Jülich (; in old spellings also known as ''Guelich'' or ''Gülich'', nl, Gulik, french: Juliers, Ripuarian: ''Jöllesch'') is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

in the district of

Düren Düren (; ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne on the river Rur. History Roman era The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the territory of the Eburones, a pe ...

, in the federal 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 inhab ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. As a border region between the competing powers in the

Lower Rhine The Lower Rhine (german: Niederrhein; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the river Rhine) flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland, Netherlands (including the Nederrijn or "Nether Rhine" within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta); ...

and

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a ...

areas, the town and the

Duchy of Jülich The Duchy of Jülich (german: Herzogtum Jülich; nl, Hertogdom Gulik; french: Duché de Juliers) comprised a state within the Holy Roman Empire from the 11th to the 18th centuries. The duchy lay west of the Rhine river and was bordered by th ...

played a historic role from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

up to the 17th century.

Geography

Jülich stands in the Rur valley on the banks of the river Rur. The town is bordered by the town of

Linnich Linnich is a town in the district of Düren in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the River Rur (Roer river), approx. 10 km north-west of Jülich. Economy Linnich is the home of SIG Combibloc, the specialist for ...

in the north, the municipality of Titz in the northeast, the municipality of

Niederzier Niederzier is a municipality in the district of Düren in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately 10 km north of Düren, and 10 km south-east of Jülich. Personalities * Viktor Schroeder (1922-201 ...

in the southeast, the municipality of Inden in the south, and by the municipality of

Aldenhoven Aldenhoven () is a municipality in the district of Düren in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately 5 km south-west of Jülich Jülich (; in old spellings also known as ''Guelich'' or ''Gülich'', nl, ...

in the west. Its maximum size is 13.3 km from east to west and 10.9 km from north to south. The highest point in Jülich is in Bourheim, 110 m above sea level (excepting Sophienhöhe, an extensive artificial mountain made up of overburden from a nearby open-pit lignite mine, the

Tagebau Hambach The Tagebau Hambach is a large open-pit coal mine (german: Tagebau) in Niederzier and Elsdorf, North Rhine–Westphalia, Germany. It is operated by RWE and used for mining lignite. The mine is on the site of the ancient Hambach Forest, wh ...

). The lowest point, 70 m above sea level, lies in the borough of .

Climate

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as

oceanic Oceanic may refer to: *Of or relating to the ocean *Of or relating to Oceania **Oceanic climate **Oceanic languages **Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)" Places *Oceanic, British Columbia Oceanic is an unincorporated set ...

(Cfb).

Boroughs

The town of Jülich comprises 16 boroughs: * Town centre * Altenburg * * Bourheim * Broich * Daubenrath * Güsten * Kirchberg * Koslar * Lich-Steinstraß * Mersch * Merzenhausen * Pattern * Selgersdorf * Stetternich * Welldorf (including Serrest)

History

Jülich is first mentioned in Roman times as ''Juliacum'' along an important road through the Rur valley. Fortified during the late Roman period, it was taken over by the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

and grew to be the centre of a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

which became the nucleus of a regional power. The counts and dukes of Jülich extended their influence during the

and granted Jülich city status in 1234 (Count Wilhelm IV). During battles with the Archbishop of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, Jülich was destroyed in 1239 and again in 1278. In 1416, the city was granted fiscal independence by Duke Rainald of Jülich-Geldern. Following a fire in 1547, the city was rebuilt as an ideal city in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

style under the direction of the architect

Alessandro Pasqualini Alessandro Pasqualini (5 May 1493 – 1559) was an Italian Renaissance architect and engineer, born in Bologna, who helped bring Renaissance architecture to the Low Countries. He was hired by Floris van Egmond, the count of Buren and lo ...

. The citadel of Jülich was later visited by the French military engineer

Sébastien le Prestre de Vauban Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, Seigneur de Vauban, later Marquis de Vauban (baptised 15 May 163330 March 1707), commonly referred to as ''Vauban'' (), was a French military engineer who worked under Louis XIV. He is generally considered the ...

and was rated exemplary. After the ducal family line was extinguished in 1609, the

was divided in the

War of the Jülich Succession The War of the Jülich Succession was a war of succession in the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg. It lasted between 10 June 1609 and 24 October 1610, resumed in May 1614 and finally ended on 13 October 1614. The first round of the conflict ...

; as part of that war, the fortress at Jülich was occupied by Emperor Rudolph's forces. The 1610 siege by Dutch, Brandenburg and Palatine forces led to the surrender and withdrawal of Imperial troops. La rendición de Juliers

Jülich was occupied by the Dutch Republic until 1621-22 when the Spanish took the fortress after a five months of siege. Control of the city later fell to

Palatinate-Neuburg Palatinate-Neuburg (german: Herzogtum Pfalz-Neuburg) was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire, founded in 1505 by a branch of the House of Wittelsbach. Its capital was Neuburg an der Donau. Its area was about 2,750 km², with a population of ...

, then the

Electorate of the Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...

(1685) and

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

(1777). From 1794 to 1814, Jülich was part of France under the name of ''Juliers''. The French added the Napoleonic bridge head to the fortifications. In 1815, Jülich became a

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n fortification and district town. The town was subsequently administered within the Prussian Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (1815) and then the

Rhine Province The Rhine Province (german: Rheinprovinz), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. It ...

(1822). The fortification was razed in 1860. On 16 November 1944 (

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

), 97% of Jülich was destroyed during Allied bombing, since it was considered one of the main obstacles to the occupation of the Rhineland, although the city fortifications, the bridge head and the citadel had long fallen into disuse. The ruined city was subject to heavy fighting for several months until the Allies eventually managed to cross the Ruhr on 23 February 1945. Newsreel footage exists of Supreme Commander Eisenhower at the southern entrance to the citadel. Jülich became part of the new state of

after the war. From 1949 to 1956, the town centre was rebuilt along the plans of the Renaissance town. In 1998, the state garden fair took place in Jülich. This made the extensive restoration of the bridge head fortifications and the establishment of a large leisure park, the bridge head park, possible. Today, Jülich is mainly known for

Forschungszentrum Jülich Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ here for short) is a national research institution that pursues interdisciplinary research in the fields of energy, information, and bioeconomy. It operates research infrastructures with a focus on supercomputers. C ...

(established in 1956) and the satellite campus of the Fachhochschule Aachen (established in 1970). The town's landmark is the Witch Tower, a city gate and remnant of the medieval city fortifications. The most impressive remnants from the past are, however, both the Napoleonic Bridgehead and the Citadel.

Gallery

Image:Jülich, kerk 2009-08-15 12.57.JPG, Jülich, church Image:Zitadelle Juelich-DSC 0015w.jpg, Entrance of the Citadel

Population history

Twin towns – sister cities

Jülich is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Haubourdin, France (1964) *

Taicang Taicang is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China. The city located in the south of the Yangtze River estuary opposite Nantong, being bordered by Shanghai proper to the south, while the river also delineates ...

, China (2017)

Transport

BAB 4 is an autobahn that crosses Germany in a west–east direction. The western segment has a length of , the part in the east is long. Works to continue the A 4 are in progress, but currently no plans exist to fill the gap completely. T ...

(Düren / Jülich Interchange) * BAB 44 **(Jülich Ost (East)/ Mersch Interchange) **(Jülich West (West)/ Koslar Interchange) * Rurtalbahn, literally the Rur Valley Railway (Linnich - Jülich - Düren - Heimbach)

Culture and landmarks

Museums

* Historical Town Museum

Buildings

Particularly notable: * the Witchtower (Hexenturm) * the Citadel * the Napoleonic Bridgehead * the Church of the Assumption * the Aachener Tor (lit. Aachen Gate) * aerial towers of shortwave broadcasting facility

Shortwave broadcasting facility

In 1956 the

WDR WDR may refer to: * Waddell & Reed (stock ticker: WDR), an American asset management and financial planning company * Walt Disney Records, an American record label of the Disney Music Group * WDR neuron, a type of neuron involved in pain signall ...

broadcaster established the first short wave transmitter near the borough Mersch. In the subsequent years this site was expanded. On September 1, 1961 this site was handed over to the German Federal Post for establishing the German foreign broadcasting service, "Deutsche Welle". In the course of time 10 transmitters of 100 kilowatts were installed, whereby as transmitting antennas enormous dipole arrays between free standing steel framework towers were installed. Later these transmitters were rented to the predominant part to non-German broadcasting organisations. In the 90's on the area of the shortwave transmission facility also a transmitting plant for medium wave was installed, using a long wire antenna which is spun at a tower on the transmitter site. It was intended to be used for transmission of the programme of radio Viva on 702 kHz, but it never went into regular service for this broadcaster. From December 6, 2004 to May 2006, the medium-wave transmitter was used to broadcast the programme of the German commercial broadcaster "TruckRadio" on 702 kHz. In 2006 the shortwave-facilities were sold to the British entrepreneur Robert Edmiston and his

Christian Vision CV, formerly known as Christian Vision, is a large international Christian ministry established in 1988, based in the United Kingdom. CV was founded by Lord Edmiston, with a vision to "reach one billion people around the globe, introduce them to ...

-organization. However, on October 24, 2009 the site was shut down and antennas and transmitters have been dismantled by now.

Miscellaneous

The reliquaries of Christina von Stommeln.

Sport

Jülich-based sports teams are TTC Jülich (

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

, which competes in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footbal ...

, the domestic premiere league) and the SC Jülich 1910, an amateur

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

club that won the German national amateur championships in 1969, 1970 and 1971.

Healthcare

St. Elisabeth Hospital On November 19, 1891, the St. Elisabeth Hospital Jülich was opened. It was completely destroyed in World War II, but was rebuilt in 1946 and expanded over the following years: in 1950, an eye and an ENT department were set up, and in 1959 the specialist department for gynecology and obstetrics. There has been a nursing school since 1964. In 2003 an outpatient surgery center and in 2006 a new ward block were built. It is a 156-bed hospital with 300 employees. The sponsors were from 1891 to 1963 the city of Jülich, from 1963 to 1987 the Caritas association for the diocese of Aachen, from 1987 to 2010 the Malteser St. Elisabeth gGmbH and since 2010 it has been the Caritas Trägergesellschaft West gGmbH Rescue service The German Red Cross and the Malteser Hilfsdienst operate the rescue service in Jülich. The district of Düren (RDKD) has commissioned them to carry out the rescue service. The rescue stations are located in Jülich (DRK) and in the district of Mersch (MHD). The emergency vehicle is at the Jülich hospital.

Notable people

* Bobby Julich, American Cycling Star has traced his family ancestry back to Jülich * In the Netherlands, the name

Van Gulik Van Gulik (also Van Gulick and Van der Gulik) is a Dutch toponymic surname, meaning "from Gulik" (Duchy of Jülich). The counts and dukes of Jülich were named "van Gulik" in the local Meuse-Rhenish dialect. Other notable people with the surname ...

is quite common, e.g. the much translated author

Robert van Gulik Robert Hans van Gulik (, 9 August 1910 – 24 September 1967) was a Dutch orientalist, diplomat, musician (of the guqin), and writer, best known for the Judge Dee historical mysteries, the protagonist of which he borrowed from the 18th-century ...

. But one also finds variants like: ''Van Gulick, Van de(r) Gulik'' (cf David Van Der Gulik), ''Guliks, Gulickx, Gulikers'', and ''Jülicher'' *

Nikolaus von Maillot de la Treille Nikolaus Hubert Freiherr von Maillot de la Treille (25 September 1774 – 28 August 1834) was a Bavarian lieutenant general and War Minister under Maximilian I Joseph and Ludwig I of Bavaria. Biography Maillot de la Treille was born in Jülich. ...

, the Bavarian war minister, was born in Jülich

Citizens

* Johann Wilhelm Schirmer (1807–1863), landscape artist *

Antonius Fischer Anton Hubert Fischer (Antonius Fischer) (30 May 1840, in Jülich, Rhine Province – 30 July 1912, in Neuenahr) was a Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cologne and Cardinal (Catholicism), Cardinal. Life The son of a professor, he was educated at ...

(1840–1912), archbishop and cardinal *

Dürbeck & Dohmen Düberck & Dohmen, known as René Dohmen and Joachim Duerbeck, is the music duo which composes music for film & television, series, documentaries, theatre, commercials and artists. Their work covers a lot of ground - from classical songwriting to ...

, composer duo, René Dohmen (born 1966) and Joachim Dürbeck (born 1967) * (born 1967), mayor of Jülich *

Robert Leipertz Robert Leipertz (born 1 February 1993) is a German footballer who plays as a forward for club SC Paderborn. Club career On 3 May 2022, Leipertz signed a two-year contract with SC Paderborn Sport-Club Paderborn 07 e.V., commonly known as sim ...

(born 1993), football player * Heinz-Günther Nesselrath (born 1957), philologist *

Goswin Nickel Goswin Nickel (1582 - 31 July 1664) was a German Jesuit priest and the tenth Superior-General of the Society of Jesus. Goswin was born in Koslar, North-Westphalia (Germany). He studied in Paderborn and Mainz (1611–1615), where he was promoted ...

(1582–1664), 10th Superior-General of the Jesuits *

Gregory P. Unholt Gregory may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gregory (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gregory (surname), a surname Places Australia *Gregory, Queensland, a town in the Shire of ...

(born 1937), Jülich-born, German-American computer scientist

Associated with the town

* Grünberg, Peter (born 1939), physicist, Nobel Prize 2007

Literature

* Guido von Büren (Hrsg.): ''Jülich Stadt - Territorium - Geschichte]',

Kleve Kleve (; traditional en, Cleves ; nl, Kleef; french: Clèves; es, Cléveris; la, Clivia; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century ...

2000, * Ulrich Coenen: ''Von Juliacum bis Jülich. Die Baugeschichte der Stadt und ihrer Vororte von der Antike bis zu Gegenwart'', 2. Aufl., Aachen 1989. * Ulrich Coenen: ''Stadt Jülich = Rheinische Kunststätten'', Heft 368, Neuss 1991. * Conrad Doose/Siegfried Peters: ''Renaissancefestung Jülich'', 1998, * Ulrich Eckardt/Wolfgang Hommel/Werner Katscher: ''Flug über Jülich'', 2003, * Wolfgang Hommel: ''Stadtführer Jülich'', 1998, * Wolfgang Hommel: ''Jülich im Aufbruch - Landesgartenschau und Stadtentwicklungsprogramm Jülich '98'', 1998, * Dr. Erwin Fuchs/Wolfgang Hommel: ''Die Jülicher und ihre Wurzeln'', 1997, * Eva Behrens-Hommel: ''Sagen und Überlieferungen des Jülicher Landes'', 1996, * Eva Behrens-Hommel: '' Mundartsammlung des Jülicher Landes'', 1997, * Hartwig Neumann: Stadt und Festung Jülich auf bildlichen Darstellungen, Bonn 1991. * Gabriele Spelthahn: ''An der Synagoge - Jülich und der Holocaust'', 1997,

References

External links

*
The research centre

Campus Jülich of FH-Aachen (University of Applied Sciences)

The culture and leisure centre

The former state garden fair

Nice Webcam with a view of the witch tower

Edicts of Jülich, Cleves, Berg, Grand Duchy Berg, 1475-1815 (Coll. Scotti) online

Settlement of Dortmund between Brandenburg and Palatinate-Neuburg and the conflict of succession in Jülich, in full text
{{DEFAULTSORT:Julich Düren (district) Districts of the Rhine Province