Prior to 1800, Germany was a rural country dedicated to an agricultural base. By 1900, the Industrial Revolution transformed Germany into Europe’s largest economy. The coal dug out of the rich mines of the Ruhr Area fired the factory furnaces producing the new demand for iron and steel. Dortmund stood at the center and became one of Germany’s largest cities and the show piece of Germany’s largest urban area.
- - - - -
Referred to as “Bonna” by the Roman founders, Bonn housed a small military garrison on the Rhein River. In 1949, the city became the site for drafting a new German constitution and became the nation’s new capital. Berlin, lying deep within Soviet controlled territory, was regarded as the “de jure” capital of a divided Germany, but Bonn served as the “de facto” capital of West Germany until the 1991 reunification.
- - - - -
Charlemagne brought the Carolingian Dynasty to a peak when he became Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in 822; the Carolingians originated in and around Aachen. Charlemagne made Aachen his winter home throughout his thirteen year reign and elevated the city as the administrative seat of power for the Holy Roman Empire from 794 to 1328; thirty-one Holy Roman Emperors were crowned in Aachen.
