The history of hair

According to recent finds, people were already living in the area of today's village of Verlautenheide in the Neolithic period. They were able to penetrate the Haaren area from the north, the area of today's Jülich; the area was probably still largely covered by forests.

There is evidence of Roman buildings in both Haaren and Verlautenheide in the first centuries after Christ. At the time, the Romans preferred Aachen as a spa and its surroundings were used to supply agricultural produce.

In 1336, the Empire of Aachen was confirmed in a document by Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian. At this time, Haaren and one half of Verlautenheide formed the Quartier von Haaren, which together with Würselen and Weiden, the other part of Verlautenheide, belonged to the "Quartier over Worm" (beyond the Wurm).

Haaren takes its name from the Haarbach stream, which was first mentioned in a document in 973. The district of Haaren is not the only one in the surrounding area that was called Haaren at that time, so it is not easy to determine when the village of Haaren was first mentioned. A van Haren family is also mentioned several times in the documents.

In a document from 1411, which records the sale of an inheritance in "Haaren unter die burch", one can be fairly certain that it refers to the local village of Haaren.

In contrast, Verlautenheide was probably first mentioned as "Heide boven Haren" in 1445 in a document from the Kornelimünster Abbey's register of rents and leases. In a later year, 1483, the terms "up Verloten Hey" and "Verloettenhey" can be found in the interest and rent book of St. Germanus.

Municipality

Until the Second World War, Haaren fell to Prussia after being occupied by the French from 1792 to 1814, but remained an independent municipality until December 31, 1971. On January 1, 1972, the Aachen district of Haaren was formed. As early as January 1, 1968, Quinx, the part of Verlautenheide that still belonged to (Broich- )Weiden, was transferred to Haaren.

Church

In Carolingian times, Haaren belonged to the royal estate of Würselen, where there was also a church. There was probably a first church in Haaren after the development of a separate village at the end of the 13th century.

In 1892, a new church, the current St. Germanus, was consecrated and put into use. Haaren became an independent parish as early as 1623 and the citizens of Haaren and Verlautenheide had made a notarial commitment to support the priest's living expenses with 70 thalers a year.

In Verlautenheide, the desire for their own church also arose in the middle of the 18th century. In 1764, 102 of them pledged to pay for the building costs and to ensure that it was well maintained. It is assumed that the church, St. Hubertus, was completed in 1769.

Just as in Haaren, a joint effort had to be made in Verlautenheide to obtain the "salary" of the priest so that it could be recognized as a parish. The city of Aachen made the area "Altenrath" (today Auenrath) available for this purpose, so that Verlautenheide could become its own parish in January 1780. In 1883/83 the chapel was extended, in September 1944 it was completely destroyed and finally replaced in 1949/50 by the current new building.

Until 2010, both parishes were still independent, but from 1976 onwards they were accompanied in pastoral care by the Aachen-Nord pastoral community together with St. Martin (Liebigstraße).

The new parish of Christus unser Bruder was launched in 2010.

Today, this includes the old parishes of St. Germaus (Haaren), St. Hubertus (Verlautenheide), St. Martin (Liebigstraße) and St. Elisabeth (Jülicher Straße).
The Protestant church, Christuskirche, has also been represented in Haaren with a vibrant parish life.

St. Valentine's Chapel

The Valentine's Chapel can be traced back to the 15th century, when it was customary for hospitals (at that time: inns) to have their own chapel, in which the poor, miserable and mainly also destitute travelers and pilgrims were admitted. The chapel is named after St. Valentine, who was prayed to in the event of falls and cattle diseases. As many pilgrims passed through Haaren on their way from Cologne to Aachen, the Gasthaus zu Aachen was very popular. The Valentine's Chapel and the Gasthaus zu Haaren were donated by a Haaren family out of religious sentiment. After the destruction of the hospital between 1610 and 1630, the chapel was preserved for several decades until it was completely dilapidated.

It was rebuilt in the 18th century and, with a few restorations, it survived for around the next two hundred years until its complete destruction in the Second World War.

Economy

Haaren and Verlautenheide originally developed from agricultural estates, which can still be seen in the townscape today. Mills soon began operating in both villages. The occupation of the inhabitants of Haaren was characterized by its location on the Aachen-Jülich-Cologne highway. Haaren was home to waggoners and professions with other means of transport, which meant that Haaren developed into a center for commercial enterprises early on. In the course of industrialization, this was certainly attractive for smaller industrial settlements. In Verlautenheide, on the other hand, there were more small businesses and hardly any approaches for larger enterprises. Residents and employees here, unless they were part of a family business, were forced to look for work in the surrounding villages.

Today

Today, Haaren is one of seven districts in the city of Aachen.
Together, Haaren and Verlautenheide have a population of around 12,000. The "Haaren concept" presented by the Interessengemeinschaft Handel, Handwerk und Gewerbe e.V. with the slogan "Everything in Haaren" is intended to show that Haaren is not only worth living in, but that there is also everything you need to live here. Today, Haaren has a large number of public
facilities, institutions and associations (see also Interessengemeinschaft Haarener Vereine e.V. 1973).