Aachen - Theater

Aachen, the westernmost city in Germany. Due to its numerous thermal springs, Aachen has been a bathing and spa town since ancient times. Even the Romans used the hot springs to run spas.

Pepin the Short had a castle residence built in the town, due to the proximity of the hot springs and also for strategic reasons between the Rhineland and northern France. Charlemagne´s coronation as king of the Franks took place here in 768. Aachen became the preferred Imperial residence of Emperor Charlemagne. He spent most winters in Aachen between 792 and his death in 814.

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The theatre is the successor of Aachen's first public theatre, the former "Altes Komödienhaus" ("Old Comedy House") at the Katschhof erected in 1751.

The neoclassical building, designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Johann Peter Cremer on Aachen's Kapuzinergraben, opened on May 15, 1825.

During WWII the theatre was largely destroyed. The reconstruction in the old style started after the war - and the theatre was reopened already in December 1951.

The large horse to the right is a work of Gerhard Marcks. It is named "Fröhlicher Hengst" (Happy Stallion). Aachen has traditional connections to the equestrian sport and is home to the yearly international horse show CHIO (Concours Hippique International Officiel).