Düren became a supply area for the rapidly growing Roman city ofCologne (Roman name Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium). Furthermore, a few important Roman roads skirt Düren (including the road fromCologne toJülich andTongeren and the road from Cologne toZülpich andTrier). By the 4th century, the area was settled by theRipuarian Franks.The namevilla duria occurred the first time in the Frankish Annals in the year 747.
Frankish kingPippin the Short often visited Düren in the 8th century and held a few important conventions there. The Franks made of Düren a royal palace, from which the namePalatine (Pfalz in German) is derived.Charlemagne sojourned a few times there. Due to the frequent visits of Charlemagne, a few markets sprang up, such as the corn, cattle, wood, chicken, and butter markets, all of which contributed to Düren's development. The castle was built at the place where, since 1991, theSaint Anne Church is located.
Düren obtainedcity rights in the early 13th century. Around 1200, the construction of the city wall was started, which includes 12 towers and 5 gates. The gates faced all directions: in the north, thePhilippstor and theWirteltor, in the east theKölntor (Cologne gate), in the south theObertor and in the west theHolztor (wooden gate). There are still ruins of the gates today.
The chiseler Leonhard stole a small box with the relic ofSaint Anne out of the Mainzer Stiftskirche St. Stephan in 1501 and brought it to Düren.Pope Julius II decided on March 18, 1506, that Düren could keep the remains. They were kept in theMartinskirche (church ofSaint Martin) which was renamed theAnnakirche (church ofSaint Anne) in 1505. (Probably the church was renamed much later, because in the 19th century it was still called sometimes parish church of the holy Martinus). Saint Anne became thepatron saint of Düren. Every year, thesaint's day of Saint Anne (July 26) is celebrated for one week with the Anna octavos and the Anna parish fair, one of the biggest folk festivals ofGermany.
View of Düren in 1945, following the heavy Allied aerial bombing
In 1642, Düren was embroiled in theThirty Years' War. Opposing troops destroyed the city. After the war has finally ended in 1648,plague broke out and caused many lives to be lost. A second plague epidemic broke out in 1665. Due to the various attacks on the debilitated city, Düren was destroyed again in 1679. In this time, the settlement Miesheim was destroyed, never to be rebuilt.
Towards the end of the year 1755 in the area around Düren andAachen began a series ofearthquakes, which reached its peak onFebruary 18, 1756 with an earthquake with the strength 8 on theMercalli scale. The series of earthquakes affected all of Europe, most famously the1755 Lisbon earthquake.
The businesses in the area of Düren was affected since the 15th century by thedrapery and metal industry. Since the beginning of the 17th century, paper industry had settled here, advantaged by the exceptionallysoft water of theRur. Rütger von Scheven built the firstpaper mill in Düren. In 1812, there were already 17 paper factories, 11 cloth- and blanket factories, an ironrolling mill orslitting mill and twoiron foundries.
In the year 1794, Düren was occupied byFrench revolutionary troops. From 1798 until 1814, Düren was the main city of the same named canton in the arrondissementAachen of the FrenchRoerdepartements (from the name of the River Rur (Roer) anddépartement). After theCongress of Vienna in 1815, Düren was ceded to theKingdom of Prussia and was subsequently administered within theRhine Province.
By 1900, Düren was among Germany's richest cities (with 42 millionaires and 93 factories) and had a population of 27,168. By comparison, fewer than 5,000 people had lived in Düren a century earlier.
The city of Düren was located on the mainfighting front during theAllied invasion of Germany inWorld War II. During 1944 and 1945, the protracted and bloodyBattle for Hürtgenwald was fought on Düren's district area, and on November 16, 1944, Düren was completely destroyed by Alliedair bombings. Approximately 22,000 people lived in Düren at that time, and 3,000 of them died during the bombing. Those who survived wereevacuated to central Germany. Destroyed buildings included theStadttheater Düren (1907), designed inJugendstil byCarl Moritz.
By 1939, the population had risen to over 45,000, but then fell to just 3,806 by June 1945 due to the effects of World War II. After the bombing of November 16, 1944, on March 1, 1945, only four German residents lived in the city, including forced laborers etc. there were 21 people. On April 1, the number of inhabitants had risen to 180 and on May 1, 1945, there were already 1,218 people. In December 1945 the number increased to 25,000 inhabitants and in 1958 it was 45,000, the same number as before the war. Due to the incorporation of several places in the area, the city's population grew on January 1, 1972, by 35,522 to 89,087.
On February 25, 1945,U.S. troops crossed the Rur at Düren. After the war was over in the summer that year, many evacuated people came back to the destroyed city and started to rebuild their homes against the advice of the American troops. By June 1945, the population had risen to 3,806. Most of the architecture in Düren therefore dates from the 1950s.
The most famous museum of Düren is theLeopold Hoesch Museum. TheBaroque Revival style building erected in 1905 presents changing exhibitions of contemporary art. Since 1986, it also displays artworks from the international Biennale PaperArt. Since 2006, the former nurses' home of the St. Augustinus Hospital Lendersdorf has housed the Düren Carnival Museum. The most recent museum is the Stadtmuseum Düren local history museum, founded in 2009.
The former Stadttheater Düren was opened in January 1907. In the bombing of November 16, 1944, the theatre was almost completely destroyed.[citation needed] Today cultural performances take place mainly at theHaus der Stadt. Since 2004 the multi-functionalArena Kreis Düren, which has around 2000 seats, serves as a venue for major concerts.[citation needed]
At the edge of the forest in the Niederau district liesBurgau Castle. Thewater castle was inhabited by the Counts ofHeinsberg at the beginning of the 14th Century. After it was destroyed in 1944, the restoration process lasted from 1979 to 1998.In Theodor Heuss Park is the Bismarck Memorial, erected in 1892 to commemorate the most famous honorary citizen from Düren.The town hall was inaugurated[5] in 1959. It now ranks as an example of 1950s architecture underCultural heritage management.
The current mayor of Düren is Frank Peter Ullrich of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD) since 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows:
The Düren city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:
The most important church in the city is the Annakirche. The church was completely destroyed by bombing in 1944 and rebuilt in the 1950s under the guidance of the architectRudolf Schwarz. Throughout the city there are 15 other Catholic parish and church communities, including in Arnoldsweiler.[6]
The most important Protestant church in Düren is the Christuskirche. At its inauguration in 1954, it possessed the highest freestandingbell tower in Germany.[7]
Up to the destruction ofKristallnacht, thesynagogue was located in Schützenstraße. In its place is now a stele from Düren artist Rückriem.[8]
The emblem of the city of Düren is divided. It shows on the top a red castle, below that, a black eagle and in the lower half a black lion with a red tongue. The black eagle refers to the old history of Düren as a royal city andReichsstadt. In 1242–46 Düren was bonded to the dukes of Jülich (later,Napoleon was also Duke of Jülich). Their emblem was a lion passant, with open mouth and a red tongue.
Düren has its own radio station (Radio Rur). The station broadcasts on 92.7 and 107.5 MHz, and on cable at 87.5 MHz. There are two daily newspapers (Dürener Zeitung, Dürener Nachrichten) and several weekly papers.
