PilgrimstaysAachen Cathedral is one of the oldest and most historically significant churches in Germany — the first German site inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in 1978. The Palatine Chapel at its core was built by Emperor Charlemagne in 796-806 AD as his private chapel and court church, making it the oldest cathedral in the German-speaking world still in use. Charlemagne, who united Western Europe under Christian governance and is buried here, is buried beneath a gold shrine that is one of the most important reliquaries of the medieval world. The cathedral complex has grown around the original octagonal Palatine Chapel across twelve centuries. The Gothic choir, added in the 14th century, contains the Pala d'Oro — a golden altarpiece — and the throne on which all German kings from Charlemagne's time until 1531 were crowned. The Karlsreliquiar (Charlemagne's Bust Reliquary, 1349) and the Marienschrein (Shrine of the Virgin, c. 1230) are among the supreme masterpieces of medieval goldsmithing and are displayed in the Domschatzkammer (Cathedral Treasury). The Aachen Pilgrimage (Aachener Heiligtumsfahrt) is held every seven years — a septennial event in which four sacred relics associated with Marian and Christological devotion are displayed to pilgrims for ten days. The next pilgrimage is scheduled for 2028. On pilgrimage years, over one million pilgrims visit Aachen from across Europe.
The first German UNESCO World Heritage Site (1978) — inscribed for its universal significance
The Palatine Chapel was built by Charlemagne in 796-806 AD as his private court
church Charlemagne is buried here — the emperor who founded the Holy Roman Empire
and Christian Europe The Aachen Pilgrimage (septennial) draws over one million pilgrims from across
Europe German kings were crowned on the Aachen throne from Charlemagne until 1531 —
Heart of the cathedral Charlemagne's original 8th-century octagonal chapel, modelled on San Vitale in Ravenna, is the oldest surviving parts of the building. The gold mosaic dome, the ancient columns brought from Rome and Ravenna by Charlemagne's architects, and the atmosphere of the oldest royal chapel in northern Europe are extraordinary.
Charlemagne's heirs in Christian governance.
the shrine of the Virgin with the four holy relics — and the golden altarpiece. The contrast between the dark intimate Palatine Chapel and the luminous Gothic choir makes the evolution of Christian sacred architecture comprehensible in a single building. The Domschatzkammer (Treasury) — Adjacent to the cathedral The cathedral treasury is one of the finest in Europe: Charlemagne's bust reliquary (1349), his personal cross, the Lothar Cross (c. 1000 AD), the Marienschrein, and textiles spanning twelve centuries. To stand before the Lothar Cross is to stand before a thousand years of sacred goldsmithing.
the only part of Germany where France, Belgium, and Germany meet. The border character of the city has always given it a particular political and religious significance: Charlemagne's Europe began here.
Charlemagne built a chapel for himself in 796 AD and he was buried in it. He was declared a saint by Pope Paschal III in 1165. His bones are in a golden shrine in the choir. Thirty German kings were crowned on his throne. The European Union is sometimes described as a continuation of the vision of a single Christian Europe. Whether that is true or not, the vision began here, in a small octagonal chapel on the Belgian border, with one man's prayer.
“When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.”
Read in full on Bible Gateway →Aachen Cathedral is one of the oldest and most historically significant churches in Germany — the first German site inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in 1978. The Palatine Chapel at its core was built by Emperor Charlemagne in 796–806 AD as his private chapel and court church, making it the oldest cathedral in the German-speaking world still in use. Charlemagne, who united Western Europe under Christian governance, is buried here beneath a gold shrine that is one of the most important reliquaries of the medieval world.
The cathedral complex has grown around the original octagonal Palatine Chapel across twelve centuries. The Gothic choir, added in the 14th century, contains the Pala d’Oro — a golden altarpiece — and the throne on which all German kings from Charlemagne’s time until 1531 were crowned. The Karlsreliquiar (Charlemagne’s Bust Reliquary, 1349) and the Marienschrein (Shrine of the Virgin, c. 1230) are among the supreme masterpieces of medieval goldsmithing and are displayed in the Domschatzkammer (Cathedral Treasury).
The Aachen Pilgrimage (Aachener Heiligtumsfahrt) is held every seven years — a septennial event in which four sacred relics associated with Marian and Christological devotion are displayed to pilgrims for ten days. The next pilgrimage is scheduled for 2028. On pilgrimage years, over one million pilgrims visit Aachen from across Europe.
