Where oh where Wednesday - Aachen

Just down the road and across the border is Germany. That is what we have always loved about where we live and work - we are right where three different countries and languages converge. From the beginning of our time here we have also had good connections and communion with the church in these countries, areas and languages. 

If you ask today where the Euro currency started most will know that it was in Maastricht. That is where the treaty was signed. But hundreds of years before the European Union was begun, a sort of European Union was already taking shape not far from Maastricht. Aachen was the seat of Charlemagne. You may know it as Aix-la-Chapelle. In Dutch we know Charlemagne as “Charles the Great”. 

Charlemagne, Emperor of the Frankish Empire and the first Holy Roman Emperor wanted to make sure that his entire empire and the areas around it could work well together. The Holy Roman Empire crowned their kings in Aix-la-Chapelle (or Aachen). But it is originally a Roman settlement, just like Maastricht. It is a spa town, with a bath complex just like the town of Spa not far away in the Belgian Ardennes. 

When Charlemagne reigned (between 768-814) he made Aachen the political center of his empire. He succeeded in uniting Western and Central Europe. His was called the Carolingian Empire (after his name - Charles, or Karl). He changed the currency, making it standardized throughout the empire. 

He also had a great admiration for learning and education. He loved books and became a protector and patron of the making of manuscripts. He created a royal library and encouraged the teaching and translating of Christian texts into local languages. Because of his focus on books, learning and manuscripts, private libraries flourished at this time. 

Today we can travel to Aachen in 30 minutes and enjoy the special cookies there or asparagus while walking the medieval town, shopping the modern streets or taking in the royal bones of Charlemagne himself in the cathedral. 

When we first arrived to work in Maastricht, the church was meeting in Aachen. Until 2019 the congregation in Maastricht, the congregation in Cologne and members of the church in Aachen had gathered for a singing day in September. We may be able to finally get together again this year - either in Maastricht, Cologne, Aachen or Eindhoven.