Sign in with Facebook"Singing in the reign . . ." Top 5 Page for this destination Aachen by Nemorino
Aachen Travel Guide: 573 reviews and 1,127 photos
Aachen is a border city just six kilometers away from the Three Countries' Corner, which is a place up in the woods where the borders of Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium all come together.
As in most border towns, the people tend to be monolingual and not very interested in the languages and cultures of their neighbors just up the road. (It would be great if somebody from Aachen could write me a comment contradicting this statement, in case it's not true.)
But Aachen wasn't always as peripheral as it is today. A mere twelve centuries ago Aachen was the center of a mighty empire during the reign of Charles the Great (742-814), better known as Charlemagne.
While I don't know much about Charlemagne or his empire, I am quite familiar with the opera Fierrabras, by Franz Schubert (1797-1828), which features Charlemagne as one of the main characters. This is an opera which is very seldom performed -- up to now there have been only four productions of it altogether, two of which I have seen. I have described one of these on my Zürich intro page.
The opera I saw on my recent visit to Aachen was not about Charlemagne but about a very different ruler, a dictator named Lucius Cornelius Sulla who reigned in Rome around 82 or 81 BC. In the opera he goes by his Italian name of Lucio Silla.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was only sixteen when he composed Lucio Silla in 1772, but it was already his eighth opera. This was the third of three operas that he composed in Milan, Italy, for the “Regio Ducal Teatro”, which was Milan's opera house at the time. Like the other two it was a huge success, as I have described in a tip called Mozart in Milan.
The Aachen production was the second staging of Lucio Silla that I have seen so far. We had a beautiful production of it in Frankfurt am Main from 1993 to 1995, and I was also quite satisfied with the Aachen production, which was part of a series of four Mozart operas all involving rulers who at first seem to be vicious tyrants but turn out to be lenient and kind-hearted in the end. This was a common ending for opera plots in the 17th and 18th centuries, since the local rulers were often the ones who paid for the operas -- but today it's very hard for the stage director to make the ruler's sudden change of heart appear plausible on stage!
Reviews (19)
Buses
Transportation
(6)
Aachen does not have any tram lines, but they do have an extensive system of bus lines with frequent service. As in... more travel advice
Signs for pedestrians
Transportation
(6)
The city of Aachen has set up ample orientation signs not only for motorists and cyclists, but also for pedestrians,... more travel advice
Bicycle parking
Transportation
(6)
Here's an example of how the City of Aachen has made a tenfold improvement in the use of public space at very little... more travel advice
Cycling in Aachen
Transportation
(6)
Although Aachen is not one of Germany's outstanding bicycle cities, they do have 290 kilometers of signposted bicycle... more travel advice
-
Things to Do (7)
See All Suermondt-Ludwig Museum -
Been to Aachen?
Share your travels with the world!
Nemorino's Related Pages
-
Münster
Top 5 Page for this destination
-
Cologne
-
Bonn
Top 5 Page for this destination
-
Dortmund
Top 5 Page for this destination
-
Essen
Top 5 Page for this destination
-
Düsseldorf
-
Gelsenkirchen
Top 5 Page for this destination
-
Bielefeld
Top 5 Page for this destination
-
Krefeld
Top 5 Page for this destination
-
Hagen
-
Hannover
Top 5 Page for this destination
-
Braunschweig
Top 5 Page for this destination
-
Bacharach
Top 5 Page for this destination
-
Koblenz
Top 5 Page for this destination
-
Mainz
Top 5 Page for this destination
-
Kaiserslautern
Top 5 Page for this destination
-
Berlin
-
Saarbrücken
Top 5 Page for this destination
-
Frankfurt am Main
Top 5 Page for this destination
-
Bad Homburg vor der Höhe
Top 5 Page for this destination
Aachen Travel Guide
Member Travel Pages
- "City of Kings and Thermal Baths"
- "Singing in the reign . . ."
- "Karnival and Charlemagnia"
- "Aachen - City of Coronations and Cakes!"
- "Aachen - City of Charlemagne"
- "Aachen"
- "The city of Aachen"
- See All...
Explore the World
Badges & Stats in Aachen
- 19 Reviews
- 52 Photos
- 20 Forum posts
- 29 Comments
- 1,919PageViews
- See All Stats
- See All Badges (54)
Have you been to Aachen?
Share Your TravelsLatest Activity in Aachen
- Commented on CatherineReichardt's Aachen Page
- updated a Aachen Travel Page "Singing in the reign . . ."
- Uploaded a Photo to "Singing in the reign . . ."
- Wrote a Review Buses in Aachen Transportation
Top 10 Pages
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Paris
Intro, 207 reviews, 774 photos, 3 travelogues
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Frankfurt am Main
Intro, 91 reviews, 224 photos, 6 travelogues
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Copenhagen
Intro, 61 reviews, 222 photos, 2 travelogues
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Verona
Intro, 49 reviews, 175 photos, 2 travelogues
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Lyon
Intro, 56 reviews, 149 photos
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Karlsruhe
Intro, 32 reviews, 150 photos, 6 travelogues
-
Prague
Intro, 44 reviews, 125 photos, 1 travelogue
-
Zürich
Intro, 43 reviews, 126 photos
-
Berlin
Intro, 47 reviews, 114 photos, 2 travelogues
-
Milan
Intro, 37 reviews, 116 photos, 1 travelogue
Trains
Cycling
MusicLatest Aachen hotel reviews
- Sofitel Aachen Quellenhof
- 111 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 16, 2012 - Art Hotel Superior
- 22 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Apr 15, 2012 - Mercure Hotel Aachen Am Graben
- 52 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Mar 25, 2012 - City Apartments Regence
- 3 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 2, 2011 - Berliner Hof
- 2 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Aug 29, 2011 - Aquis Grana Hotel
- 29 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 1, 2012 - Ibis Aachen Normaluhr
- 38 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 21, 2012 - Hotel Marx
- 18 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Feb 18, 2012 - Etap Hotel Aachen
- 16 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Jan 4, 2012 - Hotel-Restaurant zur Heide Aachen
- 1 Review & Opinion
Latest: Aug 24, 2011 - Hotel Stadtnah
- 6 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 17, 2012 - Hotel Drei Konige
- 3 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Jun 7, 2009 - Mercure Aachen Europaplatz
- 23 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: May 21, 2012 - Vakantiehotel de Lange Man
- 1 Review & Opinion
Latest: Sep 1, 2011 - Landidyll Hotel Zum Alten Forsthaus
- 3 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Dec 14, 2011
Comments (29)
Lovely page! Excellent views from the top of 3 Corner's, and perhaps you were lucky to arrive when the cyclist's were leaving. Couven Museum looks really interesting and one that I would enjoy!
Thanks for passiing through Bristol :-) Great Aachen pages, it's great to be taken back to a beautiful town. And very useful cycle tips too! Emma
Visited this lovely city just two weeks ago!!
Thanks for the Jenny Lind tip!
Nicely written page - like the 10 for 1 point. I climbed, rather than cycled, the Dutch mountain but found my pitons, crampons etc a bit redundant LOL ;)
Always thought it was odd Germans did not want to try Belgian beer & wondered if those closer to the border were different. I guess not. This looks like a fine city close to Belgium which I visit a lot.Have to check out Dreiländereck on a non-tour day!
Great page on the wonderful historic city of Aachen! I saw the outside of the theater during my visit -- and I'm glad to see the inside on your page. Also, as always, I like your photos of pretty girls riding bicycles. Cheers, Bill
I only spent one afternoon and night in Aachen but was very impressed at how pretty it is. I'd love to return some day and really get to know it!
It is amazing how what was once the center of the Western world has shifted on border(s) that are now almost in the center again! Great that there were so many cyclists at Three Countries Corner!
Very interesting tips on Charlemagne and the music scene in interesting little Aachen! The surrounding countryside looks like a nice place to enjoy an invigorating bicycle ride. Well done, Don.
1 - 10 of 29
View 19 More