Schleiden () is a town in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It lies in the

Eifel The Eifel (; , ) is a low mountain range in western Germany, eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Com ...

hills, in the district of

Euskirchen Euskirchen (; Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Öskerche'') is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Euskirchen (district), district Euskirchen. While Euskirchen resembles a modern shopping town, it also has a history dating ba ...

, and has 12,998 inhabitants as of 30 June 2017. Schleiden is connected by a tourist railway to

Kall KALL (700 AM) is a sports radio station in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area licensed to North Salt Lake, Utah, though in station identifications and the FCC database, the station is listed as being licensed to "North Salt Lake City". The ...

, on the

Eifel Railway The Eifel (; , ) is a low mountain range in western Germany, eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Com ...

between

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

and

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

. The town consists of 18 settlements, the largest of which are

Gemünd Gemünd is a municipality in the district of Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to ...

and Schleiden proper.

Subdivisions

The borough of Schleiden is divided into 18 settlements (population figures of those at their main residence as at September 2020):

Neighbouring municipalities

* North:

Heimbach (Eifel) Heimbach is a town in the district of Düren of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the river Rur, in the Eifel hills, approx. 20 km south of Düren. Heimbach has the smallest population of any town in North Rhine ...

( County of Düren) * East:

Mechernich Mechernich (, ) is a town in the district of Euskirchen in the south of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the "Naturpark Nordeifel" in the Eifel hills, approx. 15 km south-west of Euskirchen and 55 km from Co ...

(both in the county of Euskirchen) * South:

Hellenthal Hellenthal is a municipality in the district of Euskirchen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Eifel hills, near the border with Belgium, approx. 30 km south-west of Euskirchen and 40 km south-east of Aa ...

(County of Euskirchen) * West:

Monschau Monschau (; , ; ) is a small resort town in the Eifel region of western Germany, located in the Aachen district of North Rhine-Westphalia. Geography The town is located in the hills of the North Eifel, within the Hohes Venn – Eifel Nature ...

Simmerath Simmerath () is a municipality in the Aachen (district), district of Aachen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately 20 km south-east of Aachen, near the border to Belgium. The administrative area was expanded in 1972 ...

(both in the Borough of Aachen)

History

In the Middle Ages and Early Modern times, Schleiden was the centre of a

lordship A lordship is a territory held by a lord. It was a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and judicial unit in rural areas. It originated as a unit under the feudal system during the Middle Ages. In a lordship, the functions of eco ...

, later the County of Schleiden, which itself was part of the

Duchy of Luxembourg The Duchy of Luxembourg (; ; ; ) was a Imperial state, state of the Holy Roman Empire, the ancestral homeland of the noble House of Luxembourg. The House of Luxembourg became one of the most important political forces in the 14th century, comp ...

, from 1441/43 as part of the

Burgundian Netherlands The Burgundian Netherlands were those parts of the Low Countries ruled by the Dukes of Burgundy during the Burgundian Age between 1384 and 1482. Within their Burgundian State, which itself belonged partly to the Holy Roman Empire and partly t ...

(first under the Burgundians, then the Habsburgs). After the division of the Netherlands, the Duchy of Luxembourg with Schleiden remained as part of the Spanish line of the Habsburgs. After the

War of Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish ...

, the Duchy of Luxembourg, along with Schleiden, went to the Austrian line of the House of Habsburg. When revolutionary France conquered the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Ras ...

in 1794/95, the Duchy of Luxembourg was quickly divided into the three French departments:

Forêts Forêts () was a department of the French First Republic, and later the First French Empire, in present-day Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. Its name, meaning 'forests', comes from the Ardennes forests. It was formed on 24 October 1795, after t ...

Sambre-et-Meuse Sambre-et-Meuse () was a departments of France, department of the French First Republic and French First Empire in present-day Belgium. It was named after the rivers Sambre and Meuse. It was created on 1 October 1795, when the Austrian Netherlan ...

and

Ourthe The Ourthe (; Walloon: ''Aiwe d' Oûte'') is a long river in the Ardennes in Wallonia, Belgium. River It is a right tributary to the river Meuse. The Ourthe is formed at the confluence of the ''Ourthe Occidentale'' (Western Ourthe) and the '' ...

. Schleiden was in Ourthe (capital: Liege). At 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, Napol ...

of 1815, the formerly Luxembourgian areas east of the

Our Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" Places * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France Other uses * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a governm ...

Sauer The Sauer ( German and Luxembourgish, , ) or Sûre ( French, ) is a river in Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. A left tributary of the Moselle, its total length is . Rising near Vaux-sur-Sûre in the Ardennes in southeastern Belgium, the Sauer f ...

and

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

rivers were given to the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. Thus, Schleiden became "Prussian" and, in 1871, part of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

after having belonged to the Duchy of Luxembourg for centuries. The small town of Schleiden has produced two important

Christian humanists Christian humanism refers to two intellectual movements: the anti-paganizing wing of sixteenth century Renaissance humanism (the scholarly movement and worldview that recovered the classical humanities and ideals of citizenship and human dignity; ...

Johannes Sleidanus Johannes Sleidanus or Sleidan (1506 – 31 October 1556) was a Luxembourgish historian and annalist of the Protestant Reformation, Reformation. Life He was born at Schleiden in the Duchy of Luxembourg, then part of the Habsburg Netherlands. He st ...

and

Johannes Sturm Johannes Sturm (also known as Jean Sturm; Latinized as Ioannes Sturmius; 1 October 1507 – 3 March 1589) was a German educator and Protestant reformer, who was influential in the design of the gymnasium system of secondary education. Biogr ...

, also known as Ioannes Sturmius. In 1944 the Battle of Wahlerscheid took place nearby.

Mayors

* 1972−1975: Max Fesenmeyer (independent) * 1975−1984: Herbert Hermesdorf (1914-1999) (CDU) * 1984−1995: Alois Sommer (CDU) * 1995−1997: Dieter Wolter (CDU) * 1997−2004: Christoph Lorbach (CDU) * 2004−2012: Ralf Hergarten (independent) * 2012–2018: Udo Meister (FDP) * 2018– : Ingo Pfennings (CDU)

Education

There are the following schools in the city: *Municipal Johannes-Sturmius-High School *Clara-Fey-High School, Schleiden (carrier is the diocese of

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

) *Municipal Secondary School *Primary school *Elementary school *Elementary school Gemünd *Elementary school Dreiborn *Astrid Lindgren School, Schleiden Schloss Schleiden 005-

Sights

Castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

and church (1230 castle chapel, 1516–1525 late Gothic hall church, König organ from 1770) * From 1900 to 1905 the

Urft Dam The Urft Dam () is a 58.50 metre high dam in the southwestern part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It was built in 1905. The dam impounds the Urft (river), River Urft in the district of Kreis Euskirchen, Euskirchen to create the ...

was built as the largest

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

in Europe at the time. Today it is part of the

Eifel National Park The Eifel National Park () is the 14th national park in Germany and the first in North Rhine-Westphalia. The park was founded in 2004, and is classified as a "national park in development". Eifel National Park is part of the much larger High ...

. *

Ordensburg Vogelsang Ordensburg Vogelsang is a former Nazi complex located within the former military training area of Vogelsang in the Eifel National Park in North Rhine-Westphalia. The landmarked and fully preserved complex was used by the Nazi Party between 193 ...

on the former Vogelsang Training Area * "Tempelchen" war memorial for the victims of the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

of 1870/71 and the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

* Jewish Cemetery * Forest Experience Centre

Olef Valley Railway

The Olef Valley Railway (from

) stopped at Schleiden station; regular passenger services were discontinued by

Deutsche Bundesbahn Deutsche Bundesbahn (, ) or DB () was formed as the state railway of the newly established West Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained the state railway of West Germany u ...

in 1981. Because of the

, which was newly established in 2004, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia is supporting tourism with a two-year programme of passenger services in the tourist season on Sundays and public holidays. These services terminated in 2004 in the district of Gemünd, and in 2005 they continued to Schleiden. The

regional railway In the United States, a Class II railroad, sometimes referred to as a regional railroad, is a railroad company that is not Class I, but still has a substantial amount of traffic or trackage (and is thus not a short line). The Association of Ame ...

was managed by the

Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg The Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg (VRS), in English ''Rhine-Sieg Transport Association'', is the public transport association covering the area of the Cologne/Bonn Region, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Besides ''Aachener Verkehrsverbund'' (''AVV' ...

;

Rurtalbahn Rurtalbahn (German for "Rur Valley Railway") is a railway company servicing the Rur valley from Linnich to Heimbach. Its major hub is Düren station, from where two train lines run to the two destinations. Rurtalbahn GmbH is owned by R.A.T.H Gmb ...

was the operator. Regular traffic ended on 16 October 2005. Since 2006 services have been operated privately as a

museum railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...

in the summer season, with the 2008 season being operated by the Rhein-Sieg-Eisenbahn. From 2010, the trains will run again to Hellenthal station, using an historic MAN railbus. Due to massive damage caused by the

2021 European floods In July 2021, several European countries were affected by severe floods. Some were catastrophic, causing deaths and widespread damage. The floods started in the United Kingdom as flash floods causing some property damage and inconvenience. Lat ...

, museum railway services were suspended. Until 1997 there was regular freight traffic via Schleiden to Hellenthal, after that only military traffic to Schleiden-Höddelbusch (tank loading ramp). The last troop loading took place there in winter 2002 with diesel and steam locomotives from a private railway.Militärzug am 28. Januar 2002 in Schleiden
/ref> Belgium handed back the Vogelsang Training Area on 1 January 2006. The training area on the

Dreiborn Plateau The Dreiborn Plateau () is an area of woods and open terrain, some 33 square kilometres in area, in the Eifel National Park. It corresponds to the area of the Vogelsang Military Training Area which was handed back on 31 December 2005 and had been o ...

was turned over to non-military use and has a documentation centre and hiking area.

Public figures

(Sturmius) (1507–1589), educator and scholar of the Renaissance, a professor in Paris and founder of the University of Strasbourg *

(1506–1556), historian, professor, Schleiden / Strasbourg * Leopold Schoeller (1792–1884), industrialist and Privy Councillor of Commerce * Gustav Poensgen (1824–1904), industrialist and Privy Councillor of Commerce * Rudolf Poensgen (1826–1895), industrialist and councillor of commerce * Carl Poensgen (1838–1921), industrialist and Privy Councillor of Commerce * Larres Albert (1900–1987), painter * Francis Albert Heinen (born 1953), journalist and nonfiction writer * George Schreiber (born 1958), photographer * Vera Hilger (born 1971), painter

References

{{Authority control Euskirchen (district) Districts of the Rhine Province