Stolberg (German pronunciation: [ˈʃtɔlbɛʁk] , Ripuarian: Stolbersch) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It has a long history as an industrial town and belongs to the district Aachen and the lower district court of Eschweiler.
Stolberg is located approximately 5 km east of Aachen in a valley at the fringes of the Eifel which begins in the East with the Hürtgenwald and in the South in the municipality of Monschau. It borders Eschweiler in the north and the Aachen city district of Eilendorf in the west.
The core of Stolberg is commonly divided into Unterstolberg (Lower Stolberg) and Oberstolberg (Upper Stolberg) which includes most of the old parts of Stolberg. Other parts of Stolberg are Atsch, Büsbach, Donnerberg, Münsterbusch. In addition the villages of Breinig, Dorff, Gressenich, Mausbach, Schevenhütte, Venwegen, Vicht, Werth, and Zweifall.
Stolberg is first mentioned in documents from the 12th century. It became an important centre of brass production when Protestant brass producers resettled to Stolberg from Aachen around 1600 to escape religious persecution and economic restrictions. The nickname of Stolberg, Die Kupferstadt (the Copper City), thus derives not from copper but from brass, "yellow copper". The Kupferhöfe (copper yards) where brass was originally produced and the brass manufacturers built their mansions remain as reminders of the brass manufacturers that dominated Stolberg and its economy.
Stolberg lost its importance as a brass producer when pure zinc became available in the middle of the 19th century. Many brass producers moved into other industries, especially the glass and textile industries, or specialized in the mass production of haberdashery.
Stolberg belonged to the Duchy of Jülich until 1794, when it became occupied by France and part of the Canton of Eschweiler in the Département de la Roer. After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Stolberg became part of the Kingdom of Prussia.
Stolberg acquired notoriety in the 1960s as the residence of Contergan producer Grünenthal. Because of its heavy industry, Stolberg has become associated with diseases of metal poisoning, literally "Gressenich cadmium cattle-dying" disease and "Stolberg lead children" disease.
Stolberg has a significant ultra-right history, e.g., as the headquarters of the Wiking-Jugend from 1967 to 1991 and as a place of NPD activities.
The town's landmark is a castle which was rebuilt at the beginning of the 20th century at the location of the former medieval castle of Stolberg. Other remarkable old buildings are the Kupferhöfe (Copper yards) and the old town in general.
At the eastern border of the territory of Stolberg is the Wehebachtalsperre (Beck Wehe reservoir) which includes a lookout point.
Although Stolberg lacks direct Autobahn access, the next autobahns are easily accessible via the neighbouring towns of Aachen and Eschweiler. Stolberg Hauptbahnhof (central station) is on the Cologne–Aachen railway and served by a Regional-Express train every half-hour. Several smaller stations in the centre of Stolberg are connected to Aachen (district) and Düren (district) by the euregiobahn, a slower regional train.
Stolberg has several football, handball, gymnastics, swimming, tennis clubs and a few traditional shooting clubs.
Other sports clubs include the gliding club Luftsportverein Stolberg, situated at the Diepenlinchen Airfield and the regionally successful artistic cycling club RSC Münsterbusch.
Stolberg (Rhineland) is twinned with: [3]
North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a state (Land) in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the most populous state in Germany. Apart from the city-states, it is also the most densely populated state in Germany. Covering an area of 34,084 km2 (13,160 sq mi), it is the fourth-largest German state by size.
Eschweiler is a municipality in the district of Aachen in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany on the river Inde, near the German-Belgian-Dutch border, and about 15 kilometres (9 mi) east of Aachen and 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of Cologne.
The Cologne–Aachen high-speed line is the German part of the Trans-European transport networks project high-speed line Paris–Brussels–Cologne. It is not a newly built railway line, but a project to upgrade the existing railway line which was opened in 1841 by the Rhenish Railway Company. When it was continued into Belgium in 1843, it became the world's first international railway line.
Stolberg is a town and a former municipality in the district of Mansfeld-Südharz, in the German State of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated in the southern part of the Harz mountains, about 27 kilometres (17 mi) west of Sangerhausen, and 13 km (8.1 mi) northeast of Nordhausen. Since 1 September 2010, it has been part of the municipality of Südharz.
The Diocese of Aachen is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church located in Germany and one of the six dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cologne. The incumbent bishop is Helmut Dieser, who was appointed by Pope Francis on 23 September 2016. The bishop's seat is Aachen.
The Rhenish Republic was proclaimed at Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) in October 1923 during the occupation of the Ruhr by troops from France and Belgium and subjected itself to French protectorate. It comprised three territories, named North, South and Ruhr. Their regional capitals were, respectively, Aachen, Koblenz and Essen.
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The nature reserve of Schlangenberg which means snake-mountain is located in the west of Germany close to the Dutch and Belgian border. The reserve is near the village Breinigerberg, 15 kilometres from Aachen or 7 kilometres distant from the city of Stolberg (Rhineland). Schlangenberg itself is a small hill peaking 276 m above sea level.
The Adler-Apotheke was a former brass producing factory in the German city of Stolberg. The building was founded in 1575 by Leonard Schleicher. In the 18th century it became the first pharmacy in the district of Aachen. Currently the building is protected as a cultural heritage.
Robert Oskar Julius von Görschen was one of the Aachen region’s most successful business lawyers, and an initiator of many social and cultural institutions.
Büsbach is the largest of 17 districts and villages belonging to the German town of Stolberg (Rhineland).
Eschweiler Hauptbahnhof is the largest station in the city of Eschweiler in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is on a slight curve on the Cologne–Aachen high-speed line. Regional services of the Regional-Express lines RE 1 (NRW-Express) and RE 9 (Rhein-Sieg-Express) stop at the station every half hour in both directions.
Stolberg (Rheinland) Hauptbahnhof is a railway station on the line between Cologne and Aachen. It is the largest station for passengers and freight in the town of Stolberg (Rhineland) in the urban region of Aachen in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It houses the Vennbahn Museum and is situated at a junction.
The Mönchengladbach–Stolberg railway was opened by the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company and built in sections between 1870 and 1875.
Eilendorf is a borough of Aachen, Germany, that has around 15000 inhabitants. The communities of Eilendorf and Nirm share a border with the other Aachen boroughs of Brand, Aachen-Mitte, and Haaren, as well as Atsch in Stolberg.
Kornelimünster is a town in the rural Münsterländchen area of Kornelimünster/Walheim, a district of Aachen, Germany.
Stolberg Zinc joint-stock company for mining and smelter operations in Aachen, or Stolberg Zinc Mines GmbH, is a metal mining concern in the Aachen region and specifically in the area of Eschweiler-Stolberg, with headquarters in Stolberg.
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The Blausteinsee Leisure and Recreation Area is an artificial lake north of the Eschweiler municipality in the Aachen district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Its area is around 100 hectares and depth is 46m. It was created during the regeneration of the Zukunft opencast coal mine in the Rhineland coalfield, made by flooding the pit left by the mine with water. Today, the lake is a holiday area for the surrounding towns. The surface of the lake is 129 metres above sea level and its volume is around 25 million cubic metres. The filling of the lake began in 1994.
The textile industry in Aachen has a history that dates back to the Middle Ages. The Imperial city of Aachen was the main woolen center of the Rhineland. Certain kind of woolens made there were illustrated as "Aachen fine cloth". These high-quality fine woolens have a plain weave structure using carded merino wool yarns, and a raised surface. The production of high-quality, fine cloth required fine foreign wool and skilled craftsmen and was reserved for town craftsmen. It involved regulated steps including sorting, combing, washing, spinning, fulling, dyeing, shearing, and pressing the wool. The finished products were inspected and authorized with a town trademark before being sold and exported. Fine cloth was a major export in the Middle Ages.