The formerly independent municipality of Haaren lies four kilometers north 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 ...

, into which it was incorporated in 1972. Haaren lies at the fork of the

Wurm Wurm or Würm may refer to: Places * Wurm (Rur), a river in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany * Würm (Amper), a river in Bavaria, southeastern Germany ** Würm glaciation, an Alpine ice age, named after the Bavarian river * Würm (Nagold ...

, itself a tributary of the Rur, and a smaller stream that shares its name with the community. Two kilometers farther east lies the predominantly rural Verlautenheide community. As of 31 December 2020, the community has 12,482 inhabitants spread over 880 hectares.

History

During the

Carolingian dynasty The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Franks, Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Pippinids, Arnulfi ...

, the region now occupied by Haaren belonged to the Aachen Royal Court. Used as royal hunting grounds, it likely belonged to the

Würselen Würselen (, Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ) is a town in the borough of Aachen (district), Aachen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Würselen lies north of the city of Aachen in the immediate vicinity of the tripoint of Belgium, ...

royal estate of Wormsalt. The first written mention to Haaren occurs in 1152, in the medieval ''Annales Rodenses'', which were written at the Rolduc Abbey. Until the 18th century, Haaren belonged (together with Verlautenheide and Würselen) a district of the Free Imperial City of Aachen. The area was occupied by the French in 1792, and again in 1794. Haaren and Verlautenheide were administered independently under the French ''Mairie'' system and, beginning in 1801, belonged officially to France after the

Treaty of Lunéville The Treaty of Lunéville (or Peace of Lunéville) was signed in the Treaty House of Lunéville on 9 February 1801. The signatory parties were the French Republic and Emperor Francis II, who signed on his own behalf as ruler of the hereditary do ...

. After the Treaty of Paris in 1814, the community became part of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

.''Haaren vor den Toren der Stadt Aachen'', Heimatverein Haaren / Verlautenheide, Heft 2, 1987 In the 1920s, Haaren was mainly a working-class suburb for factories on ''Jülicher Straße'' (Jülich Street) in northeast Aachen. At that time, Haaren was a stronghold of the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (, ; KPD ) was a major Far-left politics, far-left political party in the Weimar Republic during the interwar period, German resistance to Nazism, underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and minor party ...

. In October 1944, Haaren was occupied by American troops and came under American first, and then British, administration. After the war, Haaren/Verlautenheide became an independently administered community within the region of Aachen. Following the restructuring of the towns and districts around Aachen, Haaren was incorporated into the city of Aachen, beginning 1 January 1972.

Buildings

There are several buildings of note in Haaren, such as the medieval Tithing Hall (''Zehnthof''), where farmers would submit goods that they were legally obligated to tithe. Additionally, the Catholic Church of St Germanus is a

neo-gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

structure that was erected in 1890-92, heavily damaged in 1944, and rebuilt in 1948. ''Gut Überhaaren'' is the oldest estate in Haaren, and lies on ''Auf der Hüls'' Street, formerly South Street (''Südstraße''). The keystone above the main entrance bears the inscription “1692”, but the estate was listed in the directory of the city of Aachen as early as the 13th century. The Welsh Mill (''Welsche Mühle'') is the only water mill in Aachen whose mill wheel is still in operation.

Notable persons

Viktor Brack Viktor Hermann Brack (9 November 1904 – 2 June 1948) was a member of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) and a convicted Nazi war criminal and one of the prominent organisers of the involuntary euthanasia programme Aktion T4; this Nazi initiative result ...

(1904–1948), SS-Oberführer (senior colonel) and defendant in the Doctors' Trial, a subset of the

Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

, executed for war crimes * Jakob Dautzenberg (1897–1979), Communist and WWII resistance fighter * Carlo Graaff (1914–1975), FDP Politician (FDP), member of parliament, and Minister of Economy of Lower Saxony * Josephine Koch (1815–1899), Catholic nun, founder of the Franciscan Women of the Holy Family (''Franziskanerinnen von der Heiligen Familie''), born in Haaren

Schools

Haaren has altogether four schools: the ''Gemeinschaftsgrundschule Am Haarbach'' (an elementary school), the ''Lindenschule'' (a special education school with an emphasis on language), as well as the vocational schools ''Mies-van-der-Rohe-Schule'' and the ''Berufskolleg für Gestaltung und Technik''.

Sports

In Haaren, there is the ''DJK FV Haaren 1912'' sports club. The group offers competitive sports such as

Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

and

Hapkido Hapkido ( , , ), also spelled ''hap ki do'' or ''hapki-do'' is a Korean martial art. It is a hybrid form of self-defense that employs joint locks, grappling, chokeholds, throwing techniques, kicks, punches, and other striking attacks. ...

, a Korean martial art. Additionally, they offer recreational sports and activities, such as track and field, dance aerobics, and sports badges.

Transport

Federal Highway 264 passes through Haaren on its way from

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 ...

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

. This road follows the same path as one that existed during the time of

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

. Public transport within Haaren is operated by ASEAG. In 2021 there are five bus stops: "Haaren Markt" being the central stop, operated by the lines 1, 7, 11, 21, 30, 31 and 41. Line 11 and 21 usually depart every 30 minutes, line 1, 31 and 41 every 60 minutes and line 7 and 30 only once a day. The other stops are "Denkmal" and "Haarberg" (Lines 11 and 21), "Tonbrennerstraße" (Lines 1, 7, 31 and 41) and "Bogenstraße" (Line 30 only - once a day) Also the Expressbus 220 to

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

passes through the village center but doesn't stop there anywhere. Though Haaren lies directly at the railway track from Aachen North Station to Jülich, there has never been a railway station for passenger transport on this line until it was closed in 1981. Nowadays, this track is a bicycle path.

References

External links

haaren-aachen.de
– Website of the Trade, Crafts, and Business Interest Group of Haaren.

haaren-verlautenheide.de
– Website of the Homeclub Haaren/Verlautenheide 1984, with information and publications on the history of the two communities {{Authority control Aachen Populated places established in the 12th century Former municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia