Düren (; ripuarian: Düre) is a town in

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 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, between

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th ...

and

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 ...

on the river Rur.

History

Roman era

The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the territory of the

Eburones The Eburones ( Greek: ) were a Gallic- Germanic tribe dwelling in the northeast of Gaul, in what is now the southern Netherlands, eastern Belgium and the German Rhineland, in the period immediately preceding the Roman conquest of the region. T ...

, a people who were described as both Belgae and

Germani The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...

. It was conquered by the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

under

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

and became part of Germania inferior. Durum became a supply area for the rapidly growing Roman city of

(Roman name Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium). Furthermore, a few important Roman roads skirt Durum (including the road from

Jülich Jülich (; in old spellings also known as ''Guelich'' or ''Gülich'', nl, Gulik, french: Juliers, Ripuarian: ''Jöllesch'') is a town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. As a border region betw ...

and Tongeren and the road from Cologne to

Zülpich Zülpich ( ksh, Zöllech) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany between Aachen and Bonn. It belongs to the district of Euskirchen. History The town is commonly agreed to be the site with the Latin name of ''Tolbiacum'', famous for th ...

and Trier). By the 4th century, the area was settled by the

Ripuarian Franks Ripuarian or Rhineland Franks (Latin: ''Ripuarii'' or ''Ribuarii'') were one of the two main groupings of early Frankish people, and specifically it was the name eventually applied to the tribes who settled in the old Roman territory of the Ubii, ...

. The name ''villa duria'' occurred the first time in the Frankish Annals in the year 747. Frankish king

Pippin the Short the Short (french: Pépin le Bref; – 24 September 768), also called the Younger (german: Pippin der Jüngere), was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian to become king. The younger was the son of t ...

often visited Düren in the 8th century and held a few important conventions there. The Franks made of Durum a royal palace, from which the name Palatine ( Pfalz in German) is derived.

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...

sojourned a few times there. Due to the frequent visits of Charlemagne, a few markets sprang up, such as the corn, cattle, wood, chicken, and butter markets, all of which contributed to Düren's development. The castle was built at the place where, since 1991, the Saint Anne Church is located.

Middle Ages

Düren obtained city rights in the early 13th century. Around 1200, the construction of the city wall was started, which includes 12 towers and 5 gates. The gates faced all directions: in the north, the ''Philippstor'') and the ''Wirteltor'', in the east the ''Kölntor'' (Cologne gate), in the south the ''Obertor'' and in the west the ''Holztor'' (wooden gate). There are still ruins of the gates today. The chiseler Leonhard stole a small box with the relic of Saint Anne out of the Mainzer Stiftskirche St. Stephan in 1501 and brought it to Düren.

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or t ...

decided on March 18, 1506 that Düren could keep the remains. They were kept in the ''Martinskirche'' (church of Saint Martin) which was renamed the ''Annakirche'' (church of Saint Anne) in 1505. (Probably the church was renamed much later, because in the 19th century it was still called sometimes parish church of the holy Martinus). Saint Anne became the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of Düren. Every year, the

saint's day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context doe ...

of Saint Anne (July 26) is celebrated for one week with the Anna octavos and the Anna parish fair, one of the biggest folk festivals of

17th to 19th century

In 1642, Düren was embroiled in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

. Opposing troops destroyed the city. After the war has finally ended in 1648,

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

broke out and caused many lives to be lost. A second plague epidemic broke out in 1665. Due to the various attacks on the debilitated city, Düren was destroyed again in 1679. In this time, the settlement Miesheim was destroyed, never to be rebuilt. Towards the end of the year 1755 in the area around Düren and

began a series of

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

s, which reached its peak on February 18, 1756 with an earthquake with the strength 8 on the Mercalli scale. The series of earthquakes affected all of Europe, most famously the

1755 Lisbon earthquake The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In combination with ...

. The businesses in the area of Düren was affected since the 15th century by the drapery and metal industry. Since the beginning of the 17th century, paper industry had settled here, advantaged by the exceptionally soft water of the Rur. Rütger von Scheven built the first paper mill in Düren. In 1812, there were already 17 paper factories, 11 cloth- and blanket factories, an iron rolling mill or slitting mill and two iron foundries. In the year 1794, Düren was occupied by French revolutionary troops. From 1798 until 1814, Düren was the main city of the same named canton in the arrondissement

of the French ''Roerdepartements'' (from the name of the River Rur (Roer) and ''départment''). After the

Congress of Vienna 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 ...

in 1815, Düren was ceded to the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

and was subsequently administered within the Rhine Province.

20th century

By 1900, Düren was among Germany's richest cities (with 42 millionaires and 93 factories) and had a population of 27,168. By comparison, fewer than 5,000 people had lived in Düren a century earlier. The city of Düren was located on the main fighting front during the Allied invasion of Germany in

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 ...

. During 1944 and 1945, the protracted and bloody Battle for Hürtgenwald was fought on Düren's district area, and on November 16, 1944, Düren was completely destroyed by Allied air bombings. Approximately 22,000 people lived in Düren at that time, and 3,000 of them died during the bombing. Those who survived were evacuated to central Germany. Destroyed buildings included the Stadttheater Düren (1907), designed in Jugendstil by Carl Moritz. On February 25, 1945, U.S. troops crossed the Rur at Düren. After the war was over in the summer that year, many evacuated people came back to the destroyed city and started to rebuild their homes against the advice of the American troops. By June 1945, the population had risen to 3,806. Most of the architecture in Düren therefore dates from the 1950s. Düren-Ühledömche

Culture and points of interest

The most famous museum of Düren is the Leopold Hoesch Museum. The in 1905 in Baroque Revival architecture erected building presents changing exhibitions of contemporary art. Since 1986, can also be seen artworks of the international Biennale PaperArt. Since 2006, is in the former nurses' home of the St. Augustinus Hospital Lendersdorf the Düren Carnival Museum. The most recent museum is the in 2009 founded Stadtmuseum Düren. This museum shows an exhibition of the local history.

Theatre and music

The former Stadttheater Düren was opened in January 1907. In the bombing of November 16, 1944 the theatre was almost completely destroyed. Today cultural performances take place mainly at the ''Haus der Stadt''. Since 2004 the multi-functional ''Arena Kreis Düren'', which has around 2000 seats, serves as a venue for major concerts.

Buildings

At the edge of the forest in the Niederau district lies Burgau Castle. The water castle ways inhabited by the Counts of Heinsberg at the beginning of the 14th Century. After it was destroyed in 1944, the restoration process lasted from 1979 to 1998. In Theodor Heuss Park is the Bismarck Memorial, erected in 1892 to commemorate the most famous honorary citizen from Düren. The town hall was inaugurated in 1959. It now ranks as an example of 1950s architecture under Cultural heritage management.

Politics

The current mayor of Düren is Frank Peter Ullrich of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(SPD) since 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows: ! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Candidate ! rowspan=2, Party ! colspan=2, First round ! colspan=2, Second round , - ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Frank Peter Ullrich , align=left,

, 10,641 , 36.1 , 14,853 , 69.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Thomas Floßdorf , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 7,877 , 26.7 , 6,435 , 30.2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Maria Belka , align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens , 6,724 , 22.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Siegfried Fahl , align=left,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

, 2,166 , 7.3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Karl Cremer , align=left, Free Democratic Party , 2,113 , 7.2 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 29,521 ! 97.2 ! 21,288 ! 98.3 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 837 ! 2.8 ! 364 ! 1.7 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 30,358 ! 100.0 ! 21,652 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 69,324 ! 43.8 ! 69,257 ! 31.3 , - , colspan=7, Source: City of Düren
1st round

City council

The Düren city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 9,896 , 33.3 , 7.7 , 17 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(SPD) , 8,555 , 28.8 , 3.7 , 15 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) , 5,317 , 17.9 , 8.1 , 9 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alternative for Germany (AfD) , 2,111 , 7.1 , 1.6 , 4 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 1,338 , 4.5 , 1.2 , 2 , ±0 , - , , align=left, Citizens for Düren (BfD) , 943 , 3.2 , 1.1 , 2 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 844 , 2.8 , 2.5 , 1 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Pirate Party Germany (Piraten) , 396 , 1.3 , New , 1 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Independent Harf , 329 , 1.1 , New , 1 , New , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 29,729 ! 98.1 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 581 ! 1.9 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 30,310 ! 100.0 ! ! 52 ! 2 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 69,324 ! 43.7 ! 1.7 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Düren

Worship

*The most important church in the city is the Annakirche. The church was completely destroyed by bombing in 1944 and rebuilt in the 1950s under the guidance of the architect Rudolf Schwarz. Throughout the city there are 15 other Catholic parish and church communities, including in Arnoldsweiler. * The most important Protestant church in Düren is the Christuskirche. At its inauguration in 1954, it possessed the highest freestanding bell tower in Germany. * Up to the destruction of Kristallnacht, the synagogue was located in Schützenstraße. In its place is now a stele from Düren artist Rückriem.

Main sights

*'' Burgau Castle'' (German: Schloss Burgau) *''Dicker Turm'' ("Fat Tower"), a remain of the old city's fortifications *''Annakirche'' (St. Anne Church) *''Marienkirche'' (St. Mary Magdalene Church) *Monument to Bismarck *Leopold Hoesch Museum

Emblem

The emblem of the city of Düren is divided. It shows on the top a red castle, below that, a black eagle and in the lower half a black lion with a red tongue. The black eagle refers to the old history of Düren as a royal city and Reichsstadt. In 1242–46 Düren was bonded to the dukes of Jülich (later,

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

was also Duke of Jülich). Their emblem was a lion passant, with open mouth and a red tongue.

Twin towns – sister cities

Düren is twinned with: * Altmünster, Austria * Cormeilles, France * Gradačac, Bosnia and Herzegovina * Jinhua, China * Karadeniz Ereğli, Turkey *

Stryi Stryi ( uk, Стрий, ; pl, Stryj) is a city located on the left bank of the river Stryi in Lviv Oblast (region) of western Ukraine 65 km to the south of Lviv (in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains). It serves as the administrative cen ...

, Ukraine * Valenciennes, France

Media

Düren has its own radio station ( Radio Rur). The station broadcasts on 92.7 and 107.5 MHz, and on cable at 87.5 MHz. There are two daily newspapers (Dürener Zeitung, Dürener Nachrichten) and several weekly papers.

Notable people

* Karl Benrath (1845–1924), church historian * Johann Bollig (born 1821), Pontifical Theologian and advisor to Pope Pius IX * Marita Breuer (born 1953), actress * Manfred Donike (1933–1995), cyclist *

Gert Engels Gert Engels (born 26 April 1957) is a former German footballer. He last coached Nadeshiko League club INAC Kobe Leonessa. In 2018, Engels received the German Football Ambassador Award for sporting and social commitments abroad. He was succeeded i ...

(born 1957), football coach *

John Engels John Engels (January 19, 1931 South Bend, Indiana - June 13, 2007 Vermont) was an American poet. Life John Engels graduated from University of Notre Dame in 1952. After Navy service, Engels studied at the University College, Dublin, then gradua ...

(born 1959), historian *

Simon Ernst Simon Ernst (born 2 April 1994) is a German handball player, currently playing for SC DHfK Leipzig Handball and the German national team. Achievements * European Championship: **: 2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: B ...

(born 1994), Handball Player *

Margot Eskens Margot Eskens (12 August 1936 – 29 July 2022) was a German Schlager singer, most popular in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1956 and 1957 she had two #1 hits, "Tiritomba" (which sold over 800,000 copies) and "Cindy, oh Cindy", which was her biggest ...

(born 1939), Schlager singer * Jerome Felton (born 1987), American football player * Gossen, Hermann Heinrich (1810–1858), Prussian

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

* Georg Hamel (1877–1954), mathematician * Wilfried Hannes (born 1957), football player * Ute Hasse (born 1963), swimmer, Olympic silver medal *

Rudolf Henke Rudolf Paul Maria Henke (born 5 June 1954) is a physician and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as a member of the German Bundestag from 2009 until 2021. Education and early career Born in Düren, Henke completed his ...

(born 1954), MP'' * Leopold Hoesch (1820–1899), founder of Hoesch AG in

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

, founder of the Leopold Hoesch Museum in Düren * Friedrich Honigmann (1841–1913), mining entrepreneur * Gerd Hoppe (born 1968), Evangelist *

Karin Jacobsen Karin Jacobsen (1924–1989) was a German actress and screenwriter.Goble p.242 She was married to the actor Carl-Heinz Schroth and the film producer Gero Wecker. Selected filmography * ''Artists' Blood ''Artists' Blood'' (german: Artistenblut ...

(1924–1989), actress and screenwriter * Harald Konopka (born 1952), football legends *

Karl Lauterbach Karl Wilhelm Lauterbach (; born 21 February 1963) is a German scientist, physician, and politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who has served as Federal Minister of Health since 8 December 2021. He is professor of health eco ...

(born 1963), economist and politician * Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet (1805–1859),

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

Michael Lentz Michael Lentz (born 1964) is a German author, musician, and performer of experimental texts and sound poetry. Life Lentz was born in Düren. His father (1927–2014) was city manager () of Düren. Lentz completed his ''Abitur'' at the in 1983 ...

(born 1964), writer, musician *

Christoph Moritz Christoph Moritz (born 27 January 1990) is a German professional Association football, footballer. He plays as a defensive midfielder. Career Moritz began his footballing career in 1994, at the age of four, as a youth player with FC Viktoria 08 ...

(born 1990), football player * Kalle Pohl (born 1951), comedian *

Eugen Prym Eugen Prym (15 December 1843 in Düren – 6 May 1913 in Bonn) was a German orientalist, who specialized in Semitic languages, especially Arabic and Aramaic. He was the brother of mathematician Friedrich Prym (1841–1915), and is the grea ...

(1843–1913), orientalist and linguist *

Friedrich Prym Friedrich Emil Fritz Prym (28 September 1841, Düren – 15 December 1915, Bonn) was a German mathematician who introduced Prym varieties and Prym differentials. Prym completed his Ph.D. at the University of Berlin in 1863 with a thesis wri ...

(1841–1915), mathematician), musician * Sven Schaffrath (born 1984), football player *

Karl-Heinz Schnellinger Karl-Heinz Schnellinger (born 31 March 1939) is a German former footballer who played as a defender. An athletic and hard-tackling player, with a strong physique, he was nicknamed the " Volkswagen" for his continuity of performance, both in q ...

(born 1939), football player * Max von Schillings (1868–1933), conductor and composer *

Sybille Schmitz Sybille Maria Christina Schmitz (2 December 1909 – 13 April 1955) was a German actress. Biography Schmitz attended an acting school in Cologne and got her first engagement at Max Reinhardt's Deutsches Theater in Berlin in 1927. Only one year ...

(1909–1955), German

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

star * Rudolf Schock (1915–1986),

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

singer * Harald Schumacher (born 1954) football player with

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., commonly known as simply FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English, is a German professional football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs ''Kölner Ball ...

and Germany * Hermann Schwarz (1864–1951), philosopher * Georg Stollenwerk (born 1927), football player * Klaus H. Carl (born 1935), photographer * Lars Vogt (1970–2022),

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

* Paul J. J. Welfens (1957–2022), economist

References

External links

Düren, official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duren Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Free imperial cities Districts of the Rhine Province Düren (district) Articles containing video clips