Open air Celebration of the Charlemagne Prize Laureate 2019 at Katschhof in Aachen
In the border triangle between the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, as well as in the geographical proximity to Luxembourg and France, the city of Aachen offers an ideal location for European ideas and transnational exchange. With service busses crossing the borders every day, a multilingual environment and as a student city with one of the leading universities of technology in Germany - the RWTH Aachen University - that made the city develop into a technology-hub during previous years, the impact of European developments is palpable.
Former Charlemagne Prize Laureates Jean-Claude Juncker and Dalia Grybauskaitė at the Award Ceremony 2019 | © Helmut Rüland
The Charlemagne Prize has been strongly rooted in the city of Aachen since 1950. Year after year, German, European and international representatives from politics and global affairs come together in accordance with the laureate in the historic old town of Aachen. The inner-city venues, such as the town hall, the cathedral and their surrounding buildings thus have offered a special European environment for the previous award ceremonies and will – from now on - also act as such as part of the Charlemagne Prize Academy Summit.
Charlemagne Prize Award Ceremony 2018 at the Aachen Coronation Hall | © Helmut Rüland
The most famous venue of the annual Charlemagne Prize Ceremony is the Coronation Hall of the cities’ town hall. With regard to its symbolic meaning, the main part of the Academy Summit will take place at this location, too.