Trier

Trier
Marktplatz
Coordinates
Administration
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Urban district
Lord Mayor	Klaus Jensen (SPD)
Basic statistics
Area	117.14 km2 (45.23 sq mi)
Elevation	124 m  (407 ft)
Population	104,587 (31 December 2009)[1]
- Density	893 /km2 (2,312 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	TR
Postal codes	54290, 54292, 54293, 54294, 54295, 54296
Area code	0651
Website	www.trier.de

Trier (German pronunciation: [ˈtʁiːɐ]; French: Trèves, IPA: [tʁɛv]; Luxembourgish: Tréier; Latin: Augusta Treverorum; the Latin adjective associated with Trier is Treverensis) is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle River. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC.^[2]

Trier lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of ruddy sandstone in the west of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, near the German border with Luxembourg and within the important Mosel wine-growing region.

Trier is the oldest seat of a Christian bishop north of the Alps. In the Middle Ages, the Archbishop of Trier was an important ecclesiastical prince, as the Archbishopric of Trier controlled land from the French border to the Rhine. He was also one of the seven electors of the Holy Roman Empire.

With an approximate population of 100,000 Trier was, until 2005, ranked fourth alongside Kaiserslautern among the state's largest cities; after Mainz, Ludwigshafen and Koblenz. The nearest large cities in Germany are Saarbrücken, some 80 km southeast, and Koblenz, about 100 km northeast. The closest city to Trier is the capital of Luxembourg, some 50 km to the southwest.

Trier is home to the University of Trier, the administration of the Trier-Saarburg district and the seat of the ADD (Aufsichts- und Dienstleistungsdirektion), which until 1999 was the borough authority of Trier. It is one of the five "central places" of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Along with Luxembourg, Metz and Saarbrücken, fellow constituent members of the QuattroPole union of cities, it also forms a central place of the greater region encompassing Saar-Lor-Lux (Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg), Rhineland-Palatinate and Wallonia.

History

The Porta Nigra

According to the Gesta Treverorum, the city was founded by Trebeta, an Assyrian prince, centuries before ancient Rome. He was the son of Ninus, King of Assyria, by a wife prior to his marriage to Queen Semiramis. His stepmother, Semiramis, despised him and when she took over the kingdom after the death of his father, Ninus, Trebeta left Assyria and went to Europe. After wandering for a time, he led a group of colonizers to settle at Trier around 2000 BC in what is now Germany. Trebeta is also reputed to have been at Strasbourg, France. Upon his death, his body was cremated on Petrisberg by the people of Trier.

The Roman Empire subdued the Treveri in the 1st century BC and established Augusta Treverorum (Lit: August (Regal, noble) [City] of the Treveri) in 30 BC. The name is likely to be taken from the title Augustus held by the Princeps or head of state at the time, Augustus Caesar. The city later became the capital of the Roman province of Gallia Belgica, as well as the Roman prefecture of Gaul. It covered 700 acres within its walls and may have and as many as 70,000 inhabitants. The Porta Nigra counts among the Roman architecture of the city. A residence of the Western Roman Emperor, Roman Trier was the birthplace of Saint Ambrose. Sometime between 395 and 418 the Roman administration moved the staff of Pretorian Prefecture from the city to Arles. The city continued to be inhabited, but was not as prosperous as before, because of the absence of 2,000 staff members of the Prefecture and military. However, the city remained the seat of a governor and had state factories for the production of ballistae, armor and wool mill for uniforms for the troops, clothing for the civil service and high quality garments for the Court. Northern Gaul was held by the Romans along a line from north of Cologne to the coast at Boulogne through what is today southern Belgium until 460. Below this line Roman control was firm as evidenced by the continuing operation of the imperial arms factory at Amiens.

The Franks seized Trier from Roman administration in 459 AD. In 870 it became part of Eastern Francia, which developed into the Holy Roman Empire. Relics of Saint Matthias brought to the city initiated widespread pilgrimages. The bishops of the city grew increasingly powerful, and the Archbishopric of Trier was recognized as an electorate of the empire, one of the most powerful states of Germany. The University of Trier was founded in the city in 1473.

The Cathedral of Trier

In the 17th century, the Archbishops and Prince-Electors of Trier relocated their residences to Philippsburg Castle in Ehrenbreitstein, near Koblenz. A session of the Reichstag was held in Trier in 1512, during which the demarcation of the Imperial Circles was definitively established.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Trier was sought after by France, who invaded during the Thirty Years' War, the War of the Grand Alliance, the War of the Spanish Succession, and the War of the Polish Succession. France succeeded in finally claiming Trier in 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars, and the electoral archbishopric was dissolved. After the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815, Trier passed to the Kingdom of Prussia. Karl Marx was born in the city in 1818.

Palace of Trier

As part of the Prussian Rhineland, Trier developed economically during the 19th century. The city rose in revolt during the revolutions of 1848 in the German states, although the rebels were forced to concede. It became part of the German Empire in 1871.

In June 1940 over 60,000 British prisoners of war, captured at Dunkirk and Northern France, were marched to Trier which became a staging-post for British soldiers headed for German POW camps. Trier was heavily bombed and bombarded in 1944 during World War II. The city became part of the new state of Rhineland-Palatinate after the war. The university, dissolved in 1797, was restarted in the 1970s, while the Cathedral of Trier was reopened in 1974. Trier officially celebrated its 2,000th anniversary in 1984.

Geography

View of the city from the Mariensäule monument.

Trier sits in a hollow midway along the Moselle valley, with the most significant portion of the city on the east bank of the river. Wooded and vineyard-covered slopes stretch up to the Hunsrück plateaux in the South and the Eifel in the North. The border with the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg is some 15 km distant.

Neighbouring municipalities

Listed in clockwise order, beginning with the northernmost; all municipalities belong to the Trier-Saarburg district

Schweich, Kenn and Longuich (all part of the Verbandsgemeinde Schweich an der Römischen Weinstraße), Mertesdorf, Kasel, Waldrach, Morscheid, Korlingen, Gutweiler, Sommerau and Gusterath (all in the Verbandsgemeinde Ruwer), Hockweiler, Franzenheim (both part of the Verbandsgemeinde Trier-Land), Konz (Verbandsgemeinde Konz), Igel, Trierweiler, Aach, Newel, Kordel (Eifel), Zemmer (all in the Verbandsgemeinde Trier-Land)

Organisation of city districts

The Trier urban area is divided into 19 city districts. For each district there is an Ortsbeirat (local council) of between 9 and 15 members, as well as an Ortsvorsteher (local representative). The local councils are charged with hearing the important issues that affect the district, although the final decision on any issue rests with the city council. The local councils nevertheless have the freedom to undertake limited measures within the bounds of their districts and their budgets.

The districts of Trier with area and inhabitants (July 2007):

Trier is a common surname for a group of traveling gypsies around the southern-half of Russia, who settled in Russia in the 18th century.

Main sights

Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St. Peter and Church of Our Lady in Trier*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	Germany
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, iii, iv, vi
Reference	367
Region**	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1986  (10th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO.

Trier is well known for its well-preserved Roman and medieval buildings, which include:

• the Porta Nigra, the best preserved Roman city gate north of the Alps;
• ruins of three Roman baths, among them the largest Roman baths north of the Alps;
• the huge Constantine Basilica, a basilica in the original Roman sense, being the 67 m (219.82 ft) long throne hall of Roman Emperor Constantine; it is today used as a Protestant church.
• the Trier Cathedral (German: Trierer Dom or Dom St. Peter), a Roman Catholic church which dates back to Roman times and is home to the Holy Tunic, a garment with a recorded history back to the 12th century, in Catholic tradition said to be the robe Jesus was wearing when he died. It is only exhibited every few decades, at irregular intervals.
• The Liebfrauenkirche (German for Church of Our Lady), which is one of the most important early Gothic cathedrals in Germany and falls into the architectural tradition of the French Gothic cathedrals;
• the Roman amphitheatre;
• the 2nd century AD Roman bridge (Römerbrücke) across the Moselle River, the oldest bridge north of the Alps still crossed by traffic;
• St. Matthias' Abbey (Abtei St. Matthias), a still-in-use monastery in whose medieval church the only apostle north of the Alps is held to be buried
• St. Gangolf Church was the city's market church that rivalled the Archbishop's Trier Cathedral.
• Saint Paulin Church, one of the most important Baroque churches in Rhineland-Palatinate and designed in part by the architect Balthasar Neumann
• two old treadwheel cranes, one being the Gothic "Old Crane" (Alte Krahnen) or "Trier Moselle Crane" (Trierer Moselkrahn) from 1413, and the other the 1774 Baroque crane called the "(Old) Customs Crane" ((Alter) Zollkran) or "Younger Moselle Crane" (Jüngerer Moselkran) (see List of historical harbour cranes)
• The old Jewish cemetery (DE) (Weidegasse)

Museums

• Rheinisches Landesmuseum (one of the two most important German archaeological museums for the Roman period, along with the Römisch-Germanisches Museum in Cologne)
• Städtisches Museum Simeonstift (history of Trier, displaying among other exhibits a model of the medieval city)
• Toy Museum of Trier
• Ethnological and open air museum Roscheider Hof, a museum in the neighboring town of Konz, right at the city limits of Trier, which shows the history of rural culture in the northwest Rhineland Palatinate and in the area where Germany, Luxembourg and Lorraine meet.
• Fell Exhibition Slate Mine; site in the municipality of Fell, 20 kilometers from Trier, containing an underground mine, a mine museum, and a slate mining trail
• Karl Marx House; a museum exhibiting Marx's personal history, volumes of poetry, original letters, and photographs with personal dedications. There's also a collection of rare first editions and international editions of his works, as well as exhibits on the development of socialism in the 19th century.

Education

Trier is home to the University of Trier, founded in 1473, closed in 1796 and restarted in 1970. The city also has the Trier University of Applied Sciences. There are various Kindergärten, primary schools and secondary schools in Trier, such as the Humboldt Gymnasium Trier, Max Planck Gymnasium and the Pestalozzi-Hauptschule.

Annual events

• Every summer Trier hosts Germany's biggest Roman festival, Brot und Spiele (German for Bread and Games).
• Trier has been the base for the German round of the World Rally Championship since 2000, with the rally's presentation held next to the Porta Nigra.
• Trier holds a lavish Christmas street festival every year called the Trier Christmas Market near the Cathedral of Trier. The last one was held from 26 November to 22 December 2008.

Transportation

Trier has direct railway connections to many cities. The nearest cities by train are Cologne, Saarbrücken and Luxembourg. Via the motorways A 1, A 48 and A 64 Trier is linked with Koblenz, Saarbrücken and Luxembourg. The nearest commercial (international) airports are in Luxembourg (0:40 h by car), Frankfurt-Hahn (1:00 h), Saarbrücken (1:00 h), Frankfurt (2:00 h) and Cologne/Bonn (2:00 h). The Moselle River is an important waterway and is also used for river cruises.

Sports

Major sports clubs in Trier include:

• SV Eintracht Trier 05, association football
• TBB Trier, basketball
• DJK/MJC Trier, women's team handball
• Trier Cardinals, baseball
• PST Trier Stampers, American Football
• SG Turm Trier, chess

Notable residents

• Eucharius (died ~250), first bishop of Trier
• Valerius (†320), second bishop of Trier
• Helena (ca. 250-330), saint, mother of Constantine the Great
• Paulinus (†358), bishop of Trier
• Ausonius (ca. 310–395), roman consul and poet
• Ambrose (ca. 340–397), saint
• Kaspar Olevianus (1536–1587), theologian
• Karl Marx (1818–1883), social philosopher
• Frederick A. Schroeder (1833–1899), American politician, mayor of Brooklyn
• Ludwig Kaas (1881–1952), Roman Catholic priest and politician of the Zentrum
• Oswald von Nell-Breuning (1890–1991), theologian
• Xavier Bout de Marnhac (born 1951), French general, former commander of KFOR
• Ernst Ulrich Deuker (born 1954), musician of Ideal
• Guildo Horn (born 1963), singer
• Eric Jelen (born 1965), tennis player
• Martin Bambauer (born 1970), church musician

International relations

Trier is twinned with:

• Metz, France since 1957
• Gloucester, United Kingdom, since 1957
• Ascoli Piceno, Italy, since 1958
• 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, since 1968
• Pula, Croatia, since 1971
• Fort Worth, USA
• Weimar, Germany since 1990
• Nagaoka, Japan, since 2006

Namesakes

• New Trier Township, USA. originally settled by people from Trier.
• New Trier, USA settled by people from Trier circa 1856.

Gallery

Old Jewish cemetery

St. Gangolf church

Trier Zurlauben

References

External links

• Official website

Urban and rural districts in the State of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany    Urban districts Frankenthal · Kaiserslautern · Koblenz · Landau · Ludwigshafen · Mainz · Neustadt · Pirmasens · Speyer · Trier · Worms · Zweibrücken Rural districts Ahrweiler · Altenkirchen · Alzey-Worms · Bad Dürkheim · Bad Kreuznach · Bernkastel-Wittlich · Birkenfeld · Bitburg-Prüm · Cochem-Zell · Donnersbergkreis · Germersheim · Kaiserslautern · Kusel · Mainz-Bingen · Mayen-Koblenz · Neuwied · Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis · Rhein-Lahn-Kreis · Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis · Südliche Weinstraße · Südwestpfalz · Trier-Saarburg · Vulkaneifel · Westerwaldkreis

World Heritage Sites in Germany Northern Berlin Modernism Housing Estates · Museumsinsel (Museum Island), Berlin · Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin · Bremen: Town Hall and Roland on the Marketplace · Mines of Rammelsberg, Historic Town of Goslar and Upper Harz Water Management System · Hildesheim: St. Mary's Cathedral and St. Michael's Church · Hanseatic City of Lübeck · Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar · The Wadden Sea1 Central Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar and Dessau · Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz · Dresden Elbe Valley (delisted in 2009) · Luther Memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg · Muskauer Park / Park Mużakowski2 · Collegiate Church, Castle, and Old Town of Quedlinburg · Wartburg Castle · Classical Weimar Western Aachen Cathedral · Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at Brühl · Cologne Cathedral · Messel Pit Fossil Site · Upper Middle Rhine Valley · Speyer Cathedral · Trier: Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St. Peter and Church of Our Lady · Völklingen Ironworks · Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in Essen Southern Abbey and Altenmünster of Lorsch · Town of Bamberg · Frontiers of the Roman Empire:3 Upper Germanic & Rhaetian Limes · Maulbronn Monastery Complex · Old Town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof · Monastic Island of Reichenau · Pilgrimage Church of Wies · Würzburg Residence with the Court Gardens and Residence Square 1 Shared with the Netherlands · 2 Shared with Poland · 3 Shared with the United Kingdom