Talk:Aachen

French pronounciation

I am somehow in doubt whether "EKS lah-shah-PEL" is really the correct French pronounciation for Aix-la-Chapelle. After all, it's not, e. g. "bore-DOKES" for Bordeaux, but "bore-DOUGH"? - Jk 02:10 Mar 21, 2003 (UTC)

Yes, but it is. – Torsten Bronger 07:26, 17 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Who said that French pronounciation follows any logic? :)

Pronounciation

Actually, the pronounciation hint is wrong. It's pronouced "Ey", not "Eks"

BSL: Note too that the pronunciation of Aix-en-Provence and Aix-les-Bains is "Eks", not "Ey". For reference, see http://www.ldsmissions.net/fpm/fpg.html 71.29.208.156 00:40, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

I´m sorry to disagree but the pronounciation is "Eks". I live in Aachen and I know, folks. --Ofconstanze 22:04, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Of course it is pronounced "eks". "Aix" derives from the old french word "Aigues" which comes in turn from the latin "Aquis", so the normal rules of french pronunciation do not apply. The article however appears quite contradictory for severel reasons. First, it is a fact that Aachen sports several Roman excavation sites -especially bathhouses- so there must have been a substantial settlement in Roman times. The article denies this. The palace of Charlemagne does not exist anymore because the city hall building has been built on top of it. Since this happened in the 12th century both cathedral and city hall are Unesco cultural heritage. For this reason the city hall belongs to the most important sights in Aachen, but is hardly mentioned in the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.137.7.110 (talk) 14:54, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Pronunciation

The line above is wrong. (Incidentally, the writer has spelled "pronunciation" wrongly, according to the Oxford Dictionary-maybe he or she is an American!)

I am also a French speaker and I have never heard any French speaking person say "Ey" for Aix. They always say "Eks". As the previous writer stated, there is no logic in it- it is just normal practice. There is not much logic in English either. Take "cough" and "bough" as an example.

Template:Infobox German Location

Please introduce the Infobox German Location with image. It provides a coherent look among German cities. Lear 21 23:01, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

Redirect from Bad Aachen?

Would a redirect from Bad Aachen be appropriate? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Quale (talk • contribs).

Why not? The "Bad" is part of the official name of the city, though it's usually not used. andy 16:04, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

Layout

I noticed that the picture labeled "Aachen cathedral" is covering some of the text above it. Just wondering if someone more tech-savvy could fix that. Thanks. 141.133.11.143 15:48, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

Name of Aachen

Disregarding the pronunciation Aix is quite often left out in France. Before I learnt that in railway signs it was almost always named La Capelle I had troubble since on many trains between Paris and Hamburg you have to change in Aachen. According to my sister living in France the reason is thet there are many Aix in France so they shorten it to the significant part. AND should that not be entered in the table of maning in different languages?Seniorsag 14:26, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

Spelling

It is claimed that the Romanian name for the city is Ahăn. I find this dubious at best, having always encountered it as Aachen in Romanian sources. In fact, few cities in countries with Latin alphabets have different spellings in Romanian, e.g., London → Londra, Moskow → Moscova, Budapest → Budapesta, etc (mostly capitals). In general, the original spelling in kept. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ajorza (talk • contribs) 21:16, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

bad pic from the RWTH main building

The picture shows just a part of the building and the "architec building" in the background. This one is better: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild:Aachen_RWTH_Hauptgebaeude.jpg —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.137.16.249 (talk) 17:39, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

Polish

Who cares about how the city is called in polish. It has nothing to do with poland. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.221.113.142 (talk) 13:23, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

Photo of medieval houses?

I'm skeptical about the "Middle Age-style architecture" that we mention in the caption to the photo at the start of the History section. The houses in the photo don't look distinctively medieval to me--I'd have guessed they date from around the 18th century, or maybe a few decades earlier or later. 65.213.77.129 (talk) 20:10, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

Population

This site needs to have the currant population somewhere-Chris141496 (talk) 23:57, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

Names in languages

The section on names in other languages (which was helpful, as Aachen is known by rather divergent names) has been removed, but there is still a link to it in the first para. Kraamlep (talk) 11:25, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

It was Pepin the Short, not Pippin the Younger, and Granus was a Roman, not a Celtic deity, apparently

Charlemagne's father was Pepin the Short, also known as Pepin III ("Charlemagne", by Derek Wilson, pg. 8 et alia, Doubleday Press, 2006), not "Pippin the Younger".

The French Wikipedia page says that Granus was a Roman who founded Aix-la-Chapelle around the year 124, during the time of the emperor Hadrian, rather than a Celtic deity as mentioned here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.127.120.151 (talk) 00:42, 15 November 2010 (UTC)

Aachen vs Aix-la-Chapelle

Aix-la-Chapelle really is an archaic English term for the city much like Brunswick for Braunschweig or Leipsic for Leipzig. No modern English speaker or source that I can think of would use this name. Naturally this older name should be mentioned in the article but it should not be over the city box as if it were an official name. Compare with the Braunsweig or Leipzig article. Burghardts (talk) 15:47, 1 February 2011 (UTC)

It would not be used for the current city, but it might be used in historical narratives. Certainly it is used in certain set phrases (the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle and the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle are never called the "Treaty of Aachen" or the "Congress of Aachen.") Leipsic is simply an obsolete name that would never be used in any modern account, historical or not. Brunswick might very well be used. john k (talk) 03:55, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

Note that footnote 7 is labeled "Pepin le Bref", (Pepin the Short), but the link leads to no information at all. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.127.120.220 (talk) 19:04, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Can anybody pls explain the origin of this french "Aix-la-Chapelle" ? The "King of the Sun" couldn't pronounce Aachen and so they referred to it as that place where something with a "Chapelle et une axe" ? Thx.--SvenAERTS (talk) 02:49, 21 March 2011 (UTC)

Aix is the french version of Aachen (or rather Aachen is the german version of Aix). Since the franch have many Aix they add a specification like Hay "on Wye". The La Chapelle is since there is a famous medievil (should be medeval i think) church there, ogrginaly a chapel. Seniorsag (talk) 13:18, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

Innovation Ranking: add International place

This information "For innovation, Aachen is currently ranked 8th among cities in Germany." could be put into perspective: "Internationally, Aachen ranks 42th place, right between Oslo and Basel.". Can't do it - protected. eMPee584 (talk) 14:14, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

sulpher springs historical significance

Hello, I was going through my old encyclopedia americana from 1959 and noticed that it said, "Aachen owes its chief celebrity to its sulpher springs, which mad the city a noted spa cince the 1st century A.D. (when the Romans frequented it), and, above all, to its many medieval associations and historic edifaces. Aachen was the favorite residence of Charlemagne, king of the Franks (768-814) and emperor of the West (800-814), who was born and died there and who made it the capital of his dominions north of the Alps. During the middle ages its status as a free city of the Holy Roman empire exempted its citizens from both feudal service and from imperial taxation. Aachen served as the coronation city for 37 German emperors from 814 to 1531 and preserved the imperial insigniauntil their transfer to Vienna, Austria, in 1795."

Also, "During World War II most of Aachen's meieval bnuildings were damaged or destroyed by Allied aerial and artillery bombardment before the American First Army, moving with massed firepower from street to street, took by storm on Oct. 20, 1944, this first German city to fall to the Allies and reduced to rubble much of what little had escped devestation. While the cathedral, which had been founded in 796 by Charlemagne and had been rebuilt in 983 by Emperor Otto III and had been restored with Gothic additions in the 14th and 15th centuries, recieved relatively small harm and saved most of its sacred relics (as well as Charlemagnes tomb), yet either severe damage or total destruction befell the historical museum, the art museum, the city hall, which was built in the 14th century on the site of Charlemagne's palace, and many medieval churches, such as St. Foillan's (12th Century), St. Nicholas' (14th century), and st. Paul's (15th century). Total damage was about 85 per cent."

I'm not good at writing articles or adding new information to articles, but I just thought I would write all this down it's a direct quote from 1959 Edition of Encyclopedia Americana volume 1 on page 2. Thanks! Thepoodlechef (talk) 18:10, 13 May 2012 (UTC)