The Ruhr area of western Germany is known for industry. It is one of the places that the Industrial Revolution began. For the first stage of the Industrial Revolution, it had those two all-important resources of coal and iron.
But the history of this region began long before the Industrial Revolution. The Rhine River was the edge of the Roman Empire. What you will generally find in the Rhine-Ruhr Area is that the cities to the west of the Rhine River began as Roman outposts, while the cities to the east of the river began hundreds of years later, in medieval times. The part of Germany to the west of the Rhine River is known as the Rhineland.Cologne is the largest city of the Rhine-Ruhr area. But I would like to begin our visit with Aachen, in the far west of Germany. The way I see it, Aachen is really where Germany began.
Like the other cities in the area to the west of the Rhine River, Aachen has Roman origins. But it is known as the city of Charlemagne. Both France and Germany are descended from people known as the Franks, which is where the name of Frankfurt comes from. Charlemagne, sometimes referred to as "The Father of Europe" was of the Carolingian Dynasty of the Franks. Charlemagne was crowned by the pope as the first Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas Day, in the year 800, in the old St. Peter's Basilica.
The dynasty of the Franks that had preceded the Carolingian Dynasty, the Merovingian Dynasty, had their center of power in Paris. It was they who built a palace on the island in the Seine River from which Paris would grow outward.
But the Carolingian Dynasty moved it's center of power eastward, to Aachen. This is where Charlemagne lived and was buried and where later Holy Roman Emperors were crowned. Notice the similarity between Aachen and the Isle de la Cite in Paris. There was a palace in Aachen, which is now gone. But the chapel of the palace remained, and the present Aachen Cathedral was built around the chapel.
The empire of the Carolingian Dynasty did not last, eventually splitting into East Francia and West Francia. East Francia, including Aachen, would become the Holy Roman Empire and later Germany. West Francia, including Paris, would become France.
The main reason for the split was likely language. The western area had been part of the Roman Empire and had gotten to speaking a Romance language, which would become French. The eastern part had not been ruled by Rome and spoke a northern European language, which would become German.
The name of the Franks lives on today in France and in the German city of Frankfurt. The German name for France is still "Frankreich". The French name for Germany is still "Allemagne", for a people in this area who the Franks had conquered.
Also significant in Aachen is the Rathaus, or City Hall, from the Fourteenth Century. German cities, as well as Vienna, typically have a medieval city hall across the central square from the cathedral. The following scenes of Aachen begin at the Rathaus.
This first image, from Google Earth, shows the Cathedral in the foreground and the Rathaus in the background. The unique dome of the Cathedral is the oldest part of it.
The first two of the following four images are of the Cathedral and the next two are of the Rathaus.
This image, from Google Street View, is of the original statue of Charlemagne from about four centuries ago. This statue has now been brought inside and a copy put in front of the Rathaus.
These images, from Google Street View, are of the octagonal chamber beneath the dome of the Cathedral. This is the oldest part of the Cathedral and we could say that this is where Germany really began. It is very reminiscent of the interior of the Dome of the Rock, in Jerusalem.
Immediately adjacent to this chamber beneath the dome is the shrines of Charlemagne and Mary. The lower gold box is the Shrine of Charlemagne and contains his remains. Two images from Google Street View.
There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Aachen+Cathedral/@50.7754846,6.0838576,3a,75y,263.87h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sCIHM0ogKEICAgIC1zI61Ow!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2Fgpms-cs-s%2FAFfmt2Zir0rmKfp6qUZtJDzqW2GJEZ4zg15YWQlFA9hNuEyDAW4S3pdJaJEFhn-FON8ib9UKs3XsigAWT-TK4i-1ISRnNmmBxOhP-fo3jclVIiS6g7XBF3L3ziFfj8sUA0WoQO75yQE%3Dw900-h600-k-no-pi0-ya345.8732074369525-ro0-fo100!7i7680!8i3840!4m6!3m5!1s0x47c0997c84f087fb:0x38730b23e56788c3!8m2!3d50.7747198!4d6.0839201!16zL20vMDFmZHFw?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDMxMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
Cologne, being on the west bank of the Rhine River, has been important since Roman Times. The Frank conquest of Cologne was the beginning of them becoming the people from whom both modern France and Germany would descend. Is is known today especially for it's Thirteenth-Century cathedral with the twin spires. Notice how dark the stone of the old cathedral looks, that is from prolonged exposure to coal smoke following the Industrial Revolution. The first five images of Cologne Cathedral are from Google Earth and Street View.
Cologne, being on the west bank of the Rhine River, has been important since Roman Times. The Frank conquest of Cologne was the beginning of them becoming the people from whom both modern France and Germany would descend. Is is known today especially for it's Thirteenth-Century cathedral with the twin spires. Notice how dark the stone of the old cathedral looks, that is from prolonged exposure to coal smoke following the Industrial Revolution. The first five images of Cologne Cathedral are from Google Earth and Street View.
We have seen, in previous visits to Vienna and Moscow, how city walls are sometimes later dismantled and a grand boulevard built over the former course of the wall. The following scenes begin on the Kaiser Wilhelm Ring in Cologne. The first two images are from Google Earth and Street View. The Ring is indicated by the red dots.
Dortmund, to the east of the Rhine River, is not of Roman origin but from the early Middle Ages. The first three images are from Google Earth.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5170243,7.4597047,3a,75y,207.51h,100.76t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipP5TOzFG-QVAgthVlnUWUDhTk0PoE-LjOg_vgGR!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipP5TOzFG-QVAgthVlnUWUDhTk0PoE-LjOg_vgGR%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-20-ya262-ro0-fo100!7i10240!8i5120
Bonn is not a really major city and it was supposedly chosen as the capital of West Germany for this reason. It was never really intended to be a permanent capital, only until the country could be reunified and the capital moved back to Berlin. If a larger city had been chosen as capital, such as Cologne or Frankfurt, it might have been tempting to make that the permanent capital.
The following views of Bonn begin at the Munsterplatz in the center of the city. The first six images show the area of the Munsterplatz and the church known as the Bonn Minster.
https://www.google.com/maps/@50.7344922,7.0989619,3a,75y,134.57h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOgy71LmowfZOkti3uWX1c05kSDvt4jJ_3kJE0b!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOgy71LmowfZOkti3uWX1c05kSDvt4jJ_3kJE0b%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya277.20572-ro0-fo100!7i7776!8i3888
There are suffixes that are common to the names of German towns and cities, -heim means "home", -stadt means "place", -berg means "hill" or "mountain", -burg means "castle", -bad means "bath" or "spa", -furt means "ford" which is a place where a river is shallow enough to be crossed, and -dorf means "valley". Here is the city of Dusseldorf, which means "The valley of the Dussel River". The first four images, from Google Earth and Street View, are of the old part of Dusseldorf and the modern observation tower.
Essen is another city of the Ruhr which originated in the early Middle Ages and later for industry. It was the home of Krupp, the famous steel company. These three images of modern Essen are from Google Earth.
Munster is one of the most charming old cities anywhere, and also the home of a very old cathedral. After the Reformation, there was even a plan to make Munster the "New Jerusalem". Munster is also an Irish name, Ireland is geographically divided into four quadrants and the southwest is called Munster. I cannot see that the two names are connected although very early Irish monks did evangelize in this area.
The following scenes of the center of Munster begin at the Prinzipalmarkt. The first two images, from Google Street View, are of the St. Paulus Cathedral and the next are of the St. Jacobi and the area of the Prinzipalmarkt.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.962932,7.6257268,3a,75y,105.49h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMAYtPEB9rNxqLWaiAxGYXq2MKOlclaZXKHQRCI!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMAYtPEB9rNxqLWaiAxGYXq2MKOlclaZXKHQRCI%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-3.1867924-ya105.56669-ro0.06674175-fo100!7i7200!8i3600
If you ever take an aspirin, remember the city of Wuppertal where it was invented. The first image is from Google Earth.
Hanover is another medieval city with an impressive Rathaus, or town hall. This town hall is not from medieval times, but from the time of the Kaisers. The first six images are from Google Earth and Street View.
The first of these three are the Rathaus and old part of Hanover.
These three images are of the Herrenhausen Palace. This belonged to the House of Hanover. The Kingdom of Hanover, which is now part of Germany, was in a personal union with Britain for over a century. This means that two countries are ruled by the same king, although not that the two are completely united. Queen Victoria was actually of the House of Hanover but the personal union was ended by different succession rules. Hanover didn't allow a female to inherit the throne, while Britain had male-preference inheritance but not exclusive. Victoria became queen because she didn't have any living brothers.
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