| Monschau | |
 |
|
 |
|
  Monschau
|
|
| Administration | |
| Country | Germany |
|---|---|
| State | North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Admin. region | Cologne |
| District | Aachen |
| Town subdivisions | 7 |
| Mayor | Theo Steinröx (CDU) |
| Basic statistics | |
| Area | 94.620312003 km2 (36.533106706 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 517 m (1696 ft) |
| Population | 12,917 (31 December 2006) |
| - Density | 137 /km2 (354 /sq mi) |
| Other information | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Licence plate | AC |
| Postal code | 52156 |
| Area code | 02472 |
| Website | www.monschau.de |
| Location of the town of Monschau within Aachen district | |
 |
|
Monschau (French: Montjoie) is a town in the west of Germany, located in the district Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia.
Contents |
Geography
The town is located in the hills of the Eifel, in the narrow valley of the Rur river.
The historic town center was not destroyed in World War II, thus the many half-timbered houses and narrow streets nearly unchanged for 300 years make it a popular tourist attraction nowadays. Historically the main industry of the town were cloth-mills.
History
Above the city is the castle Monschau, which dates back to the 13th century — in 1198 the first mention of Monschau was made. Starting in 1433 the castle was used as a seat of the dukes of Jülich. In 1543 Emperor Charles V besieged it as part of the Geldern Feud, captured it and plundered the town. However the castle stayed with Jülich until 1609, then it became part of Palatinate-Neuburg.
In 1795 the French captured the area, and under the name Montjoie made it the capital of a canton of the Roer département. After the area became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1815, Monschau became the capital of a district, the Kreis Montjoie.
During World War I some people argued that Monschau, or as these people still called it Montjoie, should be annexed to Belgium since it was a historically Walloon area that had been Germanized by the Prussians.[1]
In 1918 William II, German Emperor, changed the name to Monschau.
In 1972 the town was enlarged with the previous independent municipalities Höfen, Imgenbroich, Kalterherberg, Konzen, Mützenich and Rohren.
Notable Residents
- Karl Wilhelm Scheibler (1820-1881), industrialist
References
- ^ Finot, Jean. New York Times, May 30th, 1915
External links
- Official site (German) (English)
- Official site for the borough of Höfen (German)
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Monschau |
|
|||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
