I kicked off my road trip adventure around Europe in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany. It's just over the border with Belgium and my first stop was Aachen where I'd have my Destination Challenges kick off in the region.
My challenge was to find 4 places that are related to 'Charlemagne' aka 'Charles The Great' who was king of the Franken and later even got the title of Roman Emperor. It is said that he was the great uniter of European people in West and Central Europe.
Sounds like a social guy... :-)
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| Reaching out on Instagram |
For this Challenge I got help from Sofie from Wanderful Wanderings. Sofie is a Belgian blogger that I befriended some years ago now and totally worth checking out ;-). She saw me reaching out and immediately pointed me in the right direction!
My pleasure! Good fun trying to solve the challenge along with you :)— Sofie Couwenbergh (@WondWand) March 26, 2018
Here are the places that I found related to Charlemagne
The Aachen Cathedral
This majestic cathedral can be found in the heart of the old town of Aachen! The link it has to Charlemagne is that he's buried inside. Historically the cathedral had also a significant role in crowning the kings of its time. It's really an architectural marvel and especially the inside is very impressive.
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| recognize the roman influences? |
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| Always look up ;-) |
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| It doesn't get more Roman than this. |
Aachen Cathedral on Google Maps
The city hall of Aachen
aka the palace of Charlemagne. How cool is that? They turned the palace of a former king into a city hall from where today Aachen is ruled. It's right across the Aachen cathedral so quite hard to miss :-)
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| Tadaaaa, Charlemagne's palace aka the Aachen city hall |
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| Isn't she a beauty! |
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| Charlemagne striking the pose in front of his palace in Aachen |
City hall Aachen on Google Maps
Centre Charlemagne
This museum is dedicated to the life of Charlemagne aka Charles The Great in Aachen. Unfortunately it was closed when I visited but I hope to swing by next time.
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| The man himself: Charlemagne aka Charles the Great |
Centre Charlemagne on Google Maps
Kaiser Karls Gymnasium
Bumped into this building just by exploring the city. It's a school that got named after Charles The Great.
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| This school in Aachen is named after Charlemagne |
Kaiser Karls Gymnasium on Google Maps
Route Charlemagne Aachen
There's a walking tour that's called 'Route Charlemagne Aachen' in case you ever want to step into his footsteps as well. ;-)
Eating and drinking in Aachen
While I was bouncing around Aachen in search of Charlemagne places I found some delicious food spots along the way. :-)
Butcher Gerrards
I got told they got the best Karlswurst in town, named after... you guessed it ;-)
Fleischerei Gerrards on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/bKCzYBxsz632
Nobis Printen
This shop sells something very typical for Aachen: Printen.
They are unique to the region and got its history from Aachen being a cross road. Printen are a type of snack that were made to not go bad so people could eat them during their travels. Now you have them in a lot of different varieties.
Nobis Printen on Google maps: https://goo.gl/maps/gFbm7vnUM162
Weinhaus Lesmeister
At this liquor store I learned that Aachen has a huge variety of locally produced alcoholic beverages. They produce all kinds of (herbal) liquors, wines, beers and even gins!
You won't get thirsty in Aachen, that's for sure ;-)
Weinhaus Lestmeister on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/q6u6rK4Sv4L2
Some more impressions of Aachen
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| Haus Loewenstein |
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| Horse and carriage |
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| Fishpueddelchen statue. Anybody out there who can tell me the story of this little boy? |
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| Literally everything is related to Charlemagne in Aachen :-) |
Related posts
- Xanten, where you find Romans by the Rhine
- The castles of Munsterland
- Visiting the oldest Alt bier brewery in the world
- Kolsch in 'Das Bergische land'
- The Queens of German Beer
- The mountains of the Ruhr District
The “Fischpüddelchen” is a fountain monument which was built on the Fischmarkt in 1911. The name “Püddelchen” comes from the “Öcher Platt” local dialect, and means a small naked child. Located in the city centre, the Fischpüddelchen was initially a controversial figure, since children in particular were upset by its nakedness. After many years of dispute, with police guarding the monument, the citizens of Aachen learned to love the Fischpüddelchen, as do many visitors to the city.
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