Postcards from Aachen catalogue

Aachen (Aken) is a city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located in the Cologne Regional District. The city has approximately 263,800 inhabitants and covers an area of 160.85 km². It is situated in the North Eifel region, close to the Belgian and Dutch borders, near Vaals (Netherlands) and Kelmis (Belgium), approximately 55 km west of Cologne.

Aachen is a district-free city within the Aachen Metropolitan Region and forms a cross-border agglomeration with cities like Vaals, Kerkrade, and Kelmis. The city has a rich history, with Aachen Cathedral as a well-known monument. It is also an important industrial center in a former coal-mining region and a railway hub, connected to the high-speed rail line to Cologne and Liège.

Maastricht Aachen Airport, located on Dutch territory near Beek, is about 30 km from the city. RWTH Aachen is one of Europe's largest technical universities, with its University Hospital on Campus Melaten, one of the largest in Germany.