Aachen on the move
Horse and rider: year after year, the CHIO attracts the international equestrian sport elite to the Aachen Soers. Then there are top performances to marvel at and champagne to drink. And you can watch the world's most experienced experts at work. The rider from Aachen, who has been familiar with oxers, time penalties and traversals since he was a child, knows exactly when concentrated calmness is required and whether a piaffe was perfect. And 45,000 white handkerchiefs are waving as he says goodbye ...
Sports history is not only written in Aachen when it comes to horses. Water jumpers from Aachen have won Olympic medals, volleyball players compete for the German championship. There are first-class ballroom dancers, bowlers, chess players and judokas. And the footballer's heart beats for Alemannia, nevertheless.
Only doing it yourself is better. Aachen has 220 sports clubs with 62,400 members. You can do gymnastics, play badminton and basketball, play golf, stretch or swim ... for example in the Elisabethhalle, an Art Nouveau jewel in the middle of the city.
There are bouldering halls, a high ropes course, an ice rink and skate parks. If you want, you can play rugby under water, go mountain biking, cycle along the Vennbahnweg to Luxembourg, take part in the New Year's Eve run or simply jog through the Aachen forest. Running out of breath? You can also take it slower. With a walk through one of Aachen's beautiful parks or a hike in the border region, for example. Thanks to the ingenious junction system, the risk of getting lost is extremely low.
Aachen in motion
Horse and rider—every year, the CHIO draws the international elite of equestrian sports to Aachen’s Soers. And that means plenty of first-class performances to marvel at—and plenty of champagne to drink—while the world’s most discerning professional audience gets to work: the Aacheners themselves. Familiar with oxers, time penalties, and traversals from the cradle onward, they know precisely when a hushed silence is called for, or whether a piaffe was executed perfectly. And to top it all off, 45,000 white handkerchiefs are raised and waved...
But it’s not just in equestrian sports that Aachen makes sports history. Aachen’s diving team has won Olympic medals; Aachen’s volleyball players are competing for the German Championship. We have top-notch ballroom dancers, skittles players, chess players, and judokas. And soccer fans’ hearts beat faster for the Aachen team Alemannia—come what may.
The only thing that tops all this is, of course, doing it yourself. Aachen has 220 sports clubs with 62,400 members. You can do gymnastics, play badminton and basketball, enjoy golf, stretching, or swimming—which you can do in style, for example, at the Elisabeth-Hall indoor swimming pool, a gem of Art Nouveau architecture in the city center.
Aachen has bouldering gyms, a rope climbing garden, an indoor ice rink, and skate parks. If you’d like, you can play underwater rugby, go mountain biking, cycle along the Vennbahnweg Cycle Route—a converted former railroad embankment—all the way to Luxembourg, take part in the New Year’s Eve Marathon, or simply go for a jog through the Aachen Forest. Out of breath already? Well, you can always slow things down a bit—with a leisurely stroll through one of Aachen’s wonderful parks, for example, or a hike in the Grenzland border region. Thanks to a clever numbered intersection system, the chances of getting lost are extremely low. But don’t worry—there’s still enough residual risk to add a touch of adventure to your expedition...
