Sept 18th, Aachen

By patmarkovich201560 minutes ago

After a delightful dinner out last night celebrating Alan’s birthday, we took our time getting up and thought that Alan’s friend Brec would be interested in joining us as his wife and Alan were planning a day of shopping and cooking. Brec jumped at the chance!

We were soon off to the beautiful and historic city of Aachen, most famous for its seat of power of Charlemagne.

Our first point of interest in Aachen was this fountain / sculpture of the “Circle of Money”. From people hoarding their belongings to men quietly backhanding money to each other to a dad giving a child their allowance, and the ever present needy asking for some help.

We had parked in the city centre, and decided to head towards the cathedral after visiting the tourist office to get some information on what we might like to see. It was near lunch time, and the sandwich shops beckoned us for a quick lunch!

Delicious selections of sandwiches and quiche

Once refreshed we headed over to the Cathedral. We could enter for free, and were able to see some very interesting things, but the most important was available by a guided tour. We decided that that would be a good idea given the historic significance of this site. More on the cathedral later.

Once we purchased our tour tickets for a 3 pm tour, we headed over to, the Town Hall. This impressive structure was built in the 14th century on the foundations of the Carolingian King’s Hall where beginning with the coronation of Otto the Great 936, a coronation banquet was held for each new German king who was crowned in the Palace Chapel.

It is also here that the Treaty of Aachen was signed here in 2019 between France and Germany, intending to intensify Franco-German relations as a treaty of friendship.

An impressive Town Hall sits behind the fountain in the Market Square, featuring Charlemagne the Great at the top.

Inside the Town Hall, in the former Coronation Hall are replicas of the imperial regalia used for centuries here.

Inside the great hall that held the Coronation feasts.

Dana and Brec stand in the market square, deep in historical discussions

Looking out the window from the Town Hall (former King’s Hall), you can see the short walk from the chapel of Charlemagne (now cathedral) that the coronation party would travel to the hall for their banquet.

It was nearing the time for our tour so we strolled past the Charlemagne museum and on to the meeting place for our tour.

When we approached the cathedral, the guide pointed out that the doors had been specifically made of solid bronze, featuring two large heads of wolves representing animals that raised Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. Charlemagne felt that this symbol would be well suited to the chapel that would be the seat of the Holy Roman Empire.

One of the two wolves on the doors, used as door handles. These doors were cast from solid bronze in Aachen

This 9th century bronze bear or wolf represents the legend of the outwitted devil. When building the cathedral, the city ran out of money. The devil offered to fund the rest of the project, but demanded the soul of the first living creature to step inside the completed building. The townspeople didn’t want to sacrifice the bishop, so instead they chased this wild animal into the cathedral first. The devil was so mad at the trick, he flew into a furious rage and slammed the heavy bronze doors and his thumb got crushed in the door handles when he fled!

Inside the cathedral we were struck by the ornate gothic decor. This was completed during the 18th century featuring columns and intricate mosaic ceilings.

The chandelier of Barbarossa was created in 1165 on the occasion of Charlemagne’s coronation.

One of many stunning stained glass windows

We could see the ancient roots of the building that was built upon Roman baths.

Glass panel in the main floor area shows the history beneath

We heading upstairs to see the coronation chair. Made from marble from Jerusalem, steps made from ancient Roman columns and a hidden panel at the back of the chair that held sand containing Christ’s blood brought back from Jerusalem. This seat represented the power of the holy seat of Jerusalem ascended from the Romans and representing Christ on earth.

Coronation chair used for centuries beginning with Otto the Great in 936.

Coronation chair showing the cross sectioned columns as steps and the small wooden panel at the back holding the holy relic of Christ’s blood. the large marble table behind the throne was used as the altar during the ceremonies.

The pulpit where the king, once coronated, would read the scriptures during the ceremony.

From there, we headed back downstairs to see the reliquaries.

This holds the bones of Charlemagne the Great, Emperor of Rome and canonized as a saint. The bones were moved here from the original sarcophagus in 1215

This reliquary holds a number of pieces of fabric. These include the swaddling cloth from Christ’s birth, the robe mary wore at the birth, the robe of St John after his beheading and the loin cloth of Christ when he was crucified. They are brought out for public view during celebrations every 7 years.

This small and mighty cathedral has 3 pipe organs!

After our tour of the Cathedral, we headed to a significant part of this area. A point where the 3 countries of Germany, Netherlands and Belgium meet.

Just metres from this point, we found an elevation marker noting the highest elevation point of the Netherlands.

The Netherlands high point at 322 M. Definitely no altitude sickness standing here!

Here we stand together year in 3 separate countries. Brec is standing in Belgium, Dan is standing in Germany and I am standing in the Netherlands. A remarkable feeling for Dan and I as Canada has just been invited as an associate member of the EU.

Well, lots of exploring done today! Time to head back home and get ready for dinner. Alan’s friends had invited Brec and his wife Sandy as well as Dan and I for dinner. We certainly had worked up an appetite for it!

Alan, the birthday boy, reading the written acceptance of his invitations to dinner the following nights!

Here are the 7 of us Brec, myself, Karen, Alistair, Sandy, Alan and Dan. We are all anticipating a fine meal given the delectable smells coming from the kitchen!

Well a very late night has meant a delayed post! Tomorrow ( or the rest of today) will be a relaxing day for us, before we gather at Alan’s for another meal together. We certainly feel like we are being treated like royalty! I’m just hoping I can still fit into my clothes by the end of this trip!!! Until next time!