Brand is a district of Aachen, Germany, with about 18,000 residents. The district lies in the southern part of Aachen and borders Kornelimünster/Walheim, Forst, Oberforstbach und Eilendorf, as well as the city ofStolberg. Brand was a self-administered community in the district of Aachen until 1972, when administrative reforms of the communities in the area caused Brand to be absorbed into Aachen. The current district of Brand is made up of the towns Brand, Freund, Krauthausen, Niederforstbach, Brander Feld and Rollef. At 270.9 meters, the highest point of the district is a noise barrier along the Bundesautobahn 44, which runs through Brand Forest.
The Coat of Arms of Brand is divided horizontally and shows in its upper section the horn of Pope Cornelius, a symbol of the areas previous affiliation to the Kornelimünster Abbey. In the lower part is a burning set of three hills. This symbolizes the three districts of Brand, which are Freund, Brand and Niederforstbach, and which each lie on a small hill. The fire stands for the district’s name Brand, which means “fire”. The reason that the area is called this, however, is etymologically unclear. Symbols for the district include the Brand Bull, which is commemorated by a bronze statueat the center of Brand. It likely stems from the town’s association with the horn of Pope Cornelius on the coat of arms, and is meant to symbolize residents’ obstinacy.
Brand Heath
The English Count de Rice, whose personal details remain unknown, bought from the Kornelimünster Abbey more than three hundred acres of the treeless Brand Heath and Erberichshof Street, bounded by Eilendorf Street, so that he could build homes and a horse racetrack. In 1789 the Count went bankrupt and the area was repossessed, but later it was given to the community of Brand, which still built the racetrack, along with a grandstand. In the 19th century, horse racing in Brand enjoyed great popularity after it had been initiated in 1830 by the industrialist James Cockerill and further expanded upon in 1870 by his grandchildren and respected gentlemen riders Otto and Henry Suermondt, who would later serve as the nucleus of the Aachen-Laurensberg Riding Club. After the turn of the 20th century, equestrian sports in the area became more concentrated in Soers, and so the wide-open area of Brand became a staging area for Aachen area flight pioneer and airplane builder Erich Lochner. It is also here that the first flight demonstrations of a propeller driven airplane took place. Later, the Aachen Association of Aeronautics rented the area and built maintenance and assembly workshops. Until 1913, numerous flights took place here under international cooperation, but despite these initial successes, the activities of the airfield had to be stopped because the club had incurred too much debt and could no longer operate.
In earlier times, the train station in Brand was a stop on the Vennbahnrailway line. It opened 1 December 1885 as the Brand Station and was renamed Brand in the 1950s. It was located between Trierer Straße and Eckenerstraße, which was spanned by a level crossing. On 29 May 1960 commuter traffic was discontinued at the station, and 1 April 1980 saw the end of freight traffic as well. The tracks between Brand and Kornelimünster were torn up in 1982, while the tracks to Aachen-Rothe Erde were removed in 1985. The earlier tracks between Rothe Erde and Walheim are today used as a bike and pedestrian path and is known as the Vennbahn path. The station building was eventually remodeled and is now used as a restaurant.
Books cited
Kratz, Christian: St. Donatus in Aachen-Brand. Einhard-Verlag, Aachen 2000.
Jeuckens, Robert: Geschichte von Gemeinde und Pfarre Brand. Veröffentlichungen des Bischöflichen Diözesanarchivs Aachen, Bd. 21, Aachen 1954
Heimatblätter des Landkreises Aachen. Jg. 6, Nr. 3, Juli 1936
Brand. Ein Ort verändert sich. Hrsg. vom Bürgerverein Brand e. V., Aachen 1985
