋🤙

[@deansanaran7189]

My Home Town

[@MARECELandCURTIS]

1200 years old! Soooo old that cathedral..pretty amazing my friend

[@RichardRenes]

only the octogonal hall of the cathedral is that old. The gothic main section is about 400 years younger (at least) and the last addition is from the early 20th century

[@incyphe]

Thank you professor Robert Calkins for teaching me about this great cathedral. Thank you for creating this video Dennis.

[@denniscallan]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@christinedecker4936]

Loved the video. What a lovely city, and the cathedral was breathtaking!!!

[@LeboAxton]

Really impressive report about Aachen, many thanks.

[@rassel7691]

Au Hur. Aachen ist die schönste Stadt der Welt!!

[@WhoamI27676]

Jaaa😍😍

[@renehahn5965]

naja ander Meinung langsam dreckiger.viel Auto Verkehr.macht kein Spaß mehr . Autofahrer. alle so.über alle Baustelle zu gleichen Zeit.toll.

[@rassel7691]

@@renehahn5965 Äh... Wann und wo genau?

[@renehahn5965]

@@rassel7691 ja sorry dass ist nicht so gemeint.gestern 86 Baustellen in Aachen.Alle Menschen sind gereizt.agro.wenn alle etwas rücksticht nehmen würden.das wäre viel entspannter Atmosphäre.jeder will der erste sein?man kann die Menschheit wohl nicht mehr endern.sorry

[@rassel7691]

@@renehahn5965 naja so ist die Welt halt. Man könnte den Kopf schütteln.

[@Armarta]

Lovely video, thank you!

[@whatevs1700]

I have been and Aachen is such a pretty town. The cathedral is amazing. And the ginger bread “platten” you find in shops nearby are the best ever

[@mariettaioannou8977]

Thank You for this Visit to my Hometown!

[@denniscallan]

I hope I got it right.

[@niklasjeanscapbauer7855]

This is a great video about my hometown 😊

[@tallinnalennujaam3466]

A wonderful town!!!!! 😍😘

[@ChristheShrinerdawg]

I loved Aachen! I lived in Jakobstraße 126 from June 2003 until January 2004.

[@black6barblink211]

Wer wohnt auch in Aachen?😂

[@esraakt4691]

Ich

[@user-bw1ec4ff4j]

Ich

[@ApeX2411]

Great to see Aachen (my hometown) depicted so nicely. Great little movie. :)

[@MH-yk4is]

Nice Video. For those travelled from afar and for the locals... Like myself👍

[@RomanusVII]

As a Catholic, also someone with German ancestry, I really admire Blessed Charlemagne. I’d love to visit Aachen.

[@ma.elenarocha1438]

Quedé enamorada de Aachen por su catedral, de verdad es impresionante. Saludos desde México

[@muhammadsheraz4487]

Wao, incredibly looking Great video, incredible stunning images. Love and respect from Pakistan.

[@marcelhamann6675]

my hometown =D nice to see you enjoy the city ;)

[@natalie.aachen..2042]

Мой любимый город...❤

[@denniscallan]

translation: My favorite city ... ❤

[@christopherlovato9151]

Good job bruh!

[@ZhengCheng]

great video!

[@rogersexton7857]

Excellent and very interesting video! And it was very sensible to use the local (Dutch) bus service on which I expect you used your OV chipkaart! Dutch bus services are (like Dutch trains) of a very high standard. And they run 7-days-a-week and up until midnight, unlike many British bus services which are poor or non-existent in the evenings and on Sundays.

[@nuss1237]

I live in aachen

[@chrisg9359]

Wie hier hauptsächlich 'akener' in den kommentaren sind haha Ich komme übrigens auch aus aachen und schaue dieses video nur deswegen😂

[@raymondmiller5098]

Great video! Will you also do one on (sort of) nearby Trier??

[@flitsertheo]

A typical journey from Aachen to " nearby" Trier would take 4h 20m and 3 trains.

[@juliac5882]

the reason why there were people dancing infront of the elisenbrunnen is because you probably visited during the first week of university, where the new students run around aachen to do teambonding exercises and get to know the city better. also there is three four different train stations, and if you arrive by train from maastricht, you can stay on the train not only until aachen west, but until aachen hauptbahnhof(or hbf), its much closer to the city center! but everything in aachen is in walking distance, its pretty much a small big city :o

[@MazdakTV]

Nice video from my hometown.

[@davidputz2768]

Brudi wusste gar nicht dass du aus Aachen bist. Grüße aus Eilendorf

[@armendselimi4328]

David Pütz Jap er wohnt in Alsdorf

[@F1L337]

@@armendselimi4328 Als ob haha Gibt nettere Orte als meine "City" 😂

[@ac_mary_06]

Haha my hood aachen is so nice haha😂❤

[@LouisaKloe]

Wait jk is that u?

[@Julian6363.]

I live in Aachen😂

[@alifouad6742]

Ich auch 😬😄

[@SergejTrasporter2843]

Same. Ich auch.

[@esraakt4691]

Ich auch😍

[@france7164]

I want to go there.

[@sophierossberg2348]

patcharin so i live there it‘s very pretty

[@arandomki]

Nice video

[@lukashle1933]

In Germany we say Karl der Große but really nice Video👍

[@saschac.5340]

Dubbele Merci (Thank you very much) for the Video.

[@mikehydropneumatic2583]

As a kid I went from Heerlen (NL) to Aachen to buy records since they were much cheaper in Germany. And of course German meatballs (Frikandelen mit senf).

[@mirkomennicken1154]

Funny I drive from Aachen to Heerlen and Kerkrade to get some good Dutch Weed😂

[@gerry124]

I'm from Aachen

[@lifewithgrandmabev]

When can we expect to see your Amsterdam video?

[@denniscallan]

Hi Beverly, thanks for asking. I have spent most of this year editing the Netherlands videos, 26 movies done, 7 hours total, and am planning to work on some other country for a while. I have 100s of hours of untouched Europe video to play with, but I will get to the Amsterdam project in a few months. I stayed there for one week and have many lovely images to share.

[@lifewithgrandmabev]

Af

[@lifewithgrandmabev]

After watching your Leiden, Haarlem, Utrecht videos we are going to take day trips to those places from Amsterdam. We really enjoy your videos.

[@LukasNse]

Great video! But you said that Charlemagne was a holy roman emperor in the video, which isn’t true. The title of holy roman emperor would emerge from the ashes of east francia after Charlemagne’s death.

[@denniscallan]

He is usually described that way: " In 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Holy Roman Emperor" from www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/charlemagne#holy-roman-emperor and "Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774 and Holy Roman Emperor from 800." from www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/601-900/charlemagne-crowned-as-holy-roman-emperor-11629758.html And if you're trying to be correct, you should capitalize holy roman emperor

[@daniel3538]

Wo sind meine Aachener

[@kingjulien2375]

You were not in Aachen if you did not drink water from Elisenbrunnen 😋 Historically, you should mention that it is said that Charlemagne only made Aachen the main city because of the thermal springs called Elisenbrunnen. So it became a big city although there is no connection to the sea or a river.

[@Armarta]

A wolf not a bear :)

[@mikeoyler2983]

Thank you sir. Nice video! However, there is one thing that may not have occurred to you about the train. The bus took you to the main train station. (yes I know, silly!) It is only a 500 meter walk from the train station to the city center i.e. catherdral. The station that you pointed out is Westbahnhof which is not the main station. It is also possible to take the train from Maastricht main station to Aachen main station; it's ten minutes faster I believe.

[@denniscallan]

Thanks for the info, I'll add that next time.

[@Nemalp]

@@denniscallan the dutch bus 350 also travels from Maastricht to the Aachen and back. It has a few stops in Aachen, namely Schanz, the main train station, the main bus station and Elisenbrunen.

[@capt_dosenbier4306]

Au hur

[@anabananapopana]

1:08 ehm? What are those points? Why would anyone just drive to aachen west or the theater? Those are just random points? The main station or alot of other bus stations would be much closer.

[@catrinawinter5433]

I live in Aachen and I didn't know that it was THAT intresting.....what the hell Okay I've lived my whole live in Aachen and just found out the importance of it....hahah nice. (This is meant ironically)

[@408Magenta]

You will soon be shovelling garbage as penance.

[@KatalovesLinkinPark]

Shame on you! Did you sleep through primary school? :D

[@jonxh_mk7]

Aachen ist die hood

[@Chris-hp9be]

43 kings of Germany.? Does he mean Holy Roman Empire.?

[@denniscallan]

yes, for the most part, which included many dynasties from 962-1806: Ottonian, Salian, Supplinburger, Hohenstaufen, Interregnum, Changing, Habsburg

[@zeroblade8027]

Elsassstraße Kennedypark ist eh das einzig sehenswerte 😂😂😂

[@aylin326]

Ich hab Angst vor dem kenmedypark man da sind nur besoffene😂😂

[@xilef4917]

😭😂😂

[@larciabella]

I wonder how much of Aachen was destroyed in the war.

[@denniscallan]

Most of it, yet miraculously not the cathedral or old buildings nearby. Aachen was the first place Allied troops entered Germany, with ferocious door-to-door fighting.

[@larciabella]

@@denniscallan pity 'tis war.

[@jpt_hallelxja9167]

Luise hensel Gang 🤑

[@tomserve6958]

Bin Luise Hensel Abschluss 2001 😉

[@jpt_hallelxja9167]

@@tomserve6958also bist di nicht mehr da

[@tomserve6958]

Nein. Von 2001 bis 2019 sind 18 Jahre. Lernt ihr denn gar nichts mehr auf der L-H-R? 😉

[@jpt_hallelxja9167]

@@tomserve6958 ne wir werden nur konstant von Frau löhndorf gejagt aber dann haben wir uns bestimmt schonmal gesehen

[@givememore828]

Jawoll Aachen 😂

[@selo9369]

AUHURRRR HAHAHAHA WO SIND MEINE AACHENER???

[@immobilien]

THE AMERICAN FORCES FACED SEVERE RESISTENCE FROM THE GERMAN WEHRMACHT IN AACHEN DURING WORLD WAR 2......

[@F1L337]

"Historic center of drugs" wäre eine passendere Überschrift.

[@rainergoertz2070]

The Dom of aachen ist ten times better than the Dom of Colongne.. Dom of colongne ist big, but Aachenis more beautifull and has more history... colongne Dom was bild in the 18 century, zhe Dom of Aachen was bild in the 8 century.... between are 1000 Years....

[@youtubeguys2181]

Alter was ne kacke Aachen ist nen kaaf ich wohn da

[@pinoceschini4246]

It’s time to’ stop such a fake propaganda: Aquisgrana is not in Aachen!! Charlemagne is buried in San Claudio al Chienti, in the center of Italy (den Marken); that’s the real Aquisgrana!!

[@nomisbeya9363]

Aachen is small and boring

[@gerry124]

No. Aachen is not to big as Köln.

[@denniscallan]

Maybe if you live there, but for a visitor the cathedral, market, city hall and old pedestrian zone are quire fabulous to see.