on the S. Its general appearance is that rather of a spacious
modern, than of a medieval city full of historical associations.
Of the cluster of buildings in the centre, which are conspicuous
from afar, the town hall (Rathaus) and the cathedral are
specially noteworthy. The former, standing on the south
side of the market square, is a Gothic structure, erected in
1353-1370 on the ruins of Charlemagne's palace. It contains
the magnificent coronation hall of the emperors (143 ft.
by 61 ft.), in which thirty-five German kings and eleven
queens have banqueted after the coronation ceremony in the
cathedral. The two ancient towers, the Granusturm to the
W. and the Glockenturm to the E., both of which to a large
extent had formed part of the Carolingian palace, were all
but destroyed in the fire by which the Rathaus was seriously
damaged in 1883. Their restoration was completed in
1902. Behind the Rathaus is the Grashaus, in which Richard
of Cornwall, king of the Romans, is said to have held his
court. It was restored in 1889 to accommodate the municipal
archives. The cathedral is of great historic and architectural
interest. Apart from the spire, which was rebuilt in 1884, it
consists of two parts of different styles and date. The older
portion, the capella in palatio, an octagonal building
surmounted by a dome, was designed on the model of San Vitale
at Ravenna by Udo of Metz, was begun under Charlemagne's
auspices in 796 and consecrated by Pope Leo III. in 805.
After being almost entirely wrecked by Norman raiders it was
rebuilt, on the original lines, in 983, by the emperor Otto
III. It is surrounded on the first story by a sixteen-sided
gallery (the Hochmunster) adorned by antique marble and
granite columns, of various sizes, brought by Charlemagne's
orders from Rome, Ravenna and Trier. These were removed by
Napoleon to Paris, but restored to their original positions
after the peace of 1815. The mosaic representing Christ
surrounded by ``the four-and-twenty elders,'' which originally
lined the cupola, had almost entirely perished by the 19th
century, but was re-stored in 1882 from a copy made in the 17th
century. Interesting too are the magnificent west doors,
cast in bronze by native workmen in 804. Underneath the dome,
according to tradition, was the tomb of Charlemagne, which, on
being opened by Otto III. in 1000, disclosed the body of the
emperor, vested in white coronation robes and seated on a marble
chair. This chair, now placed in the gallery referred to,
was used for centuries in the imperial coronation ceremonies.
The site of the tomb is marked by a stone slab, with the
inscription Carlo Magno; and above it hangs the famous bronze
chandelier presented by the emperor Frederick I. (Barbarossa) in
1168. Charlemagne's bones are preserved in an ornate shrine in
the Hungarian Chapel, lying to the north of the octagon. The
casket was opened in 1906, at the instance of the emperor William
II., and the draperies enclosing the body were temporarily
removed to Berlin, with a view to the reproduction of similar
cloth. The Gothic choir, forming the more modern portion
of the cathedral, was added during the latter half of the
14th and the beginning of the 15th century, and contains the
tomb of the emperor Otto III. The cathedral possesses many
relics, the more sacred of which are exhibited only once every
seven years, when they attract large crowds of worshippers.
Of the other thirty-three churches in the city those of St
Foillan (founded in the 12th century, but twice rebuilt,
in the 15th and 17th centuries, and restored in 1883) and
St Paul, with its beautiful stained-glass windows, are
remarkable. In addition to those already mentioned,
Aix-la-Chapelle possesses several fine secular buildings:
the Suermondt museum, containing besides other miscellaneous
exhibits the fine collection of pictures by early German, Dutch
and Flemish masters, presented to the town by Bartholomaus
Suermondt (d. 1887); the public library; the theatre; the
post-office; and the fine new central railway station.
Among the schools may be mentioned the magnificently equipped
Rhenish-Westphalian Polytechnic School (built 1865-1870)
and the school of mining and electricity, founded in 1897.
There are many fine streets and squares and some handsome
public monuments, notably among the last the fountain on
the market square surmounted by a statue of Charlemagne, the
bronze equestrian statue of the emperor William I. facing the
theatre, the Kriegerdenkmal (a memorial to those who fell in
the war of 1870) and the Kongress-Denkmal, a marble hall in
antique style erected in 1844 on the Adalberts-Steinweg to
commemorate the famous congress of 1818 (see below). Of the
squares, the principal is the Friedrich-Wilhelmplatz, on
which lies the Elisenbrunnen with its colonnade and garden,
the chief resort of visitors taking the baths and waters.
The hot sulphur springs of Aix-la-Chapelle were known to the
Romans and have been celebrated for centuries as specific
in the cure of rheumatism, gout and scrofulous disorders.
There are six in all, of which the Kaiserquelle, with a
temperature of 136 deg. F., is the chief. In the neighbouring
Burtscheid (incorporated in 1897 with Aix-la-Chapelle) are
also springs of far higher temperature, and this suburb, which
has also a Kurgarten, is largely frequented during the season.
In respect of trade and industry Aixda-Chapelle occupies a
high place. Its cloth and silk manufactures are important,
and owing to the opening up of extensive coalfields in the
district almost every branch of iron industry is carried
on. It has some large breweries and manufactories of
chemicals, and does a considerable trade in cereals,
leather, timber and wine. It is also an important banking
centre and has several insurance societies of reputation.
The country immediately surrounding Aix-la-Chapelle presents
many attractive features. From the Lousberg and the Salvatorberg
to the north, the latter crowned by a chapel, magnificent views
of the city are obtained; while covering the hills 2 m. west
stretches the Stadtwald, a forest with charming walks and drives.
History.---Aix-la-Chapelle is the Aquisgranum of the Romans,
named after Apollo Granus, who was worshipped in connexion
with hot springs. As early as A.D. 765 King Pippin had a
``palace'' here, in which it is probable that Charlemagne was
born. The greatness of Aix was due to the latter, who between
777 and 786 built a magnificent palace on the site of that of
his father, raised the place to the rank of the second city
of the empire, and made it for a while the centre of Western
culture and learning. From the coronation of Louis the Pious
in 813 until that of Ferdinand I. in 1531 the sacring of the
German kings took place at Aix, and as many as thirty-two
emperors and kings were here crowned. In 851, and again in
882, the place was ravaged by the Northmen in their raids up the
Rhine. It was not, however, till late in the 12th century
(1172-1176) that the city was surrounded with walls by order of
the emperor Frederick I., to whom (in 1166) and to his grandson
Frederick II. (in 1215) it owed its first important civic
rights. These were still further extended in 1250 by the
anti-Caesar William of Holland, who had made himself master of
the place and of the imperial regalia, after a long siege, in
1248. The liberties of the burghers were, however, still
restrained by the presence of a royal advocatus (Vogt) and
bailiff. In 1300 the outer ring of walls was completed,
the earlier circumvallation being marked by the limit of the
Altstadt (old city). In the 14th century Aix, now a free city
of the Holy Roman Empire, played a conspicuous part, especially
in the league which, between 1351 and 1387, kept the peace
between the Meuse and the Rhine. In 1450 an insurrection
led to the admission of the gilds to a share in the municipal
government. In the 16th century Aix began to decline in
importance and prosperity. It lay too near the French frontier
to be safe. and too remote from the centre of Germany to
be convenient, as a capital; and in 1562 the election and
coronation of Maximilian II. took place at Frankfort-on-Main,
a precedent followed till the extinction of the Empire. The
Reformation, too, brought its troubles. In 1580 Protestantism
got the upper hand; the ban of the empire followed and was
executed by Ernest of Bavaria, archbishop-elector of Cologne in
1598. A relapse of the city led to a new ban of the emperor
Matthias in 1613, and in the following year Spinola's Spanish
troops brought back the recalcitrant city to the Catholic
fold. In 1656 a great fire completed the ruin wrought by the
religious wars. By the treaty of Luneville (1801) Aix was
incorporated with France as chief town of the department of the
Roer. By the congress of Vienna it was given to Prussia. The
contrast between the new regime and the ancient tradition of
the city was curiously illustrated in 1818 by a scene described
in Metternich's Memoirs, when, before the opening of the
congress, Francis I., emperor of Austria, regarded by all Germany
as the successor of the Holy Roman emperors, knelt at the tomb
of Charlemagne amid a worshipping crowd, while the Protestant
Frederick William III. of Prussia, the new sovereign of the
place, stood in the midst, ``looking very uncomfortable.''
See Quix, Geschichte der Stadt Aachen (1841): Pick, Aus Aachens
Vergangenheit (Aachen, 1895); Bock, Karls des grossen Pfalzkapelle
(Cologne, 1867); and Beissel, Aachen als Kurort (1889).
AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, CONGRESSES OF. Three congresses have been held at
Aix-la-Chapelle: the first in 1668, the second in 1748, the third in 1818.
1. The treaty of the 2nd of May 1668, which put an end to
the War of Devolution, was the outcome of that of St Germain
signed on the 15th of April by France and the representatives
of the powers of the Triple Alliance. The treaty of
Aix-la-Chapelle left to France all the conquests made in
Flanders during the campaign of 1667, with all their ``
appartenances, dependances et annexes.'' a vague provision
of which, after the peace of Nijmwegen (1680), Louis XIV. took
advantage to occupy a number of villages and towns adjudged
to him by his Chambres de reunion as dependencies of the
cities and territories acquired in 1668. On the other hand,
France restored to Spain the cities of Cambrai, Aire and
Saint-Omer, as well as the province of Franche Comte. The
treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was placed under the guarantee of
Great Britain, Sweden and Holland, by a convention signed
at the Hague on the 7th of May 1669, to which Spain acceded.
See Jean du Mont, baron de Carlscroon, Corps
universel diplomatique (Amst., 1726-1731).
2. On the 24th of April 1748 a congress assembled at
Aix-la-Chapelle for the purpose of bringing to a conclusion
the struggle known as the War of Austrian Succession. Between
the 30th of April and the 21st of May the preliminaries were
agreed to between Great Britain, France and Holland, and to
these Maria Theresa, queen of Bohemia and Hungary, the kings
of Sardinia and Spain, the duke of Modena, and the republic
of Genoa successively gave their adhesion. The definitive
treaty was signed on the 18th of October, Sardinia alone
refusing to accede, because the treaty of Worms was not
guaranteed. Of the provisions of the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
the most important were those stipulating for (1) a general
restitution of conquests, including Cape Breton to France,
Madras to England and the barrier towns to the Dutch; (2) the
