Meeting of the citizens' forum

Meeting of the citizens' forum

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From resolution to implementation: working workshop on 03.03.2026 instead of regular meeting.

At its meeting on 27.01.2026, the Citizens' Forum passed an important resolution on the further development of the Aachen Citizens' Council. The aim is to further strengthen the connectivity and effectiveness of the topic selection process, to evaluate the planned measures and, in the long term, to further develop the Citizens' Assembly's guidelines.

The meeting date of 03.03.2026 will therefore deliberately not be canceled, but will be converted into a work-oriented format. Instead of the regular committee meeting, a workshop will be held in which the agreed content will be addressed and further developed in a structured manner. In this way, the political mandate from the January meeting will be implemented directly and practically.

The workshop serves the structured exchange between politics, administration and civil society actors and focuses exclusively on a further building block in the Citizens' Assembly process. The usual regularities of a committee meeting (e.g. residents' question time or approval of minutes) are therefore not planned.

In order to enable a work-oriented format with an intensive exchange, the number of participants is deliberately limited. Each parliamentary group sends one representative; in addition, representatives of the "Citizens' Council for Aachen" initiative, members of the monitoring committee and involved colleagues from the administration take part.

With this approach, the Citizens' Forum actively implements its political mandate and uses the date constructively to further develop the content of the participation format.

Please note that the workshop is designed as an internal working format and is therefore not open to the public.

Intense debate in the citizens' forum on the Türelüre-Lißche fountain

Great interest, full rows and a lively discussion: around 120 citizens attended last night's meeting of the citizens' forum on how to deal with the Türelüre-Lißche fountain.

At the beginning of the consultation, Lord Mayor Dr. Michael Ziemons introduced the topic. He underlined the importance of the citizens' forum as a place for democratic participation and emphasized that controversial issues are also part of a vibrant urban society. At the same time, he emphasized the need for an objective and respectful discussion. Differing opinions must be clearly stated, but should be exchanged in a respectful environment. The aim is to take a differentiated view of the topic in its historical, cultural and social dimensions.

A lively and constructive debate developed over the course of the meeting. Despite the sometimes emotional public discussion in the run-up to the meeting, the debate remained largely objective. Numerous comments highlighted the different perspectives on the fountain - between local historical ties, cultural tradition and a critical reassessment from today's social perspective.

In the discussion, the historical significance of the fountain and its role as part of Aachen's city history and tradition was emphasized in many cases. At the same time, speakers argued that the scene depicted should be viewed critically from today's perspective and classified both historically and socially.

The contributions and arguments presented at the citizens' forum were documented and incorporated into the further deliberations of the Aachen-Mitte district council.

The citizens' forum ultimately passed the following resolution:

The Citizens' Forum takes note of the administration's comments and recommends to the Aachen-Mitte district council that the Türelüre-Lißche sculpture be retained in or around its current location even after the square has been redesigned and that the historical and social context be identified by means of suitable measures.

The final political consultation and decision is the responsibility of the relevant Aachen-Mitte district council. The date of the meeting will be announced in good time on the City of Aachen's website.

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