Jülich

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The title of this article contains the character ü. Where it is unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Juelich.

Coordinates: 50°55′N, 6°22′E

Jülich


Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Administrative region	Cologne
District	Düren
Population	33,864 source (2005)
Area	90.4 km²
Population density	375 /km²
Elevation	83 m
Coordinates	50°55′ N 6°22′ E
Postal code	52428
Area code	02461
Licence plate code	DN
Mayor	Heinrich Stommel (independent)
Website	juelich.de

Jülich (Dutch: Gulik) is a medium-size town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in Germany. Jülich is well known as location of a world-famous research centre, the Forschungszentrum Jülich and as shortwave transmission site of Deutsche Welle.

1 Geography
2 Boroughs
3 History
4 Population history
5 Town twinnings
6 Transportation
7 Culture and landmarks
8 People
- 8.1 Famous citizens
9 Literature
10 External links

[edit] Geography

Jülich is situated in the Rur valley on the banks of the river Rur. The town is bordered by the town of Linnich in the north, the municipality of Titz in the north-east, the municipality of Niederzier in the south-east, by the municipality of Inden in the south and the municipality of Aldenhoven in the west. Its maximum size is 13,3 km from east to west and 10,9 km from north to south. The highest point in Jülich is in Bourheim and is 110 m above sea level (except Sophienhöhe, an extensive artificial mountain comprised of overburden of a nearby open-pit lignite mine, the Tagebau Hambach), the lowest point is 70 m above sea level and is found in the borough of Barmen.

[edit] Boroughs

The town of Jülich comprises 16 boroughs:

Town centre
Altenburg
Barmenmen
Bourheim
Broich
Daubenrath
Güsten
Kirchberg
Koslar
Lich-Steinstraß
Mersch
Merzenhausen
Pattern
Selgersdorf
Stetternich
Welldorf (including Serrest)

[edit] History

Maximum extent of the French fortification of Jülich

Jülich is first mentioned in Roman times as Juliacum along an important road through the Rur valley. Fortified during the late Roman period, it was taken over by the Franks and grew to be the centre of a county which became the nucleus of a regional power. The counts and dukes of Jülich extended their influence during the Middle Ages and granted Jülich city status in 1234 (Count Wilhelm IV). During battles with the Archbishop of Cologne, Jülich was destroyed in 1239 and again in 1278. In 1416, the city was granted fiscal independence by Duke Rainald of Jülich-Geldern. Following a fire in 1547, the city was rebuilt as an Ideal city in the Renaissance style under the direction of the architect Alessandro Pasqualini. The citadel of Jülich was later visited by the French military engineer Sébastien le Prestre de Vauban and was rated exemplary. After the ducal family line was extinguished in 1609, the Duchy of Jülich was divided. The city later belonged to Palatinate-Neuburg, then the Palatinate (1685) and Bavaria (1777).

From 1794 to 1814, Jülich was part of France under the name of Juliers. The French added the Napoleonic bridge head to the fortifications. In 1815, Jülich became a Prussian fortification and district town. The fortification was razed in 1860.

Jülich destroyed

On 16 November 1944 (World War II), 97% of Jülich was destroyed during Allied bombing, since it was considered one of the main obstacles to the occupation of the Rhineland, although the city fortifications, the bridge head and the citadel had long fallen into disuse. The ruined city was subject to heavy fighting for several months until the Allies eventually managed to cross the Rur on 23 February 1945. From 1949 to 1956, the town centre was rebuilt along the plans of the Renaissance town.

In 1998, the state garden fair took place in Jülich. This made the extensive restoration of the bridge head fortifications and the establishment of a large leisure park, the bridge head park, possible.

Today, Jülich is mainly known for its world-famous research centre (established in 1956) and the satellite campus of the Fachhochschule Aachen (established in 1970). The town's landmark is the Witchtower, a city gate and remnant of the medieval city fortifications. The most impressive remnants from the past are, however, both the Napoleonic Bridgehead and the Citadel.

[edit] Population history

Population growth of Jülich since 1800

Population history
Year	Population	Year	Population	Year	Population
300	1.500	1860	3.119	12/31 1960	14.339
1533	1.300	1900	4.964	12/31 1970	20.778
1647	1.300	1920	7.688	12/31 1980	30.433
1735	1.520	1931	10.051	12/31 1990	31.149
1795	2.025	1939	12.000	12/31 2000	33.434
1802	2.429	12/31 1951	10.182	12/31 2004	34.022

[edit] Town twinnings

Since 1964, Jülich is twinned with the French town of Haubourdin in the Nord département.

[edit] Transportation

A4 (Düren / Jülich Interchange)
A44
- (Jülich Ost (East)/ Mersch Interchange)
- (Jülich West (West)/ Koslar Interchange)
Rurtalbahn, literally the Rur Valley Rail (Linnich - Jülich - Düren - Heimbach)

[edit] Culture and landmarks

[edit] Museums

Historical Town Museum (Website)

[edit] Buildings

Particularly notable:

the Witchtower (Hexenturm)
the Citadel
the Napoleonic Bridgehead
the church of St. Mariä Himmelfahrt
the Aachener Tor (lit. Aachen Gate)
aerial towers of shortwave broadcasting facility

[edit] Shortwave broadcasting facility

In 1956 the WDR broadcaster established the first short wave transmitter near the borough Mersch. In the subsequent years this site was expanded. On September 1st, 1961 this site was handed over to the German Federal Post for establishing the German foreign broadcasting service, "Deutsche Welle". In the course of time 10 transmitters of 100 kilowatts were installed, whereby as transmitting antennas enormous dipole arrays between free standing steel framework towers were installed. Today these transmitters are rented to the predominant part to non-German broadcasting organisations. In the 90's on the area of the shortwave transmission facility also a transmitting plant for medium wave was installed, using a long wire antenna which is spun at a tower on the transmitter site. It was intended to be used for transmission of the programme of radio Viva on 702 kHz, but it never went into regular service for this broadcaster. Since December 6, 2004, the mediumwave transmitter is used to broadcast the programme of the German commercial broadcaster "TruckRadio" on 702 kHz.

[edit] Miscellaneous

The reliquaries of Christina von Stommeln.

[edit] Sports

The most successful and well-known Jülich-based sports teams are TTC Jülich (table tennis, which competes in the Bundesliga, the domestic premiere league) and the SC Jülich 1910, an amateur football (soccer) club that won the German national amateur championships in 1969, 1970 and 1971.

[edit] People

Alessandro Pasqualini
Bobby Julich - American Cycling Star has traced his family ancestry back to Jülich.

[edit] Famous citizens

Johann Wilhelm Schirmer (1807 - 1863)
Antonius Fischer
Siegfried J. Schmidt now (1940-)
Joseph Kuhl

[edit] Literature

This page is mostly a translation of the article in the German language Wikipedia.

Guido von Büren (Hrsg.): Jülich Stadt - Territorium - Geschichte, Kleve 2000, ISBN 3933969107
Ulrich Coenen: Von Juliacum bis Jülich. Die Baugeschichte der Stadt und ihrer Vororte von der Antike bis zu Gegenwart, 2. Aufl., Aachen 1989. ISBN 3-925714-17-0
Ulrich Coenen: Stadt Jülich = Rheinische Kunststätten, Heft 368, Neuss 1991. ISBN 3-88094-696-5
Conrad Doose/Siegfried Peters: Renaissancefestung Jülich, 1998, ISBN 3-87227-058-3
Ulrich Eckardt/Wolfgang Hommel/Werner Katscher: Flug über Jülich, 2003, ISBN 3-87227-076-1
Wolfgang Hommel: Stadtführer Jülich, 1998, ISBN 3-87227-065-6
Wolfgang Hommel: Jülich im Aufbruch - Landesgartenschau und Stadtentwicklungsprogramm Jülich '98, 1998, ISBN 3-87227-098-2
Dr. Erwin Fuchs/Wolfgang Hommel: Die Jülicher und ihre Wurzeln, 1997, ISBN 3-87227-063-X
Eva Behrens-Hommel: Sagen und Überlieferungen des Jülicher Landes, 1996, ISBN 3-87227-061-3
Eva Behrens-Hommel: Mundartsammlung des Jülicher Landes, 1997, ISBN 3-87227-062-1
Hartwig Neumann: Stadt und Festung Jülich auf bildlichen Darstellungen, Bonn 1991. ISBN 3-7637-5863-1
Gabriele Spelthahn: An der Synagoge - Jülich und der Holocaust, 1997, ISBN 3-930808-08-0