Aachen Center

Heinrich was on another of his adventures. This time he went to the town of Aachen or as its called in French Aix-la-Chapelle. This was the home city of Charlemagne or Charles the Great. In the 800s he united most of Europe into a single Empire that became known as the Holy Roman Empire. The little town of Aachen became the capitol for this huge empire. As Heinrich walked the streets he noticed one of the pavement tour markers that he had seen in other cities. This one was marked with a KS that stood for the German spelling of Charles and an R on top that stands for “rex” or king.

As he was walking around he thought for a moment he was in India. Next to one of the stores right in the middle of town there was a cow on the pavement. But unlike the cows in India that wander the streets this one was a plastic model.

It seemed a little more like India as we passed a nearby sweets store. There were fancy packages of candy on the window and some huge cookies that looked like Indian elephants.

By an old wall Heinrich noticed some impressive stone carvings. As he looked a little closer he realized they were actually gargoyles that were standing on their ends. A sign nearby said that they were from the famous Aachen cathedral. Heinrich decided he would follow the pavement markers and try to find this famous cathedral.

 

Right in the middle of town he spied a very tall spire through a small passageway. As he walked through the passage way he saw a huge and very impressive cathedral.