Hürtgenwald

Hürtgenwald

Coat of arms
Hürtgenwald

Coordinates: 50°42′36″N 06°22′28″E / 50.71000°N 6.37444°E / 50.71000; 6.37444Coordinates: 50°42′36″N 06°22′28″E / 50.71000°N 6.37444°E / 50.71000; 6.37444
Country Germany
State North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region Köln
District Düren
Government
  Mayor Axel Buch (CDU)
Area
  Total 88.05 km2 (34.00 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)[1]
  Total 8,780
  Density 100/km2 (260/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 52393
Dialling codes 02429
Vehicle registration DN
Website www.huertgenwald.de

Hürtgenwald is a municipality in the district of Düren in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Eifel hills, approx. 15 km south-west of Düren. Much of the area is covered by forest (Hürtgenwald in literal translation means Hürtgen Forest).

The town hall of Hürtgenwald, located in the village of Kleinhau

Hürtgenwald is composed of the villages Bergstein, Brandenberg, Gey, Großhau, Horm, Hürtgen, Kleinhau, Raffelsbrand, Schafberg, Simonskall, Strass, Vossenack and Zerkall (in alphabetical order). Kleinhau with the town hall is not only the administrational center of the community, but has become the commercial center as well (shops and a few supermarkets).

A landmark: the Burgberg ("Castle Hill") near Bergstein

In World War II, Hürtgenwald was the theater of what is considered one of the most fierce and tragic battles to date. Two large war graves (one in Hürtgen, one in Vossenack) are places to commemorate those who fell.

Nowadays, the pleasing landscape of forested hills, lakes and rivers attracts a lot of people from nearby densely populated areas, e.g. from the Cologne area and the Ruhr Area, for recreational reasons.

View over the landscape, looking from northeast of Kleinhau towards Brandenberg

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hürtgenwald.

References


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/8/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.