Open Monument Day 2025

The nationwide Open Monument Day takes place every year on the second Sunday in September. This year, monument owners will once again open their doors on September 14 under the motto: "Valuable: priceless or irreplaceable?".

Take the opportunity to discover something new by looking behind otherwise closed facades. It is not only the large buildings such as the cathedral and town hall that are valuable monuments, but also the many other small and large protected buildings that often accompany our everyday lives as a matter of course.

The current brochure with all the offers is available as a digital version. Alternatively, the online overview will help you plan your visit.

Further information can also be found on the website of the German Foundation for Monument Protection.

Map of the monuments

events

The Aachen bus station in the focus of photography

Modern, irritating, controversial. Hardly any other building of the 1970s has changed the center of Aachen as lastingly as the Bushof. Completed in 1973, this extraordinary building can be seen retrospectively as a "child of its time".

12.00 to 17.00 hrs

Canceled: Valuable items in the Aachen city model

This event has been canceled!

Since 2010, the Aachen city model has been created on a scale of 1 : 500, financed by donations from Aachen citizens and companies.

12 noon to 3 pm

Klaus Paier - the Aachen muralist

From 1978 to 1987, Klaus Paier was out and about in Aachen, illegally painting his text-picture works on concrete walls and walls in Aachen's city center, on the grounds of the RWTH and on squats.

From 3 pm

"Wishes become reality" - Deutsche Bank at Friedrich-Wilhelm-Platz

In 1968, Deutsche Bank builds a striking new branch on Friedrich-Wilhelm-Platz in the heart of the city.

From 10 a.m.

Thermal bathing in Burtscheid - simply worth it

Thermal bathing has a 2000-year-old tradition in Aachen.

Open: 11 am to 4 pm

Guided tour: 11 am to 4 pm, tours of the spa gardens on request

Holy Cross rectory - monastery and baroque gem

The house dates back to the construction of the Kreuzherrenkloster monastery in the 14th century.

Guided tours: 11 am, 12.30 pm, 2 pm (rectory), 2.45 pm (church)

The Brandenburg - from a knight's castle to a home

Brandenburg was built in 1441 as a knight's castle in the Duchy of Limburg with a defensive function not far from the border with the Duchy of Jülich.

Guided tours:
12 noon, 2 pm and 4 pm (duration approx. 1 hour)

Aachen's historic canal system - into the underground with rubber boots

At the end of the 19th century, Aachen's streams were converted into a system of stream channels, as pathogenic pollution from industry and households in particular posed a health risk.

10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

100 years of the Talstrasse depot - from streetcar workshop to cultural center

The former streetcar depot was built 100 years ago.

1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The Märkerhaus on Aachen's Lousberg

At the beginning of the 20th century, Nizzaallee was built on the southern slope of the Lousberg as a residential area for the upper middle classes with lavish villas, including today's Märkerhaus at Nizzaallee 4, completed in 1910.

Guided tours: 1 pm, 2.30 pm and 4 pm

CANCELLED: Studio and cabinet of curiosities - The bottle dome safe

Unfortunately, the tour cannot take place.

Conservation and energy efficiency - thinking about preservation and the future together

Listed buildings already make a significant contribution to climate protection thanks to their durable construction and high-quality materials.

From 6 pm

The Rosfabrik - New use for an old location

The Rosfabrik was home to the needle production of the company "Jos. Zimmermann" (Jungbecker) for over 150 years.

Guided tours every hour on the hour.

Testimony to the Baroque era - Kersten's Pavilion

The Kersten Pavilion is a testimony to the late Baroque period by Johann-Joseph Couven, built in 1737 for the master dyer Mantels on the Annuntiatenbach, from where it was relocated to the Lousberg in 1907.

12 noon to 5 p.m.

St. Paul's Church - VALUE-full: priceless or irreplaceable?

The church building - part of the Dominican monastery from 1400 to 1802, then a parish church until 2009 - has housed a self-sufficient concrete cube in the nave since 2018, which serves as the bishop's diocesan archive.

Guided tours:
2.30, 3.30, 4.30, 5.15 pm: Building
3.45 pm: Archive
2.45, 4.45 pm: Presentation on the history of the diocese

Drei-T on Monheimsallee - The new office of the BDA Aachen

With its careful design, which repeatedly varies the motif of a triangle in its ground plan, façade and roof, the small red pavilion by city architect Philipp Kerz in the middle of the Bastei intersection is one of the few expressionist buildings in the city of Aachen.

Guided tours on request

Couven Museum exterior view — Andreas Herrmann

Couven Museum - The valuable collection

Guided tours:
10.30 am, 1 pm and 3 pm

The stones that mean the world. A lecture on architectural history

The Aachen City Theater was opened in 1825 and is a classicist building.

From 11 a.m.

Bravo, bravissimo - theater, valuable and enduring

An exhibition is on show at the Centre Charlemagne to mark the 200th anniversary of Aachen's municipal theater.

Guided tour: 1.30 pm
Workshop: 2 pm to 4 pm

Aachen Cathedral - Valuables in the mirror of research

Presentation of an overview model "Aachen Cathedral at the time of Charles V (1500-1558)"
Aachen Cathedral has changed its appearance several times over the centuries since it was built around 800.

3 pm: The cathedral at the time of Charles V.
4 pm: Building inscriptions

The value of a place for a king - the value of an emperor for a place

During the tour, we use various exhibits to trace the history and significance of a place through the ages and look at how Aachen's most famous historical figure, Charlemagne, gave it a special value at different times.

From 12 noon

The Salvatorberg - the "little brother" of the Lousberg

A church was built on the Salvatorberg as early as the Carolingian period on the initiative of Louis the Pious.

From 10 a.m.

The "Great House" of Aachen

In the course of its more than 500-year history, the "Great House of Aachen" has been subjected to numerous uses.

Guided tour:
10 am, 2 pm and 3 pm

RWTH Aachen - Campus: Architectural landmarks

In the middle of the 19th century, the administrative district of Aachen was one of the most industrialized regions in Germany.

Guided tours: 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Valuable stories at the border - The Friedrichs Customs Museum

The "Friedrichs Customs Museum" is housed in a listed building - the old Horbach customs office.

Guided tours: 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The Aachen slaughterhouse - valuable and irreplaceable?

Built between 1890 and 1894, the municipal abattoir was used until 2002.

From 11 a.m.

Wohnsinn - A residential project in a listed building

The Wohnsinn housing project opens its doors on Open Monument Day and gives an insight into how self-managed housing and monument protection go together.

2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Episcopal Academy - a place of eventful history

Anna Braun-Sittarz began her professional career as a weaver in the Delius cloth factory, which owned the property and villa that stood where the Bishop Hemmerle House is now located as part of the Aachen Diocese Academy until it was destroyed in 1944.

A cultural program element is planned at 3 p.m.

Tours as required during opening hours.

50 years of a valuable future - The University Hospital of RWTH Aachen: A futuristic monument

The Aachen University Hospital building, constructed between 1970 and 1984, was the source of heated debate from the outset.

Guided tours: 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Columbarium St. Donatus - contemporary witness to VALUABLE life stories

The foundation stone for the Church of the Redeemer in Aachen-Brand was laid 55 years ago.

Guided tour:
2.30 pm: guided tour
4 pm: musical memorial service for all interested parties

Living Rooms: Kornelimünster Imperial Abbey

Kunsthaus NRW invites you to a special program around the project "Living Rooms - Lebende Räume" by artist Stefanie Klingemann.

11 am to 5 pm

Grashaus exterior view — Peter Hinschläger

"Valuable grass house" - The monument through the ages

In the course of its almost 800-year history, the building, which was originally the first town hall in Aachen, has already seen many different uses, which are hidden behind various conversions, extensions and new buildings.

Guided tour: 11 am and 2 pm

Once a monument - always a monument? The future of remembrance at the long night of short films

A monument as an actual memorial to an event or happening, for example, raises questions: Who determines what a monument is? If the meaning of a monument or the way it is understood changes, what happens to it?

From 4.30 pm

The baptistery of the cathedral and its archaeological excavation area

St. Johannes Baptist, or simply Baptistery, was first mentioned in 1215. The walls reveal Romanesque and Gothic origins.

Guided tours: from 11 a.m.

Kornelimünster Probsteikirche: What is still "valuable" today - and how do we measure this value?

The Probsteikirche St. Kornelius is one of the oldest church buildings in Aachen. The foundation building was constructed between 814 and 817.

Guided tours:
1 pm and 2.30 pm
Sat. 20.09. 7.30 pm: illuminated tour

Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum exterior view — Andreas Herrmann

Wunderkind and Wunderkammer at the Suermondt-Ludwig Museum

The late 19th century city palace was built by Eduard Linse based on the model of Venetian aristocratic palaces with a three-storey, richly decorated façade in the Neo-Renaissance style.

Guided tours:
12 noon: From residential palace to art palace - a walk through space and time
3 p.m.: Precious - works of art in the museum's treasure chamber

Fountain tour - Where water splashes

Today, the city is adorned with numerous fountains, each of which tells its own story. In some places, you can also still see the numerous streams that once played an important role in Aachen's development.

From 3 pm

Ludwig Forum Aachen, entrance area — © Carl Brunn

Ludwig Forum: priceless or irreplaceable?

The old Breuer umbrella factory has been home to the Ludwig Forum for International Art since 1991, having previously been housed in the Neue Galerie im Alten Kurhaus.

Guided tour:
12 noon to 2 pm: workshop for children
12 noon: architectural tour for adults

Photovoltaic roof system: What's behind these walls?

Our cities and municipalities need renewable energies and even residential buildings that are listed buildings are making their contribution these days.

Guided tours: 2 pm and 3 pm

The RWTH main building through the ages

Built in 1865 by architect Robert Ferdinand Cremer, the main building of RWTH is the founding site of the university and is a listed building.

From 11 a.m.

Aachen Town Hall - from rule to dialog

Aachen has set out with a large number of stakeholders to become an innovative municipality of civic dialog and to shape the future of the city together with urban society.

Guided tours:
10 am and 12 noon

St. Germanus in Haaren - Valuable history

There is evidence of the first church building in Haaren as early as 1350. However, the parish of St. Germanus only celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2023.

Guided tour:
Free tour 12.15 p.m. to 4 p.m.
4 p.m. Organ tour and concluding with a small concert

Holy Trinity Chapel in Schleckheim

The chapel in Schleckheim is a quarry stone building, built around 1646.

Guided tours every hour from 11 a.m.

Jewish cemetery

The more than 200-year history of the Jewish cemetery reflects the development of Aachen's synagogue community from its beginnings to the present day.

11 am to 4 pm

East Cemetery Aachen

The Förderkreis Ostfriedhof e.V. offers an exhibition, information on sponsorships and the association's activities as well as two guided tours at Aachen's listed Ostfriedhof cemetery.

10 am to 5 pm
Guided tours: at 11 am and 2 pm