When Aachen was the centre of Europe – and Charlemagne ruled the known world

A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978, Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) will this summer become the focus of European attention. From June to September, the Aachen Palatinate, Europe’s best surviving Carolingian palace complex, plays host to three inter-related exhibitions commemorating the 1200th anniversary of the death of Charlemagne. The exhibition entitled Charlemagne. Power. Art. Treasures. occupies three separate parts of the former palace complex: the town hall, the Centre Charlemagne (a new visitor centre on the site of the original inner palace courtyard) and the Cathedral Treasury.

Charlemagne, king of the Franks from 768-814, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope in 800 and hailed the ‘father of Europe’ by a poet of his own day. He was a military, itinerant king whose empire extended across Europe, and he converted the palace complex in Aachen to become his principal residence, transforming it into the centre of his European empire. Situated on the borders of Germany and Holland, no fewer than thirty-eight rulers were crowned here between 813 and 1531.