Station: [25] Urban Districts


M: Siegburg today is made up of twelve distinct neighbourhoods.

F: Quite difficult for us to pronounce! But let's look back: in the early 19th century, there were no Siegburg suburbs, with a single exception: the little village along Aulgasse, the former potters’ suburb. Anyone who lived in Siegburg, lived inside the city walls.

M: But from the 19th century onwards, the city grew continuously. Today's suburbs used to be villages that were gradually incorporated. Today, Siegburg has about 40,000 inhabitants.

F: One district in particular has already been mentioned on your tour – Wolsdorf! Do you remember? There were the quarries in the local hills, the "Wolsberge", where the typical local stone called Wolsdorfer Brocken was mined – the basalt tuff used to build Siegburg’s town wall. As well as our underground vaults.

M: Why not take a short walk around the town to discover more interesting stories.

F: Such as, for example, the fact that the district called Zange can be traced back to a single house called "Zur Zangen", where a certain Elias Zangen lived.

M: Or that the name SeligenthaI (Blessed Valley) derives from a monastery of the Friars Minor, founded around 1230 in the "Valley of the Blessed".

F: Or ... we’re sure you’ll discover more.

M: And now – how about a spot of music? Perhaps you can guess the identity of the man we’ll be introducing at the next stop.

 

Foto: © Dagmar Trüpschuch