Herzogenrath ( Ripuarian: ; li, Hertseraoj; nl, ’s-Hertogenrade) is a municipality in the district of Aachen in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

. It borders the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

town of

Kerkrade Kerkrade ( Ripuarian: ; li, Kirkraoj; german: Kerkrade or ''Kirchrath'') is a town and a municipality in the southeast of Limburg; the southernmost province of the Netherlands. It forms part of the Parkstad Limburg agglomeration. Kerkrade is the ...

, the national border in one section running along the middle of a main road and even directly through the centre of the cross-border Eurode office complex.

History

Herzogenrath began in the 11th century as a settlement called ''Rode'' near the river

Wurm The Wurm (; nl, Worm ) is a river in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany. It rises in the Eifel mountains and flows for 57 kilometres before discharging into the Rur. Geography The Wurm is a left (western) tributary of th ...

. In 1104, Augustinian monks founded an abbey, called ''Kloosterrade'', to the west of this settlement. It became s-Hertogenrode or s-Hertogenrade (Dutch: ''the Duke's Rode'') after the

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant was a State of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries, part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of the Habsburg Neth ...

took control of the region; in French it was called Rolduc (''Rode-le-Duc''). Herzogenrath (Ph v Gulpen, ca 1840)

As is the case for many parts of Duchy of Brabant, Herzogenrath changed hands several times in the last few centuries. Together with the rest of the

Southern Netherlands The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the A ...

, it was under

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

control from 1661, Austrian between 1713 and 1795 and French between 1795 and 1813. In 1815, when the

Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...

was formed under the terms of the

Vienna Congress The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

, the border was drawn through the town, the eastern part being Prussian Herzogenrath and the western part Dutch Kerkrade.Jan Buursink and Nicole Ehlers
"The Binational City of Eurode"

University of Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, nl, Radboud Universiteit , formerly ''Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen'') is a public research university located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The university bears the name of Saint Radboud, a 9th century ...

. The former abbey is now the ''Rolduc Congress Center'' in Kerkrade. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the Germans erected a fortification along the border street for the first time; although it was dismantled at the end of the war, it was reconstructed again at the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Following the end of that war, the border fortifications were reduced at various times, although they were not fully dismantled until the early 1990s preparations for the Schengen Area. The two towns now share some of their public services, and promote themselves as a binational "City of Eurode" for economic development purposes.

Economy

Until the 1950s, Herzogenrath's economy was dominated by

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

mines and a nearby coking plant. While some remains of the mining industry still form parts of the landscape in the form of overgrown

slag heap A spoil tip (also called a boney pile, culm bank, gob pile, waste tip or bing) is a pile built of accumulated ''spoil'' – waste material removed during mining. These waste materials are typically composed of shale, as well as smaller quan ...

s, today's Herzogenrath has moved into other industries. Large-scale employers include

Saint-Gobain Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, founded in 1665 in Paris and headquartered on the outskirts of Paris, at La Défense and in Courbevoie. Originally a mirror manufacturer, it now also produces a variety of ...

Aixtron Aixtron SE is a German technology company, which specialises in manufacturing metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) equipment, for clients in the semiconductor industry. The company's shares are listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange ...

, Vetrotex (textile glass) and

Ericsson (lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in informa ...

Eurolab (electronics). The city hosts a number of electronics start-ups, profiting from the neighbouring Technical University

RWTH Aachen RWTH Aachen University (), also known as North Rhine-Westphalia Technical University of Aachen, Rhine-Westphalia Technical University of Aachen, Technical University of Aachen, University of Aachen, or ''Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hoch ...

Twin towns – sister cities

Herzogenrath is twinned with: *

Bistrița (; german: link=no, Bistritz, archaic , Transylvanian Saxon: , hu, Beszterce) is the capital city of Bistrița-Năsăud County, in northern Transylvania, Romania. It is situated on the Bistrița River. The city has a population of approxima ...

, Romania * Plérin, France

Gallery

Herzogenrath, Burg Rode foto4 2011-09-27 12.38.JPG, Rode Castle Herzogenrath, katholische Pfarrkirche Sankt Gertrudis Dm000001-01 foto4 2015-08-30 12.31.jpg, Church of Saint Gertrude of Nivelles Herzogenrath, klokkentoren van de Sankt Gertrudis foto9 2015-08-30 12.22.jpg, Church tower of the Church of Saint Gertrude of Nivelles Herzogenrath , straatzicht der Ferdinand Schmetz Platz foto6 2015-08-30 12.38.jpg, Ferdinand Schmetz Square

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Divided cities Aachen (district)