On this day 1197 years ago Charlemange died. He is often called Charles the great, Karl der Grosse in German, or Carolus Magnus in Latin. He was a great man who (albeit forcefully) united much of Europe and brought it out of the 'dark ages' for a short time by encouraging a revival of Art, Religon and Culture often called the Carolignian rennaisance. He was crowned 'Holy Roman Emperor' by the pope in Rome in 800, as his goal was to recreate the great societies of the past Roman empire. When he died his empire was split between his two sons and formed what is largely the border of France and Germany today. Sadly his sons were not the leaders Charlemange was and his empire crumbled and Europe fell back into the cultural dark ages until the italian Rennaisance almost 400 years later.
Aachen was the capital of Charlemange's empire, and he rests in an amazing beautiful guilded casket which stands prominently in the choir hall of his cathedral. This stone marker sits outside the cathedral just outside where he rests inside.
Fun fact: the Aachener people hid his grave, because they feared that Karl would be buried outside of Aachen, in Rome for example. What would an Emperor's City be without the Emperor?
Really nice shot! I love your points of view of the city I know so well. I've never realized that particular view. Beautiful.
I knew something about Charlemagne of course, but I did not know Aachen was the capital of his empire. It must be constantly amazing to brush up against history more than 1000 years old. As an American I just can't get used to it. Thanks for bringing us these sights and stories.
Really nice shot! I love your points of view of the city I know so well. I've never realized that particular view. Beautiful.
Beautiful shot and good background info.