Germany 2001
Aachen
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At the Aachen train station a bunch of wild horses greet the visitor |
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Horses were definitely the theme of the town, while I was there |
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Horses everywhere... |
However, that did not keep me from the Cathedral, known as the Imperial Cathedral |
The Cathedral was Emperor Charlemagne's (aka Karl der Große, aka Karolus Magnus) (742-814), a man of huge stature, who unified much of Europe into what was then known as the Sacrum Imperium Romanum Nationis Germanicae, or the Holy Roman Empire of Germanic Nations. He was crowned by the Pope in Rome. There is a huge story here that I always was interested in. He was born in either Aachen or Liege and his lineage extends to the Christianized western Germanic Franks. |
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Crowned 'Emperor of the Romans' by Pope Leo III in 800 AD |
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The Carolingian Empire was born from the ashes of the Roman Empire, which fell 300 years earlier - click for larger image |
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After his death, his three sons were installed as kings of the three parts of the Empire - click for larger image |
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Charlesmagne's sarcophagus in he background |
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The ornate pulpit |
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You know that the French claim him as theirs, but so do the Germans. He ruled both. In this picture as on the walls of the Cathedral you can see both, the German Eagle and the French Fleur de Lis. He ruled from Aachen. |
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This is a particularly interesting map, since it shows the roots of the Empire. Austrasia, apparently controlled by the Germanic Franks, is about as much in Germany as it is in modern Belgium and France. That explains much. |
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Can't wait to visit this place again and go to the museum where the emperor's throne is. It's a brief commuter train ride from Düsseldorf |
