Herzogenrath (; ; ) is a municipality in the
district of Aachen in the
German state of
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 ...
. It borders the
Dutch town of
Kerkrade, 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. 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, a Imperial State, state of the Holy Roman Empire, was established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant of 1085–1183, and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries. The Duchy comprised part of the Bu ...
took control of the region; in French it was called
Rolduc (''Rode-le-Duc'').
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, it was under
Spanish control from 1661,
Austrian between 1713 and 1795 and
French between 1795 and 1813. In 1815, when the
Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Kingdom of the Netherlands (, ;, , ), commonly known simply as the Netherlands, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united under the monarch of the Netherlands, who functions as head of state. The re ...
was formed under the terms of the
Vienna Congress, 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. The former abbey is now the ''Rolduc Congress Center'' in Kerkrade.
During
World War I
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 ...
, 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
[ 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.][
]
Culture
In addition to Standard German
Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the umbrella term for the standard language, standardized varieties of the German language, which are used in formal contexts and for commun ...
, many inhabitants of Herzogenrath speak the Kerkrade dialect, a Ripuarian variety also spoken on the other side of the border in Kerkrade.
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 Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal i ...
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 heaps, today's Herzogenrath has moved into other industries. Large-scale employers include Saint-Gobain, Aixtron, Vetrotex (textile glass) and Ericsson
(), commonly known as Ericsson (), is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Ericsson has been a major contributor to the development of the telecommunications industry and is one ...
Eurolab (electronics). The city hosts a number of electronics start-ups, profiting from the neighbouring Technical University RWTH Aachen.
Twin towns – sister cities
Herzogenrath is twinned with:
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
Notes
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia
Divided cities
Aachen (district)