Christmas & Winter Market
Heinsberg
18.11.2024 - 29.12.2024
Only
until the market opens.
What does the Christmas market in Heinsberg look like?
This year the “Christmas market and winter market Heinsberg on Ice” will take place on the market square from November 18th, 2024 to December 29th, 2024.
Address at the Christmas Market
All visitors are welcome at the Tradition und Markt and Christmas & Winter Market Heinsberg, regardless of whether they have reserved a table or not.
Short History of Heinsberg
The first mention of Heinsberg as a city can be found in a document from 1255, issued by Heinrich von Sponheim, Lord of Heinsberg.
The great city fire in 1683 destroyed the entire lower town, including the town hall that stood freely in the marketplace.
The district of Heinsberg was judicially divided into six districts known as “Dingstühle” or “Schöffengerichte” (local courts). For them, the Heinsberg City Court served as the higher instance.
In 1794, French revolutionary troops led by General Jourdan advanced as far as the Rur River, while the Austrians had stationed posts in Heinsberg to defend against them.
After the Wars of Liberation against Napoleon and the reorganization of Europe through the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the newly established municipality of Heinsberg came under Prussian rule in 1816 and became a district capital.
After World War I, from 1918 to 1919, French military forces were initially stationed in Heinsberg, followed by Belgian military presence until 1926 (Allied occupation of the Rhineland). In 1932, the former districts of Heinsberg and Geilenkirchen were merged, and Heinsberg lost its status as the district seat.
Heinsberg was known as the northern end of the Westwall. In 1944, a makeshift defensive line called the Maas-Rur Position was established towards the north as a defense measure.
On July 1, 1969, according to the Law on the Reorganization of Municipalities in the Selfkant District of Geilenkirchen-Heinsberg, the villages of Aphoven, Schafhausen, and Unterbruch were incorporated into Heinsberg. With the municipal reorganization under the Aachen Act, Heinsberg became the district capital of the new Heinsberg District on January 1, 1972.