North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia – Aachen Cathedral

Aachen Cathedral is one of the most important buildings in North Rhine-Westphalia and, at the same time, Germany's oldest UNESCO World Heritage Site — listed since 1978. Its core, the Carolingian Palatine Chapel, was built around 800 under Charlemagne and ranks among the best-preserved monuments of that era on the European continent. For centuries Aachen was the coronation site of German kings: between 936 and 1531, 30 rulers of the Holy Roman Empire were anointed and crowned there, including Otto I. The cathedral is thus a center of gravity for Europe not only architecturally but also politically and historically — and, for North Rhine-Westphalia, a defining landmark on the state's western border.

The Gothic choir hall, added in the 14th century, houses the Shrine of Charlemagne and the Shrine of Mary, two of the most valuable reliquaries of the Middle Ages. The cathedral treasury is regarded as one of the richest ecclesiastical collections north of the Alps. As an episcopal city and place of pilgrimage, Aachen held continental significance well beyond the Middle Ages — the pilgrimage to the relics of Charlemagne still draws hundreds of thousands of visitors today. With the 2027 2-euro commemorative coin, as part of the federal states series, Germany honors North Rhine-Westphalia, which contributes to the series a building of European stature in Aachen Cathedral.