Media Guide CHIO Aachen 2013

The City of Aachen
Aachen without horses? Unthinkable.
The horse belongs to Aachen
like the port does to Hamburg,
like the Brandenburger Tor does
to Berlin. The foundation of the
city goes back to a horse. In Aachen
this can, of course, only have
been the horse of Charlemagne. It
is said that his horse once pawed
the earth with his hoof and thereby
discovered the famous hot
Aachen springs during a hunting
trip. This was the beginning of
Aachen’s career as Charlemagne’s
favourite palace and as a spa and
bathing city.
But Aachen is associated with much more than
only top international horse sport. Almost 150
equestrian companies, 22 indoor arenas, dozens of
riding clubs and over 40 kilometres of riding tracks
form a perfect infrastructure for riding as popular
sport within the city‘s environs. So it is not a surprise
that Aachen, situated in the border triangle with
Belgium and the Netherlands, was awarded the title
"Horse Friendly Community" in 2002. Aachen‘s
high identification with the horse and equestrian
sports can be found in many places in the city.
The famous horse sculpture of Bonifatius
Stirnberg welcomes travellers at the main
train station, and near the city theatre stands
the Smiling Stallion of Gerhard Marcks. Located
in the centre of Europe, the city of the
International Charlemagne Prize is also a science
centre of international reputation. Impressions
of the horse, European and research city with its
official Elite University can be seen online on
www.aachen-emotion.com.
Stadt Aachen / City of Aachen
The people in Aachen call such
stories „Ameröllche“. When they
talk about the famous annual
horse show at the city‘s gates in
the Soers, they say „Tschio“. If you
pronounced the tournament’s
title correctly you would say
„C – H – I - O“. The „Concours Hippique
International Officiel“ is the
world‘s most renowned equestrian
event. Every year the world‘s best
riders and drivers meet in the Soers
to compete in front of an audience
of more than 350,000 visitors. The
show is famous for its extraordinarily
fair and euphoric audience, the
top level sport and its atmosphere
which is similar to a folk festival.
Aachen
emotion
Beautiful Aachen
is just a click away!
www.aachen-emotion.com
Stadt Aachen / City of Aachen
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