Shuttle along to an “in” event

Young cultureShuttle along to an “in” event

If you want to rediscover Aachen, go by shuttle-bus – preferably at night. Hip-Hop and classical, video performances in Baroque settings or theatre pieces beneath a starry sky, events like Museum Night, the Churches’ Open Night and the Aachen Theatre Day will give you an unusual view of the city at unusual hours.

No wonder even the scientists are blazing new trails with Aachen University Science Night which has turned into one of the big hits of the academic year.

Culture is all around you in Aachen – a city which awards key prizes for art, culture and literature, which is home to a College of Music, many museums, theatres, bands and individual artists and artistes. Time and again you’ll uncover unusual cultural offerings in unusual places. Live gigs, “improv” events and open workshops in back yards, residential districts and student bars. The extrusion hall at the Institute of Plastics Processing (Institut für Kunststoffverarbeitung) transforms into a “Culture Lab” to the sounds of experimental jazz, theatrical productions are held in fortified castles and cellars, independent musicians strike up in bunkers, parties get underway in cinemas, poetry slams at the Roadhouse (“Raststätte”) and underground comedy at an ever-changing host of new locations. In English, German or local dialect (Öcher Platt).

When the city becomes a stage and the City Hall becomes a useful piece of scenery, city-centre shoppers can’t help but pause to look: actors, acrobats and bands perform in the wonderful “September Special”: street theatre, jazz sessions, town festivals and Carnival – everyone sings along, claps along and loves the excitement as the fine lines between stage and scenery, artist and passer-by, evaporate as they do in Aachen.