Heimbach
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| Heimbach | |
| Coat of arms | Location |
 |
  |
| Administration | |
| Country |  Germany |
|---|---|
| State | North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Admin. region | Cologne |
| District | Düren |
| Mayor | Bert Züll (CDU) |
| Basic statistics | |
| Area | 64.8 km² (25 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 227 m (745 ft) |
| Population | 4,617 (31/12/2004) |
| - Density | 71 /km² (185 /sq mi) |
| Other information | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Licence plate | DN |
| Postal code | 52396 |
| Area codes | 02446, 02425 |
| Website | www.heimbach-eifel.de |
Heimbach is a town in the district of Düren in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the river Rur, in the Eifel hills, approx. 20 km south of Düren.
Heimbach is the town where Hengebach Castle is located. Once very important as the seat of the Dukes of Julich, you could say that Heimbach was the capital at one time of the Duchy of Julich. But the importance of the Duchy of Julich, even to its ducal line, became relative to their growing territory, for the Dukes of Julich acquired additional territories and Julich became combined with Cleves. Cleves and the princely or ducal line of Julich is most famous for Anne of Cleves, one of the six wives of King Henry VIII of England. Wilhelm of Hengebach became by inheritance succession in the High Middle Ages "Earl William III of Julich", in German this title "Earl" would have its equivalent translation of Count as "Graf". There was at one time an inheritance-quarrel with the archbishop of Cologne (in German Koln) but after that the castle and the town of Heimbach belonged to the Counts (Earls) of Julich again. Hengebach Castle in the town of Heimbach is not far from Cologne (Koln) and Aix-la-Chapelle (in German Aachen). Actually Hengebach Castle is located on a rock in he middle of the town; its tower can be seen all over the town. Heimbach is located in the low mountain range of Eifel. It's highest point is at least 525m high (Verbrannter Berg) and its lowest point is near Blens around 190m at the river Rur. Heimbach is the city with the smallest number of residents in North Rhine-Westphalia. Parts of the city are Blens(290 residents), Düttling(80 residents) , Hasenfeld(1200 residents), Hausen(290 residents), Hergarten(600 residents) and Vlatten(1000 residents). The city itself with these parts consists since 1972. Before 1972 these villages had their own administrations. Between Hausen and Hergarten there is located a small housing estate called Walbig, and between Hasenfeld and Schmidt(City of Nidegen) there is located a housing estate called Buschfelder Hof, which former belonged to Blens. The "Earldom" or County of Julich, of which Heimbach was the capital, was raised to a Duchy in the late Middle Ages as its royal family intermarried with other royal families and the territory of Julich was combined with Cleves and Berg. In fact, it had become the Duchy of Julich-Cleves-Berg by 1609, when the last Duke died. At that time its territory was absorbed or annexed by the state of Palatinate-Neuberg but a War of Succession ensued over the former Duchy of Julich and the castle did not have a resident duke during its last 78 years, for it burned in 1687 along with the town of Heimbach. After the fire of 1687 the city of Heimbach was rebuilt because it was necessary to house the town's population;however, as there was no longer a ducal or princely family, the castle of Hengebach was left a ruin until 1904 when restoration work began. Now restored, the castle is owned and operated as a tourist attraction by the city of Heimbach. The castle itselff is located on a rock in the middle of Heimbach. Today it's used as a restaurant and a location for public events. There are also castles in the villages Blens, Hausen and Vlatten, which are now part of Heimbach. Heimbach is an important town for pilgrims. As there is the monastery of Mariawald, too, there are many pilgrims, who want to see the statue of Maria in the church of Heimbach.
The Mayor of Heimbach is Bert Züll(CDU). The Council of Heimbach contains of 11 members of he Christian Democratic Union, 3 members of the SPD, one member of the Green Party, 3 members of the FDP and 2 members of the UWV.
Heimbach is a popular town for tourists. Most of them come from the near Cities Cologne, Aachen or Düsseldorf and there are many who come from the NEtherlands. Most of them just visit Heimbach for a day. The most important objects of interest are the National Parc Eifel, the power house build in style of Art Nouveau, the water suply dam of Rur, the monastery of Mariawald and of course Hengebach castle. There is a famous serie of concerts called Spannungen which is placed in the power house. Musicians as Sharon Cam, Lars VOgt or Sabine Meyer have already taken part in these concerts. From the villages of Hausen and Blens, which are located in the North of Heimbach you have a great view on a row of great rocks. Earlier they were open for climbing, but to conservate the animals there they are now part of a nature conservancy area. A lot of people also spend there time in Heimbach on one of the lot of campgrounds around Heimbach. THere are impressing ones in the shades of those rocks.
Most residents of Heimbach are Roman-Caholics. So there are churches in Heimbach(St. Clemens), Hausen(St. Nikolaus), Vlatten(St. Dinysius) and Hergarten(St. Martin) and chapelles in Blens(St. Georg), Hasenfeld(St. Nepomuk), Düttling(St. Apollonia) and Vlatten(St. Michael).
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