Aachen: The Good, The Bad, The Nazi
This past weekend we took a trip to Aachen. Aachen is a town west of Bonn very close to the border of Netherlands and Belgium. We didn’t have too much a reason to go to Aachen except that it was kind of something to do. On Friday we had no idea what to do this weekend and we were pretty much just scrolling on google maps. We found Aachen and found out there was another cathedral to go to. This was great because now we could compare it to the cathedral in cologne that we went to last weekend (Picture 1).
We left Friday afternoon, well most of us did. One of my friends had trouble with the public transportation, missed a few trains and ended up getting to Aachen 4 hours after us. The public transportation here can be very frustrating and difficult to use especially if a train or bus is running late (they always are). The public transportation system in Germany is very well built up compared to the United States. However, the trains and buses can be incredibly unreliable. I really miss my car.
We got to Aachen and decided to check out a thermal bath, which is pretty much just like a massive slightly hotter pool with salt water. It was also really cool how the pool was both inside and outside. We then went to the cathedral in Aachen (Picture 2). It was really cool to compare the roman architecture of this cathedral to the gothic architecture of the cologne cathedral. They are both so impressive in their own ways.
The next morning we got up early and took a bus west to the Three Country Point. This is where we could stand in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany at the same time. It was kind of cool but also a bit underwhelming. To me it just felt like the European version of the 4 corners in the United States. However, I was in 3 countries at the same time so that’s pretty cool.
After that we started to make our way home. However, when we got to the train station at Aachen, there were so many police officers. There were at least 40 police cars and upwards of 100 police officers. It was really interesting to compare these police officers to the ones in the US. These cops all had pistols which is not normal for Germany. The way I saw it a pistol in Germany is the equivalent of an AK-47 in the US. These police officers were “heavily armed” but in America these would have just been normal officers. We asked what was happening and they said it was demonstration day. We looked it up to see what the demonstrations were and it turned out to be a neo-Nazi demonstration happening that day. We quickly got on the train and left that city as soon as possible. This was pretty scary for me. I had been warned about antisemitism by some elderly family members. I still felt safe coming to Germany and I do feel safe but it was still scary to see this level of hate still around today considering all of the history.
Even with the unfortunate run-in with the rally, my trip to Aachen was great. I really enjoyed being able to see a new town and even be in 3 countries at once. I will know for next time to search up before I travel if any big events are happening where I travel. Hopefully this was my first and last Nazi encounter in Germany. I would definitely recommend a trip to Aachen during any other day of the year.
Jonah R
References:
Klarmann, M. (2025, January 19). Neonazi-aufmarsch und Gegenproteste in Aachen – Jetzt zieht Die polizei bilanz. t-Online. https://www.t-online.de/region/aachen/id_100577508/aachen-neonazi-aufmarsch-und-gegenproteste-polizei-zieht-bilanz.html
