Roetgen () is a municipality in the district 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 ...

, 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 ...

Geography

Roetgen is located approximately 16 km (10 mi) south-east of

, near the border with

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. It is in the north of the High Fens-Eifel Nature Park on the

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

stream which rises a few kilometres to the south. Between Roetgen and Rott is the Dreilägerbach Reservoir, which is fed by the Dreilägerbach stream and the artificially Schleebachgraben and Hasselbachgraben ditches. The attached waterworks supplies large parts of Aachen and the Dutch town of

Kerkrade Kerkrade (; Kerkrade dialect, Ripuarian: ; ; or ''Kirchrath'') is a town and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeast of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg, the southernmost province of the Netherlands. It forms part of the P ...

with

drinking water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...

. The parish of Roetgen includes the villages of Roetgen, Rott and Mulartshütte, which is the oldest part of Roetgen. To the northwest is the borough of

with its quarters of Kornelimünster and Walheim, to the northeast is the town of Stolberg with its quarters of Venwegen and Zweifall, to the southeast is the

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 ...

parish of Lammersdorf. To the west, on the far side of the German-Belgian

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

lies the town of

Eupen Eupen (, , ; ; ; former ) is the capital of German-speaking Community of Belgium and is a city and municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Belgium, Belgian Liège Province, province of Liège, from the Germany, German border (Aachen ...

and the municipalities of

Raeren Raeren () is a municipality of the German speaking community of Belgium located in the Walloon province of Liège. It was part of Germany until the First World War, after which it became part of Belgium. It is one of several towns in eastern Bel ...

, whose parish of Petergensfeld borders immediately on Roetgen north of Charliers Mill. Roetgen is attractive for commuters as it is already part of 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 ...

and yet is still close in proximity to Aachen.

History

In World War II, Roetgen was the first German town to fall under American control. American forces arrived in the town on 12 September 1944 at 14:30 hours. The city was the location of the

court martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the mili ...

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

Private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

Eddie Slovik in November 1944, notable because of all US military personnel in World War II accused of

desertion Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ...

, Slovik was the only one sentenced to death and actually

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

. On March 13, 2019, Roetgen was hit by a low-end F3

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

. The tornado caused moderate to severe damage to buildings and trees. Vehicles were also overturned and flipped. 5 people were injured by the tornado.

Division of the municipality

Roetgen consists of three districts: * Roetgen * Rott * Mulartshütte Mulartshütte is the oldest settlement of the three.

Sights

* St. Mary's Chapel (''Marienkapelle'', 1636–1660) is the surviving part of the first Roman Catholic parish church in Roetgen. It was partially demolished when the Neogothic St. Hubert's Church (1854–1856) was built. It was consecrated to Saint Hubertus of

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 ...

, the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

. * In Roetgen's town hall there is a sculpture of a weaver by Hermann Pier (1925–1985); outside on the forecourt is a replica. It has historical as well as artistic value, because this craft was an important part of Roetgen's economic history. * Charliers Mill (substructure of

rubble stone Rubble masonry or rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Some medieval cathedral walls have outer shells of ashlar wit ...

, 1768) is an old

water mill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production ...

(today a domestic residence) on the

stream. In the countryside behind the mill, with its pastures, rows of beech rows and ponds runs Stage 1 of the Eifelsteig hiking trail.

Gallery

Image:Roetgen Hauptstraße 66 Katholische Hallenkirche.jpg, St. Hubert's Roman Catholic Church File:Marienkapelle (Roetgen) 07.jpg, St. Mary's Chapel Image:Roetgen, kerk2 foto8 2011-03-23 15.41.JPG, The Protestant church

References

External links

* {{Authority control Aachen (district)