Trier is a city on the Middle Moselle in
Rhineland-Palatinate that is more than 2000 years old. Trier, once
founded by the Romans as Augusta Treverorum, is one of the oldest
cities in Germany. Trier's great historical importance is
underscored by the numerous ancient and medieval monuments, eight of
which have been designated World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
Trier was founded by Emperor Augustus in 16 BC at the latest. BC,
which is documented by the construction of the first Roman Moselle
bridge. As a settlement area of the Treverer, the origins of the
city date back to pre-Roman times. The city's importance in the
Roman Empire grew rapidly; city fortifications were erected, an
amphitheater and thermal baths were built. In the 3rd century Trier
rose to become the provincial capital. At times, various Roman
emperors resided in Trier, in particular Constantine the Great,
which made the city the capital of the Western Roman Empire. In its
ancient heyday, Trier had around 80,000 inhabitants, making it the
largest city north of the Alps.
With the invasion of the
Germans and the destruction of the city by the Vikings, Trier lost
its importance. As a bishop's seat, however, Trier experienced a
renewed heyday in the Middle Ages. The cathedral and the
Liebfrauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) were built, as well as city
fortifications, the course of which is still marked today by the
ring of avenues.
A particular attraction today are the
numerous Roman and medieval monuments, above all the city's
landmark, the Porta Nigra. These historic buildings are concentrated
in the pretty, compact city center - pedestrian zones and numerous
squares invite you to stroll, shop and relax. As a university town
and regional cultural and economic center, Trier is still a lively
city today. Trier is also known as the birthplace of Karl Marx.
Trier is scenically located in the Moselle valley and borders on
the low mountain range regions of Eifel and Hunsrück.
The city of Trier consists of 19 districts, many of
which still have the character of independent towns. The following
districts are of particular interest to visitors:
Ehrang/Quint −
one of the largest parts of the city, located north of the city center
on the left bank of the Moselle at the mouth of the Kyll. The district
consists of the communities of Ehrang and Quint, which were independent
until the 1960s. Due to its remote location from the city center,
Ehrang/Quint has retained the character of a small town with numerous
shops and restaurants. Ehrang is the starting point of the Kylltal cycle
path. The Quinter Castle is worth seeing.
Olewig − a wine village in
the south-east of the city. Olewig is known for its restaurants and wine
bars and the annual Olewig Wine Festival.
Pfalzel − located between
Ehrang and the city center on the left bank of the Moselle. Pfalzel's
history goes back to a palace-like castle complex from the 4th century
(Pfalzel = small Palatinate). In the Middle Ages, the castle was further
expanded, a nunnery was established and a rampart was built. Parts of
the medieval town center and the ramparts are still preserved today.
Ruwer − located north of the city center on the right bank of the
Moselle at the mouth of the Ruwer river of the same name. Ruwer is the
starting point of the Ruwer-Hochwald cycle path.
1 Konstantinbasilika, Martin-Luther-Platz 1, 54290 Trier (UNESCO
World Heritage) − The basilica was built as an audience hall in the 4th
century under Emperor Constantine the Great. In the Middle Ages it was
used as part of the archbishop's residence. From the middle of the 19th
century until today it has been a Protestant church, the "Church of the
Redeemer". Open: 10am - 6pm (April - October); in winter only by the
hour from Tuesday to Sunday.
2 Dom, Domfreihof 4b, 54290 Trier
(UNESCO World Heritage Site) − Trier Cathedral is the cathedral church
of the oldest diocese in Germany. The "Holy Robe" is kept in the
cathedral. It is considered the garment of Jesus that was raffled off at
his crucifixion. The cathedral is also the burial place of the bishops
of Trier. The cathedral is partially wheelchair accessible (automatic
sliding door). Open: 6:30 a.m. - 6 p.m. (summer) or 5:30 p.m. (winter).
3 Our Lady's Basilica (UNESCO World Heritage Site) - The
Liebfrauenkirche in Trier, together with the Elisabethkirche in Marburg,
is the oldest Gothic church in Germany and the most important and
earliest central Gothic building in the country. Since 1986, the
Liebfrauenkirche has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Roman
Monuments, Cathedral and Liebfrauenkirche in Trier.
4 St. Gangolf The
late-Gothic church on the main market, which is almost entirely
surrounded by houses, goes back to a church building from the 10th
century, making it Trier's second-oldest church. It is only accessible
through a narrow baroque gate on the south side of the main market.
Open: 8am - 6pm.
5 St. Paulin The interior of the late Baroque parish
church was designed by Balthasar Neumann between 1734 and 1757. Open:
weekdays 9 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sundays 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
6 Benedictine
Abbey of St. Matthias The relic of the apostle Matthias, who was chosen
as the 12th apostle after the suicide of Judas, is venerated there. It
is the parish church and abbey church of a Benedictine monastery. The
church is essentially dated to the 18th century.
7 Trier Synagogue,
Kaiserstrasse 25, 54290 Trier.
1 Electoral Palace, in the Palace Garden From the 17th
century to 1794, the Electoral Palace in the city of Trier was the
residence of the Electors of Trier, i.e. the Archbishops of Trier. The
Renaissance and Rococo building was partly built on the base of the
Roman Constantine Basilica. Therefore, in the 19th century, the west
wing of the palace was demolished in order to rebuild the basilica on
its grounds.
2 Monaise Castle, in the Zewen district Monaise Castle
(from French "mon aise" "my leisure", "my lightness") was built in
1779-1783 by François Ignace Mangin as a summer residence for the Trier
Cathedral Dean and later Prince-Bishop of Speyer, Philipp Franz
Wilderich Built by Nepomuk of Walderdorf.
3 Quint Castle, in the
Ehrang/Quint district The Quint Castle is a baroque castle on the left
bank of the Moselle in the Quint district of Trier. It was built in the
18th century by the owner of the Quinter Hütte and is now a listed
cultural monument. It can only be viewed from the outside.
Trier is rich in historic buildings from Roman times.
The buildings had partially disappeared from the scene and have been
reopened to the public over the past two centuries due to greater
interest. The buildings from Roman times are part of the UNESCO World
Heritage
4 Porta Nigra (UNESCO World Heritage) − the most famous
city gate from Roman times. The gate is the only surviving one of the
five city gates from the 2nd century AD that used to be around the city.
The Porta Nigra got its name in the Middle Ages because of the heavily
discolored, originally lighter sandstone. The gate is so well preserved
because it was connected to St. Simeon's Church and thus protected from
stone robbers until the 19th century. The Porta Nigra is accessible from
the inside.
5 Kaiserthermen (UNESCO World Heritage) − These
thermal baths were planned as a large Roman bath, but were never
completed due to the political situation and later used as a fort for
the Franconian guards of Emperor Valentinian. This thermal bath is
better preserved than the Barbarathermen. So you can commit the
underground passages for heating the bath and the sewers. At the weekend
there are guided tours in the evenings, which cost €11.50. Open: daily
from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., March and October to 5 p.m., April to September
to 6 p.m. Price: €3, children up to 17 years: €1.50.
6
Amphitheater (UNESCO World Heritage) − The theater could accommodate up
to 18,000 spectators. In the Middle Ages, the stones of the visitor
stands disappeared, so that only the ramparts can be visited. The cellar
corridors are also accessible.
7 Barbarathermen (UNESCO World
Heritage) − The Barbarathermen were the second largest bathing
establishments in the ancient Roman Empire. They were only surpassed by
the Traian Baths in Rome. The complex could still be seen into the 17th
century. After that, the thermal baths fell victim to military violence
and stone robbers and fell into oblivion. In the meantime, extensive
excavation work has taken place in order to make the remains of the
thermal baths visible again. However, 2/3 of the area remained hidden.
The facility can be visited via a visitor walkway that was newly built
in 2015. At the same time, the history of the facility and the
excavation work are clearly illustrated. Open: see Kaiserthermen.
8 Römerbrücke (UNESCO World Heritage Site) − Germany's oldest
bridge, built around 17 BC, initially made of wood, later replaced by a
bridge with stone pillars. The current bridge stands on the original
Roman pillars of a second stone bridge from the 2nd century.
9
Igel Column (UNESCO World Heritage Site) − Roman grave column with
elaborate reliefs, 23m high, erected in the 3rd century, located in Igel
outside the Trier city area (between Trier-Zewen and the Luxembourg
border).
10 Thermen am Viehmarkt In the 1980s, an underground car
park was built in the center of Trier. During the civil engineering
work, the ruins of a Roman bath complex were found. The thermal baths
museum was built over the ruins according to plans by the architect
Oswald Mathias Ungers (the so-called Ungers cube).
11 Frankenturm A
medieval residential tower from the 11th century. Today the tower is
used as a venue.
12 Alter Krahnen medieval Moselle crane for loading
ships near the Roman bridge, operated by a pedal wheel.
13
Dreikönigenhaus medieval house.
14 Karl-Marx-Haus Birthplace of the
German economist, philosopher, author and revolutionary Karl Marx, now a
museum.
Most of the buildings are operated by the "state castles
and palaces". Entry costs €3 per person. The Antiquity Card Basic for €9
allows you to visit the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier and two Roman
buildings in Trier. The AntiquitiesCard Premium includes entry to two
other Roman buildings as well as the Roman Villa Otrang and the Klause
Kastel. Both cards are valid for 1 year, children under the age of 18
can travel for free. The facilities of the "State Castles" are closed on
Mondays.
15 Petrusbrunnen Fountain with a statue of Peter on the main market
(1595). Saint Peter is the patron saint of both the cathedral and the
city.
16 Marktkreuz Column with a cross on the main market from the
10th century.
17 Balduinbrunnen Fountain between the main station and
Porta Nigra, erected in the 19th century in honor of the Bishop of Trier
and Elector Baldwin of Luxembourg (1307-54).
18 Marian column Visible
from afar, 40m high column on the Markusberg from the 19th century.
19 Karl-Marx-Statue (Karl-Marx-Denkmal), Simeonstiftplatz (The statue
stands near the Porta Nigra at the back of the Stadtmuseum within sight
of the Marx family’s home on Simeonstrasse. The easiest way to find the
statue is to look behind random group of Chinese tourists.) The statue
was unveiled on May 5, 2018, to mark Karl Marx's 200th birthday in his
native city. The work of the Chinese sculptor Wu Weishan is a gift from
the People's Republic of China to the city of Trier. Open: Free-standing
statue, accessible 24 hours a day.
20 Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Weimarer Allee 1. Tel.: +49 (0)651 9774
0, fax: +49 (0)651 9774-222, e-mail: landesmuseum-trier@gdke.rlp.de The
Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier is one of the most important
archaeological museums in Germany. Its collection extends from
prehistory through the Roman period, the Middle Ages to the Baroque.
Above all, the Roman past of the oldest city in Germany (Augusta
Treverorum) is presented in the Trier State Museum using archaeological
finds. Open: Opening hours: Tue-Sun from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Price: adults:
€8, reduced: €6, children 6-18 years: €4, families: €8/€16. incl. audio
guide.
21 City Museum Simeonstift Trier . The Stadtmuseum Simeonstift
Trier, formerly "Städtisches Museum Trier", is located in the buildings
of the former Simeonstift around the fountain courtyard right next to
the Porta Nigra. The permanent exhibition shows art and cultural
treasures from the early modern period to the 20th century.
22 Toy
Museum Trier The Toy Museum houses more than 5000 exhibits, spread over
500 m² and two floors. Among other things, old tin toys, model railways,
dollhouses, shops, teddies, steam engines and rocking horses can be
viewed.
23 Museum am Dom Trier (until 2010 Episcopal Cathedral and
Diocesan Museum), Bischof-Stein-Platz 1 (behind the cathedral) The
Museum am Dom Trier is a museum of the Diocese of Trier, which has the
task of presenting the cultural and pious history of the diocese To
explore Trier and make it accessible to the public.
24 Cathedral
Treasury (access in the cathedral)
25 Roscheider Hof Folklore and
Open-Air Museum, Roscheiderhof 1; D-54329 Conc. The Roscheider Hof
folklore and open-air museum is an open-air museum founded in 1976 in
Konz (Trier-Saarburg district, Rhineland-Palatinate). The museum is
located on a hill above the Moselle valley in the district of
Konz-Roscheid on the border with Trier. Its task is to present the folk
culture of the region around the Moselle and Saar, which includes the
Eifel, Hunsrück and Saarland as well as parts of Luxembourg and
Lorraine. With 4,000 square meters of exhibition space and 22 hectares
of outdoor space, it is one of the largest German folklore museums. The
exhibitions A Small World in Tin, Toys from All Over the World and Taken
records are of national importance.
26 Main market with Steipe (festival and reception building of the
citizenship), Red House, St. Gangolf, Marktkreuz, Petrusbrunnen and the
nearby Judengasse.
27 Domfreihof with cathedral, Basilica of Our
Lady, Palais Walderdorff, cathedral provost.
28 Kornmarkt with former
post office, casino and Georgsbrunnen.
29 Viehmarktplatz
Thermenmuseum, St. Antonius Church and Europahalle.
30 Judengasse
all with different gastronomy.
1 palace garden. Located between the electoral palace and the
imperial thermal baths. The part adjoining the electoral palace is
elaborately laid out with statues, flower beds and hedges. The large
lawn, which is located in the part on the Kaiser theme, invites you to
barbecue and play in summer.
2 Nells Park North of downtown at the
roundabout. Lawns, a rose garden and a playground border on a large
pond. The old trees of the park frame the complex. On the edge of the
park, the neo-classical mansion is now home to Nells Park Hotel, where
many weddings are celebrated.
3 Petris Park. Located on the
Petrisberg, it emerged as a permanent park and leisure facility from the
grounds of the 2004 State Horticultural Show. There is a beautiful view
of Trier and the surrounding area from the Luxemburg lookout tower and
other places, especially the popular lookout point above the
amphitheater. With a walk-in geological map, the water belt, a water
tower and various gardens, the Petrispark offers a variety of sights.
The leisure facility consists of a large adventure playground, a soccer
field, beach volleyball courts and a skater park.
Hike
The hilly, wooded area around Trier is ideal for hiking.
North of the Moselle begins the Eifel with the numerous hiking trails of
the Eifelverein. Particularly noteworthy is the Eifelsteig, which starts
in Aachen and ends in Trier. To the north of the Moselle is the
Hunsrück, which offers just as many opportunities for hiking. Here the
Saar-Hunsrück-Steig connects Trier with Mettlach and Idar-Oberstein.
Last but not least, the Moselle valley itself is ideal for hikes along
the river, be it on the Moselle cycle path on the banks or on the
Moselle Höhenweg along the steep slopes.
There are also many
opportunities for walks and hiking tours in the city area.
There
are footpaths and cycle paths in the city on both sides of the river
directly on the banks of the Moselle (exception: between Trier-Nord and
Trier-Ruwer). The Zurlaubener Ufer (at the Kaiser Wilhelm Bridge
downstream) or the opposite bank below the sandstone cliffs from
Trier-Pallien to Trier-Pfalzel are particularly beautiful routes. Also
recommended is the section from the Moselle barrage Trier up the Moselle
in the direction of Igel past the marina and Monaise Castle. A
disadvantage of the riverside paths is the cramped conditions, so that
mostly cyclists and pedestrians have to share a path.
The
Weisshauswald, Trier's city forest, with its game reserve is a popular
weekend destination. A playground, a forest trail and a high ropes
course offer a wide range of leisure activities. The Weisshaus
(currently closed), which gives the forest its name, is enthroned on the
sandstone cliffs and is clearly visible. From there you can hike along
the rocks to Trier-Biewer and enjoy a beautiful view of Trier and the
Moselle in numerous places. For the way back, the path through the
so-called false Biewertal, which runs along the back of the rocks, is
ideal.
A wine educational trail begins above the amphitheater (in the
second serpentine of the Sickingenstraße), which leads through the
Olewig vineyards on the Petrisberg and ends in the Trier wine town of
Olewig.
The Butzerbachtal between Trier-Ehrang and Kordel is an
idyllic brook valley with numerous waterfalls. The small stream is
crossed in numerous places over small bridges. There are other sights
nearby, such as a Roman copper mine, the Klausen and Genoveva caves and
a Roman long wall. The starting point for a hike is Ramstein Castle,
which can be reached either by car from the direction of Kordel or by
bike via the Kylltal cycle path from the direction of Trier-Ehrang or
Kordel.
By bicycle
Trier is a junction of several
long-distance cycle paths: Trier is on the Moselle cycle path and is the
end point of the Kylltal cycle path and the Ruwer-Hochwald cycle path
(Ruwer district). The Saar cycle path (from the mouth of the Saar in
Konz) and the Sauer cycle path (from the mouth of the Sauer in
Wasserbillig) are also in the immediate vicinity. Every year, car-free
days on the Saar from Konz take place in the vicinity under the motto
"Saarpedal".
The city center itself is not particularly
bike-friendly, but this should be improved in the coming years. Special
offers for cyclists are the bicycle rental in the main station and the
bicycle parking garage at the Porta Nigra.
Pilgrimages
The
"Matthias Pilgrimage" traditionally leads from Aachen to Trier as a
multi-day pilgrimage on foot.
The "Holy Rock" is rarely presented in
a visible way. Nevertheless, the place where the relic is kept is also
visited outside of the Holy Robe pilgrimages.
Moselle Camino
By plane
Even if Trier itself does not have its own airport, Trier
is easy to reach by plane: Luxembourg Airport is in the immediate
vicinity; but other airports can also be reached quickly. These are
Luxembourg Airport (IATA: LUX) (journey time approx. 30 minutes; bus
line 117 of the company Voyages Emile Weber (timetable), Frankfurt-Hahn
Airport (IATA: HHN) (journey time approx. 1 hour; only accessible by
taxi) and Saarbrücken Airport (IATA: SCN) (travel time approximately 1
hour 15 minutes).
For intercontinental connections, Frankfurt am
Main Airport (IATA: FRA) is approx. 2 hours drive; Train connection:
travel time 3 - 3.5 hours; the closest alternative.
By train
Trier has six train stations; the main train station is in the immediate
vicinity of the city center and is served by all trains going to/via
Trier. The following connections exist:
RE 1 (Koblenz-Trier
-Saarbrücken-Kaiserslautern-Mannheim) mostly every hour
RE 11
(Koblenz-Trier-Luxemburg City) every hour
RE 12
(Cologne-Euskirchen-Gerolstein-Trier) about three times a day, also
hourly regional train line to Cologne (RB 22)
RE 16
(Trier-Perl-Metz) two trips at the weekend
RB 82 (Trier-Perl)
every hour
In Koblenz, Saarbrücken, Mannheim and Cologne there is
a connection to long-distance traffic.
By bus
Trier is served
by several long-distance bus networks:
MeinFernbus.de − Connection
Luxembourg City−Trier Hbf−Kaiserslautern−Mainz−Frankfurt; runs two to
three times a day in both directions. With connection in Frankfurt to
Hamburg, Berlin and Zurich.
Flixbus.de - Daily connections to
Frankfurt, Berlin, Essen, Munich, Antwerp (via Brussels) and Bratislava
(via Heilbronn, Munich and Vienna). There are also individual
connections to Nancy and Paris.
There are two bus lines (lines 117
and 118) with a very dense timetable on weekdays and individual trips on
Sundays and public holidays.
On the street
On August 15,
Assumption Day, you should definitely avoid driving to Trier. This day
is a public holiday in Luxembourg and Saarland and is traditionally used
by the local population to go shopping in Trier. This regularly leads to
long traffic jams and full car parks.
from Germany
Since Trier
is visited by numerous tourists, the city is signposted relatively early
on the motorways. In France, Belgium and Luxembourg, Trier is usually
referred to and signposted as "Treves".
Coming from the north
(from the direction of Cologne) you either drive via the A1, whereby you
have to accept a missing stretch of motorway (B51), then continue via
the A60 and back onto the B51, or via the A61 to Koblenz and from there
the A48 (you can shorten it here by using the B262 near Mendig}.
Coming from the north-east and east, take the A48 from Koblenz and get
onto the A1 at the Vulkaneifel motorway junction.
B49 Koblenz -
Treis-Karden - Cochem - Alf → B53 Traben-Trabach - Bernkastel-Kues -
Trier (Mosel route)
From the east (from the direction of Frankfurt,
Mainz, Wiesbaden), the journey has been significantly shortened due to
the completion of the High Moselle Bridge. You drive the A60 to Bingen,
then the A61 to Rheinböllen, where you change to the B50, which is
similar to the Autobahn. After crossing the High Moselle, change to the
A1 towards Trier at Kreuz Wittlich.
From the south-east (from
Mannheim, Ludwigshafen) take the A6 towards Kaiserslautern from the
Frankenthaler Kreuz or the Viernheimer Dreieck, change to the A62 after
Kaiserslautern at the Landstuhl West motorway junction and get onto the
A1 at the Nonnweiler motorway junction.
With all approaches you
change to the A602 at the Dreieck Moseltal. In order to reach the city
center you do not use an exit, but drive to the end of the motorway and
continue straight ahead and follow the signs "Centrum". When looking for
a parking space, be sure to follow the parking guidance system.
From abroad
From Luxembourg
You can come from Luxembourg via the
Luxembourgish A1. There is a very large gas station with a supermarket
just before the border. At this point at the latest, you should use the
opportunity to refuel cheaply and buy goods that are highly taxed in
Germany (cigarettes, spirits, sparkling wine). After the border you are
on the A64. Cars leave this at the Trier junction and follow the B51 to
Trier. Observe signs and parking guidance system. Trucks and buses
continue to the A602 and follow it to Trier.
From France
Coming from Alsace, take the French A4 to Saarbrücken, then continue on
the German A1.
From the rest of France you come from Metz, Thionville
via the French A31. Despite the signs (Treves for Trier in French), you
do not leave it at the Yutz exit to use the Route Nationale, but
continue on the motorway in the direction of Luxembourg. Before the
capital Luxembourg, follow the signs for Trier / Airport to the A1.
Continue as above.
By boat
The Moselle is navigable; Mooring
facilities for pleasure boats are available.
passenger shipping
Gebr. Kolb; Shipping line Koblenz - Treis - Cochem - Traben-Trabach -
Bernkastel - Trier
On the bike
Moselle Cycle Path − From the
Vosges via Metz to Koblenz on the Rhine.
Kylltal Cycle Path − North
to the Eifel
Ruwer-Hochwald-Radweg − Bahntrassenradweg, which leads
from Trier-Ruwer to Hermeskeil in the Hunsrück.
On foot
Trier
is an important junction on the German Way of St. James. The Way of St.
James Cologne-Trier, the Eifel-Camino (from Andernach), the Mosel-Camino
(from Koblenz) and the Way of St. James Fulda-Mainz-Trier (corresponds
to the medieval Via Regia) lead here. From here they continue together
via Perl to Metz and finally, of course, in the direction of Santiago de
Compostela.
You can easily walk to the sights. If you want to experience a city
tour, you can easily reach the highlights with a tourist train.
The city buses are operated by Stadtwerke Trier (SWT) and are part of
the Verkehrsverbund Region Trier (VRT). The city of Trier is divided
into four fare zones: an inner city zone and three zones that cover the
other parts of the city in different directions. While lines 1 to 30 run
decentrally on weekdays (during the day), the timetable is switched to a
star service in the evenings and at weekends, with lines 81 to 87
meeting every quarter or half hour at the main station.
A single
ticket for one zone costs €2.10 and €2.90 for the entire city area. The
day ticket single costs: 6.00 / 7.80 €, group: 11.30 / 13.00 € (as of
2019). There are discounted four-way tickets with a 25% discount. The
tickets are also valid on the inner-city Deutsche Bahn trains (train
stations Trier Hbf, Trier Süd, Ehrang, Ehrang-Ort, Pfalzel, Quint).
The free SWT City WLAN can be accessed in the pedestrian zone and in
all buses.
The parking fees in the multi-storey car parks of the
Trierer Stadtwerke are €1.70 per hour, the times are calculated for half
an hour or part thereof and rounded off by 5 cents if necessary.
The pedestrian zones in Trier's city center offer a wide range of
shopping opportunities. The branches of many department stores, fashion
chains, bookstores and jewelers can be found along Simeonstrasse,
Brotstrasse and Fleischstrasse in particular. With the Trier Galerie on
Fleischstraße, Trier has a large shopping center right in the city
center. At the main train station, the Alleencenter is another, somewhat
smaller shopping center. The small, rather unconventional shops on
Neustraße are a bit more tranquil than in the department stores and
shopping centers. A big advantage when shopping in the city center of
Trier is a wide range with short distances in a historical ambience.
Good shopping areas outside the avenue ring that encircles the city
center are Paulinstrasse in the north and Saarstrasse in the south,
which are lined with numerous, mostly smaller shops. Large shopping
malls, which are best reached by car, are located at the distribution
center and in the industrial area between Trier-Euren and Trier-Zewen.
In Trier there are relatively few gas stations for a large city. The
reason for this is a brisk tank tourism in neighboring Luxembourg, where
the fuel prices are about 20 cents below the German average price. For
such an excursion, we recommend Wasserbillig, 20 km away, which is
directly behind the Luxembourg border. In addition to petrol, coffee and
cigarettes in particular are significantly cheaper there.
There
are many souvenir shops. The monastery shop near the Matthias Church has
a tasteful assortment; it is also open on Sundays from 11 a.m. (wait for
the end of the service if necessary!). The "Cathedral Information"
directly opposite the entrance to the Church of Our Lady and the tourist
information next to the Porta Nigra also offer a very attractive range
of services.
Trier is a city founded by the Romans and was originally called Augusta Treverorum as a city of Emperor Augustus and the Treveri. The Treveri were a Celtic tribe that settled in the region. In late antiquity the place was very important and was called Treveris. Today's place name Trier is derived from this designation.
According to the founding legend of Trier, which was first recorded
in 1105 in the Gesta Treverorum, Trebeta, the son of the Assyrian king
Ninus, is said to have founded Trier 1300 years before the rise of Rome.
That would be around 2050 BC. been. This is also indicated by the
inscription from 1684 on the red house on Trier's main market: "ANTE
ROMAM TREVERIS STETIT ANNIS MILLE TRECENTIS. PERSTET ET AETERNA PACE
FRUATUR." ("Trier stood before Rome one thousand three hundred years.
May it continue to exist and enjoy eternal peace.")
The Hüttingen
an der Kyll site north of Trier is considered one of the oldest
archaeological evidence of human activity in this area. Their artefacts,
most notably micropoints, corefoot blades, and corestones, date back to
the 9th millennium BC. date. It may have been a hazelnut roasting
station. Traces of Mesolithic hunters, fishermen and gatherers were also
found near Mannebach. Further sites from a little further away were
added, so that a raw material catchment area of 15,000 to 20,000 km²
could be determined. This meant that the "area of activity" of these
groups was considerably larger than in the neighboring areas and at the
same time it was very stable over several millennia. This is probably
related to similarly stable communication and exchange structures, which
mainly extended far west. Presumably, access by boat via the regional
river system, for example in the direction of the Ardennes, played an
important role.
Findings in the city area show that there are
Linear Pottery settlements from the early Neolithic period. However, no
urban settlement can be assumed here at this time.
Since the last
pre-Christian centuries, members of the Celtic tribe of the Treveri have
settled in what is now the city area.
According to reliable sources, the city of Trier is of Roman origin:
at the feet of a 30 BC The Romans founded the military camp on the
Petrisberg on March 3rd, very probably in the year 16 BC, which was
abandoned after a few months. BC, after the rite of limitation the city
of Augusta Treverorum (city of Augustus in the land of the Treveri). The
honor of being named after Augustus was otherwise only given to Autun
(Augustodunum) in Gaul/France, Aosta, Augsburg and Augst in northern
Switzerland. Under Emperor Claudius the addition Colonia was added -
Colonia Augusta Treverorum. Buildings such as the Barbarathermen, the
amphitheater and the 6.4 km long city wall with the northern city gate,
the Porta Nigra, which has been preserved to this day, bear witness to
the wealth and great importance that the city attained by the end of the
2nd century.
Trier became a bishopric in the second half of the
third century at the earliest; first bishop was Eucharius. From 271 to
274, the city was the residence of the Gallo-Roman anti-emperor Tetricus
I. In 275, Trier was destroyed by the Alemanni invasion. From 293 to
392, the city now called Treveris was one of the residences of the Roman
emperors in the West (see also Late Antiquity).
Under the reign
of Constantine the Great (306-337), the city was rebuilt and buildings
such as the Palace Hall (today's Basilica of Constantine) and the
Imperial Baths were erected. In 326, parts of the private residential
palaces of the imperial family were changed and expanded into a large
double basilica, the remains of which can still be seen today in the
area of the cathedral and the Church of Our Lady. From 318, Trier was
the seat of the Gallic Prefecture, one of the two highest authorities in
the west of the Roman Empire. Emperor Constantine II resided here from
328 to 340. From 367 to 392, under Valentinian I, Gratian, Magnus
Maximus and Valentinian II, Trier was again the seat of government of
the Roman Empire and at the same time the largest city north of the Alps
with 80,000 to 100,000 inhabitants. In 407, shortly after the invasion
of Gaul by the Vandals, Alans and Suevi, the Gallic prefecture was
transferred to Arles on the Rhône. In the 5th century, Trier was
conquered repeatedly, probably around 413 and 421, by the Franks and in
451 by the Huns under Attila. Rhenish Franks seized the metropolis
around 455, but lost it again a few years later. Around 475 the city,
which was meanwhile administered by Arbogast the Younger, was finally
taken by the Franks.
At the end of the 5th century, Trier came under the rule of the
Franks under King Clovis. The Franconian counts took up residence in the
outbuildings of the Constantine Basilica, which was probably already in
ruins, and managed the extensive royal estate in Trier and the
surrounding area from there. They expanded the ancient palace auditorium
into a royal palace (palatium) and fortress, bricked up the windows, set
up battlements and redesigned the apse into a pagan tower.
In
882, Trier was conquered during a Viking raid and almost completely
destroyed. In 892 Trier was attacked a second time by the Vikings and
burned again. Added to Lorraine by the Treaty of Verdun, it was
incorporated into the kingdom of East Francia under Henry I in 925.
Initially, the city was administered by the Counts of Triergau; In 902,
King Ludwig the Child gave Archbishop Radbod substantial sovereign
rights as well as the revenues of the royal Palatinate. The city of
Trier thus came into the possession of the archbishops, who, however,
had to leave the perception of political administrative tasks to the
bailiffs of the archbishopric, the powerful Counts Palatine near the
Rhine, for a long time. The archbishops' residence was the bishop's
court within the cathedral immunity, adjacent to the Church of Our Lady;
only in 1197 is the Palatium mentioned as an episcopal residence;
previously it had only been used as a refuge because of the particular
strength and solidity of the ancient masonry. This and Trier's status as
Roma secunda, which had been claimed since the second half of the 10th
century, may have led to the move. In the 12th century, the bishops also
won the secular possessions of the Imperial Abbey of St. Maximin and the
bailiwick rights in Electoral Trier. Over the centuries, the Palatium
was expanded to become the Lower and High Palace and finally the
Electoral Palace.
The city received market rights in 957 and from
1149 it had a seal. Since the 10th century, Trier has been striving to
become part of the empire. In 1212 the city received a charter from
Emperor Otto IV, which Konrad IV confirmed. In 1309, however, she again
had to recognize the jurisdiction of the Archbishop, then the important
Baldwin of Luxembourg (see also the Electorate of Trier). Its status as
an archbishopric was confirmed in 1364 by Emperor Charles IV and in 1580
by the Imperial Chamber Court; however, the striving for imperial
immediacy finally failed in 1583. Until the end of the old empire, the
city remained the capital – if not the residence – of the electoral
state named after it. It was headed by a jury, which was supplemented in
1443 by Archbishop Jakob I von Sierck by appointing two mayors. In 1473
Emperor Friedrich III. and Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy in Trier.
In the same year, a university was founded in Trier, which was abolished
in 1797 under Napoleon.
After the Dombering was first fortified
at the end of the 10th century, a city wall was built in the 12th and
13th centuries. The belt, which roughly corresponds to today's ring of
avenues, covered an area of around 138 hectares. The Porta Nigra, which
was then converted into a church, was part of the fortifications, but
not a gate. The ruins of the Kaiserthermen were also integrated. A
number of Romanesque residential towers were built in the city, of which
only a few, such as the Franconian Tower, have survived.
In the
14th century, the city fought long and hard for self-government and for
the introduction of a council constitution. She achieved the separation
of the municipal administration from the electoral jurisdiction. In the
15th century, the council issued coin regulations and also took over the
lower courts.
In 1512 an Imperial Diet was held in Trier, at which the division of
the imperial districts was finally determined. In September 1522, the
imperial knight Franz von Sickingen besieged Trier for several days. His
artillery shelled the city area - including from the hilltop, which
later received the name "Franzenshaken". In addition, Sickingen had
arrow letters fired into the city. On the slips of paper he assured the
population that he would not take any action against the citizens of
Trier, but would only take action against the elector and the clergy.
The people of Trier were not impressed by this; therefore Sickingen's
army withdrew after a few days.[17] When around 100 wealthy families had
to leave the city and the Electoral State with the reformer Caspar
Olevian, this led to a deterioration in the economic situation around
1560.
The centuries-long struggle of the (partly Protestant)
citizenry against the Electors of Trier with the aim of gaining the
status of a free imperial city was resolved in the course of the
Counter-Reformation under Elector James III. von Eltz finally decided in
favor of the Archbishopric of Trier. First, during the so-called “Bean
War” in 1568, he had the city cut off from business traffic by blocking
it, as some of his predecessors had already done. In 1580 he finally
obtained a decree from Emperor Rudolf II, according to which Trier was
unconditionally subject to the sovereignty of the elector. The city key
had to be handed over to him and the new city constitution (Constitutio
Eltziana) put an electoral governor at the head of the previously
self-governing city.
Dietrich Flade, lawyer, electoral governor
and rector of the University of Trier, had led numerous witch trials and
pronounced death sentences in his function as witch judge. In 1588 he
himself got involved in a witch trial. He was arrested on July 4, 1588
by order of Elector Johann von Schönenberg and sentenced to death by
fire on September 18, 1589. The verdict was carried out on the same day
at the execution site in what is now Trier's Euren district.
From
the 16th century, the elector-archbishops increasingly stayed in
Koblenz-Ehrenbreitstein, where they had owned Ehrenbreitstein Castle
since 1020. During the Eighty Years' War in the Netherlands, Spanish and
other troops passed through Trier, which was near the empire's western
border. During the Thirty Years' War, Electoral Trier fell between the
Habsburg and French spheres of interest. Because of the constant threat,
Elector Philipp Christoph von Sötern felt compelled to move his
residence to a safer location and built Philippsburg Castle below
Ehrenbreitstein Castle in 1626-1632 on the right bank of the Rhine. From
1632 it became the main residence of the Electorate, after the
Renaissance construction of the Electoral Palace in Trier had also only
just been completed. With the relocation of the court, the nobility also
moved to Koblenz, which remained the residence until 1786 and thus
experienced an economic upswing; only the canons remained in Trier.
During Elector Philipp Christoph's conflict with the Diet and the
city of Trier, which repeatedly opposed his financial demands, the city
sought the protection of the Emperor and the Spanish government in
Luxembourg. Out of fear of being occupied by Spanish troops, the elector
first called in troops from the Catholic League for help in 1630. When
Trier refused them entry, Elector Sötern had the city besieged. Now
Spanish troops did indeed appear from Luxembourg to help the city,
driving out the League troops and leaving a garrison behind. The
presence of the Spaniards and the interim advance of the Protestant
Swedes in Germany prompted Sötern to ask for support from nearby France,
with whom he, like his predecessors, was on good terms. In 1632 French
troops advanced, forced the Spanish garrison to capitulate and returned
Trier to the elector's control. This, however, had finally made the
Spaniards and Imperial opponents. This was his undoing when, after the
battle of Nördlingen in 1634, they were again on the march militarily.
In March 1635, the French garrison of the city was surprisingly attacked
and overwhelmed by a small Spanish contingent under the Luxembourg
governor, Count Emden. Philipp Christoph von Sötern was arrested and
imprisoned for the next ten years in the Spanish Netherlands, then in
Austria. The rule over Electoral Trier was transferred to the cathedral
chapter. Sötern's capture served France as an external reason for
declaring war on Spain and the Emperor. This marked France's official
entry into the Thirty Years' War and sparked the Franco-Spanish War and
the Franco-Swedish War (1635–1648). It was not until 1645 that the
Elector of Trier was released under certain conditions. However, he
quickly broke this when, among other things, he had Trier, which was
still occupied by the Spanish, reconquered by the French under Turenne
on November 18, 1645. The cathedral chapter's hostility to the arbitrary
appointment of a coadjutor by the elector led to his final
disempowerment. In 1649, troops recruited by the cathedral chapter
conquered Trier, and in 1650 the chapter elected Karl Kaspar von der
Leyen as coadjutor and successor to the elector, which he finally had to
accept.
During the Dutch War between the French King Louis XIV
and the States General, the Elector of Trier, Karl Kaspar von der Leyen,
tried unsuccessfully to maintain neutrality. After a month-long siege,
French troops took the city on September 8, 1673. The French war command
decided at the beginning of the following year to fortify Trier. In
order not to offer attackers cover, the French city commander, Count
Pierre Renaud de Vignory, had the area around the city systematically
devastated. With the exception of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Matthias,
which is further away, not only were all residential and commercial
buildings of the civilian population demolished, but also all
monasteries and monasteries in the vicinity (St. Maximin's Imperial
Abbey, St. Paulin's Monastery, St. Alban's Monastery, St .Barbara,
Löwenbrücken Monastery). After Vignory had died after falling from a
horse, his successor, Marshal Créquy, also ordered the demolition of the
St. Marien monastery, the Barbarathermen and the Marienkirche on the
Römerbrücke; even the fruit trees of the monasteries were felled. After
the Battle of Konzer Bridge in August 1675, the city was liberated from
French troops. The city was again occupied by the French in 1684
(Reunion War), 1688-98 (Palatine War of Succession) and 1702-04 and
1705-14 (Spanish War of Succession). The longest lasted ten years
(1688–98). At times, the number of occupation troops corresponded to the
population of around 4,000 at the time. Only towards the end of the 18th
century did the population increase again to around 8000 people.
During the First Coalition War in the summer of 1792, Trier was the
staging post of the Prussian-Hessian invading army moving against
France. After their defeat during the Valmy cannonade, in the autumn of
1792, the town itself became a target for French revolutionary troops.
However, the Austrian Major General Anton Joseph von Brentano-Cimaroli
successfully defended the Trierer Land. However, two years later, one
day after the defeat by the French General Jean René Moreaux in the
Battle of Pellinger Schanzen (8 August 1794), Trier fell permanently to
the French. In the Peace of Campo Formio (1797), Emperor Franz II
recognized the Rhine as the eastern border of France. The areas on the
left bank of the Rhine were divided into four departments by government
commissioner François Joseph Rudler: The department de la Sarre with the
capital Trier, the department du Mont-Tonnerre (Donnersberg) with the
capital Mainz, the department de Rhin-et-Moselle (Koblenz) and the
department de la Roer (Aachen).
After the Peace of Lunéville
(1801), the areas on the left bank of the Rhine also belonged to France
under international law. This gave the residents of Trier French
citizenship and all the associated rights. After the suppression during
the occupation from 1794 onwards, a phase of internal peace and economic
upswing followed. Trier now benefited from direct access to the French
markets. In 1799 the Trier Court of Appeals and in 1803 the Trier Court
of Appeal were set up as the supreme court for the four departments
(from 1805 only for three of these departments) in Trier. Around the
turn of the century, almost all of the city's numerous monasteries and
monasteries were abolished under French rule. In addition to the
secularization of the monasteries, a considerable part of the old
building fabric - monasteries, but also churches and chapels - was
demolished. Some of the demolitions took place immediately, some in the
further course of the 19th century, when the monastery buildings were no
longer used and new buildings were planned.
In the course of the
wars of liberation, Trier was taken by Prussian troops on January 6,
1814. Trier has belonged to Prussia since the Congress of Vienna in
1815. Trier became the seat of the administrative district of Trier, the
urban district of Trier with the mayor's office of Trier and the
district of Trier. The deeply Catholic city population and the
Protestant rulers continued to face each other for decades with little
sympathy.
In the 19th century, Trier finally outgrew its medieval
city walls. However, the wall remained important for the time being, as
the “Mall and Slaughter Tax” introduced in 1820 – the city’s main source
of income – was levied at the gates on all flour and butcher products
imported to Trier. In 1875 the unpopular milling and slaughter tax was
replaced by another tax that no longer required import controls. As
early as December 3 of that year, the Minister of Education approved the
demolition of walls and gates, which was desired by large parts of the
population. Four city gates were demolished by 1876/77. Only the
military parade ground (today's palace garden and imperial baths) with
parts of the southern avenue and the provisions office (at the
"Schießgraben") were to remain shielded from the population by the wall.
The remaining sections of the wall almost completely disappeared by the
end of the 19th century. This gave a new impetus to the city's
development, but raised concerns from preservationists who saw the
city's special character endangered.
After the First World War,
all German troops had to withdraw behind the Rhine, as agreed in the
Armistice of Compiègne on November 11, 1918. They were initially
replaced by soldiers from the 3rd US Army, who moved into Trier on
December 1, 1918 and occupied the city. The American troops were
replaced in the summer of 1919 by the French army, which remained in
Trier as an occupying army until 1930. After the departure of the French
occupiers, Trier was in the demilitarized zone in the years that
followed, until Hitler had the demilitarized zone and thus also Trier
occupied by Wehrmacht units on March 7, 1936 as part of the occupation
of the Rhineland, breaking the treaties of Versailles and Locarno. Trier
became a German garrison town again. Because the old barracks from
before the First World War had mostly been converted into apartments,
new barracks were built, for example on the Petrisberg, in Feyen and in
Trier-Nord.
The Kemmel barracks on the Petrisberg, set up by the National
Socialists until 1938, became the notorious prisoner of war camp Stalag
XII D during World War II, in which mainly French prisoners of war were
housed. The synagogue on Zuckerbergstrasse was plundered during the
Kristallnacht pogrom in 1938 and completely destroyed in a bomb attack
in 1944.
On June 19, 1936, the city of Trier and the German Reich
Ministry for Science, Education and Public Education signed a contract
for the construction of a teacher training college. This made Trier a
university town again after 138 years. The teacher training college was
opened in the summer of 1936 in the presence of the Reich Minister of
Education Bernhard Rust with a large, two-day celebration with a strong
National Socialist theme. The buildings erected for the teacher training
college on the Schneidershof are largely preserved and today the
buildings J, K, L, O, T (gymnasium) and today's kindergarten of the
Trier University of Applied Sciences. The state youth school built for
the Trier Hitler Youth in the Biewer district in 1936/1937 has also been
preserved.
On September 13, 1944, the first artillery shell fell
in front of the parish church of St. Paulin, killing a nine-year-old boy
there. Trier was not far from the front. Since then there has been
artillery fire almost daily, which was particularly feared because the
shells detonated without warning. In December 1944, three heavy Allied
air raids hit Trier: on December 19, at around 3:30 p.m., 30 British
Lancaster bombers dropped 136 tons of high-explosive bombs over the
city, on December 21, 1944 at around 2:35 p.m., 94 Lancaster bombers and
47 American fighter-bombers dropped 427 tons of bombs (high-explosive,
incendiary and napalm) and on December 23, 700 tons of bombs were
dropped. According to research by local historian Adolf Welter, at least
420 people died in these three attacks. Numerous buildings were damaged.
During the war 1600 houses were completely destroyed.
On the
evening of March 1, 1945, Task Force Richardson, part of the 10th US
Armored Division of the 3rd US Army, set off from Zerf in the direction
of Trier. The task force advanced from Lampaden via Obersehr, Ollmuth
and Hockweiler to what is now Trier's urban area near Irsch and
continued towards the city center via Olewig. Previously, Task Force
Haskell, which also belonged to the 10th Panzer Division, had conquered
Filsch, Tarforst and the Petrisberg and marched into Trier-Nord via
Kürenz on March 1. From Konz-Niedermennig, Task Force Norris advanced
towards Trier-Süd and Task Force Cherry blocked the direction of Ruwer.
The task of Task Force Richardson was to take the Moselle bridges. Task
Force Richardson included the following units: The 20th Armored Infantry
Battalion (excluding Companies A and C); B Company of 21st Tank
Battalion and a section of D Company of 21st Tank Battalion; 3rd
Platoon, B Company, 55th Armored Engineer Battalion; and 2nd Platoon, A
Company, 609th Tank Destroyer Battalion; and elements of the 796th
Anti-Aircraft Artillery (Automatic Weapons) Battalion. A clear full moon
night offered favorable visibility. Before midnight they reached the
city. A surprised company of four anti-tank guns surrendered without
firing a shot. Richardson divided his force in two and sent each to a
Moselle bridge. Captain Billet's team found the Kaiser Wilhelm Bridge
blown up around 2 a.m.; Lieutenant Riley's team advanced from there
towards the Roman bridge and reported that it was intact. Colonel
Richardson drove to the bridge himself in a tank; there his men were
shot at with light weapons from the other bank. He directed machine gun
fire from his tank to the other end of the bridge and ordered a squad of
infantry and armored vehicles to advance across the bridge. As the
squads did so, a German major and five soldiers ran towards the bridge
with detonators lit. But they didn't succeed in detonating it.
At
around 10 a.m. on March 2, 1945, Trier was conquered and more than 800
German soldiers were taken prisoner. The conquest of Trier was
celebrated by the Americans as a great success and made national
headlines. On March 7, even the supreme commander of US troops in
Europe, later US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, together with General
George S. Patton and the commander of the XX. US Corps, Walton Walker,
Trier and presented Lieutenant Colonel Jack J. Richardson with the
Silver Star, the fourth highest honor in the US Army.
After the end of the war there was great need. In March 1946, the
hunger flag was hoisted on the destroyed basilica. In this situation,
help came from Swiss villages. From May 27, 1946, in the so-called
Schweizerdorf, i. H. In four barracks erected on the Augustiernhof, they
cared for more than 2,000 children in particular. Until June 30, 1948,
i. H. until shortly after the currency reform, after which the supply
situation suddenly improved, more than a million portions of food
delivered from Switzerland were distributed. Cod liver oil was also
distributed to children suffering from tuberculosis. Small children were
supplied with fruit juices. Shoes and clothing were distributed and
repaired. After the Swiss village was dismantled, many items remained in
Trier. Some came to the Clarisse Monastery in Trier and, after its
dissolution in 2017, to the Roscheider Hof open-air museum.
Trier
has belonged to the state of Rhineland-Palatinate since 1946. In 1957
the new synagogue of the Jewish community in Trier was inaugurated on
Kaiserstraße.
At the end of April 1969, the Roman road was
uncovered at the Porta Nigra. Shortly thereafter, on May 12, 1969, the
wildlife enclosure in the Weißhauswald was opened. The university was
opened in 1970, initially as part of the dual university
Trier-Kaiserslautern. The development of Trier into a university town
continued on April 1, 1974 with the opening of the Martinskloster
student residence. In 1975 the university became independent. In 1971,
the Trier department of the Rhineland-Palatinate University of Applied
Sciences was founded from the previous institutions, the State
Engineering School for Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering in
Trier and the Trier School of Art and Design. Since 1996 it has been an
independent university of applied sciences as Trier University of
Applied Sciences (until September 11, 2012 Trier University of Applied
Sciences).
Other important events in the 1970s were the closure
of the 99-year-old Trierische Landeszeitung on March 31, 1974 and the
reopening of the restored cathedral on May 1 of the same year.
From May 24 to May 27, 1984, Trier officially celebrated the city's
2000th anniversary. In 1986, the Roman monuments, cathedral and Church
of Our Lady in Trier were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
During work on the construction of an underground car park in October
1988, the remains of a Roman thermal bath were discovered under the
cattle market. The Trier Observatory was officially inaugurated on
November 5th. On September 9, 1993, a treasure containing 2,558 Roman
gold coins was found during excavation work for another underground car
park near the Roman bridge. He has an estimated precious metal value of
2.5 million euros.
When the Moselle flooded the century, the
water level reached a record level of 11.28 m on December 23, 1993. The
district of Pfalzel narrowly escaped a catastrophic flood.
From April 22 to October 24, 2004, the state garden show took place
on the Petrisberg, which was visited by 724,000 guests.
When a
51-year-old drove amok on December 1, 2020 in downtown Trier, five
people were killed and 18 injured. A critically injured 77-year-old man
died in October 2021.
Formerly independent communities and districts that were incorporated into the city of Trier. Some of the places were already part of the urban area between 1798 and 1851. In 1798 the urban area covered a total of 890 hectares.
At the beginning of the 4th century, Trier, as the residence of the
Roman emperors, was the largest city north of the Alps with an estimated
80,000 inhabitants. In the Middle Ages and until the beginning of modern
times, the number of inhabitants fell to only 2,677 in 1697 due to the
numerous wars, plagues and famines. In the 18th century the population
of the city grew to 8,829 in 1801. With the beginning of
industrialization in the 19th In the 19th century, population growth
accelerated. In 1900, over 43,000 people lived in the city. By 1939,
that number had doubled to over 88,000.
During World War II, the
city lost around 35 percent of its residents (30,551 people). The number
of inhabitants fell to 57,000 in 1945. It was only when several places
were incorporated on June 7, 1969 that the pre-war level was reached
again. At the same time, the city's population surpassed 100,000 for the
first time, making it a big city by official definition. Since the turn
of the millennium, the "official number of inhabitants" for Trier,
according to the update of the State Statistical Office of
Rhineland-Palatinate (main residences only and after comparison with the
other state offices), has mostly been just under 100,000. In 2006, the
"big city threshold" was exceeded again after the introduction of a
second home tax. At the end of 2016, Trier had over 110,000 inhabitants.
Nationwide, Trier is in 74th place among the major cities in Germany (as
of 2021).
The members of the French armed forces stationed in
Trier between 1945 and 1999 and their families are not included in the
population statistics. At times it was more than 30,000 people.
Trier is located in the middle of a valley widening in the middle
Moselle valley with the main part on the right bank of the river. Wooded
slopes, some covered with vineyards, rise to the plateaus of the
Hunsrück in the south-east and the Eifel in the north-west. The border
with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Wasserbillig) is around 15 km from
the city centre. The nearest major cities are Saarbrücken, about 80
kilometers southeast, Koblenz, about 100 kilometers northeast, and
Luxembourg City, about 50 kilometers west of Trier.
Trier
Switzerland is an older name for the local recreation and excursion area
in the city of Trier on the left bank of the Moselle. Around 1905,
Trierer Schweiz had a capacity of around 1800 guests, who could have
been served at the same time in nine inns in this area.
Due to
the predominantly rural surrounding area, Trier has a relatively large
catchment area for its size, which is made up of large parts of the
Moselle valley, the lower Saar valley, the Eifel and the Hunsrück; see
also: Region Trier.
The altitude of Trier extends from 124 m
above sea level. NHN on the Moselle just before Schweich up to 427 m
above sea level. NHN on the Kuppensteiner Wild near Trier-Irsch. The
height of the city center, measured at the main market, is 137 m above
sea level. NHN.
On the right side of the Moselle are the
Petrisberg and the Grüneberg, on the left of the Moselle are the
Markusberg, Pulsberg, Kockelsberg, Steigenberg and Zoonenberg. Inflows
of the Moselle are from the right the Moselle Kobenbach, Aulbach,
Olewiger Bach, Aveler Bach, Gruberbach, Meierbach and Ruwer and from the
left the Moselle Zewenerbach, Eurenerbach, Sirzenicher Bach with
Gillenbach, Biewerbach, Kyll and Quintbach.
The independent city of Trier is completely surrounded by the
district of Trier-Saarburg. In the immediate vicinity, only a few
kilometers away, are the Eifel district of Bitburg-Prüm and the district
of Bernkastel-Wittlich.
Neighboring parishes are, clockwise
(starting in the north):
Schweich, Longuich, Kenn and Longuich again
in the area of the municipality of Schweich on the Roman Wine Route
Mertesdorf, Kasel, Waldrach, Morscheid, Korlingen and Gusterath in the
area of the Ruwer community
Hockweiler and Franzenheim in the area of
the community of Trier-Land
Konz and Wasserliesch in the area of the
municipality of Konz
Igel, Trierweiler, Aach, Newel, Kordel and
Zemmer in the area of the municipality of Trier-Land
The city of Trier is divided into 19 districts. In each local
district there is a local council consisting of 9 to 15 members and a
local mayor. The local councils are to hear important matters affecting
the local district. The final decision on any action rests with the City
Council. The local advisory councils can also independently decide on
smaller measures in the local district within the framework of a budget
allocated to them.
The local districts contain a total of 28
urban districts, 10 of which are identical in their characteristics to
the local district. After the small-scale structure, the city districts
belong to planning areas 1 to 5 (centre, north, west, east and south)
and are in turn subdivided into 100 statistical districts.
The city is located in the temperate climate zone. The average annual temperature is 9.3 °C and the average annual rainfall is 774 mm. In the measurement period between 1993 and 2013, the annual mean temperature was 10.09 °C. The average annual precipitation in the same period was 765.9 mm, so it has not changed noticeably. The warmest months are June to August with an average of 16.1 to 17.8 °C and the coldest December to February with an average of 0.6 to 1.6 °C. Most precipitation falls from October to December with an average of 70 to 80 millimeters, the lowest in February and April with an average of 52 millimeters. Precipitation is in the middle third of the values recorded in Germany. Lower values are registered at 52% of the measuring stations of the German Weather Service. There is 1½ times more rainfall in December than in April. Precipitation varies only minimally and is extremely evenly distributed throughout the year. Lower seasonal fluctuations are registered at only 1% of the measuring stations than in Trier.
In Rhineland-Palatinate, Trier is one of the five major centers, for
the middle centers Bernkastel-Kues, Bitburg, Daun, Gerolstein,
Hermeskeil, Konz, Neuerburg, Prüm, Saarburg, Traben-Trarbach and
Wittlich.
Trier is a co-founder of the "German Regiopolis
Network" established in Rostock in March 2016.
In the city of
Trier, there is a strong excess demand for rental and owner-occupied
apartments: According to a survey by the Federal Institute for Research
on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR), the highest
rent increase in Germany was in Trier between 2005 and 2010. The
district of Trier-Saarburg is in third place in the nationwide ranking
with a 13.4 percent increase in rent. The reason for this development is
Trier's geographical proximity to Luxembourg.
Roman Catholic Christianity played and still plays an above-average
role in the history of Trier.
At the time of the Treveri, Celtic
deities were worshiped in the temple districts in Trier-West below the
Markusberg at a rock spring (temple district Irminenwingert) and in the
Altbachtal. In the 2nd century, a Gallo-Roman temple district was built
in the Altbach valley with 70 temples and other places of worship on an
area of around five hectares.
Constantine the Great, Emperor of
the Roman Empire, who temporarily resided in Trier, was openly Christian
from around the year 323. As was customary at the time, Constantine had
not been baptized until shortly before his death in 337. Trier has been
Christian since Constantine.
At the end of the 3rd century, Trier
was probably the seat of a Christian bishop, who later rose to become
archbishop. This ruled an ecclesiastical territory that was one of the
electorates of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation from 1189 to
1806. One of the first German synagogues was built in 1066, and in 1096
the crusaders carried out a pogrom against the Jews of Trier, whom the
bishop was unable to defend. The Reformation could not gain a foothold
in the episcopal city; however, Caspar Olevian, one of the most
important German Reformed theologians, emerged from Trier. Trier
remained a predominantly Catholic city; a minority of Trier residents
professed Judaism. In the 17th century, the bishopric was partially
relocated to Koblenz. After the occupation of the Archdiocese by the
French in 1794, the ecclesiastical province was finally dissolved in
1803 and in 1815 the territory was incorporated into what later became
the Prussian Rhine Province. However, in 1821 Trier again became the
seat of a bishop, whose diocese was redefined and assigned to the
ecclesiastical province of Cologne (suffragan bishopric of Trier). Since
November 2003, today's parishes of the city have formed the deanery of
Trier within the diocese of Trier.
Trier is an important place of
pilgrimage. The Holy Robe (see Archbishop Johann I.) is kept in the
cathedral and is exhibited at irregular intervals of several decades.
There are also the Holy Rock Days. Another pilgrimage goes to the grave
of the apostle Matthias. According to tradition, the Benedictine abbey
of St. Matthias (or St. Mattheis) is the only grave of the apostles
north of the Alps. The bones of the apostle Matthias are said to have
been transferred to Trier by the Trier bishop Agritius on behalf of the
Empress Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine I. The main
pilgrimage period is the week around Ascension Day.
After Trier
became Prussian, Protestants also came to the city and founded a
Protestant church community. After a year as a simultaneous church, the
former Jesuit church became a Protestant parish church from 1819 to
1856. After that, the Konstantinbasilika, the evangelical parish church
and the Jesuit church, which had been rebuilt for this purpose, were
handed over to the Catholics again. With the incorporation of the
formerly independent town of Ehrang and other communities west of the
Moselle in 1969, today's Protestant parish of Trier-Ehrang, which has
been independent since 1946, came to Trier with its church built in
1928-1930. The parish area of the Evangelical parish of Trier-Ehrang
today includes the districts of Trier west of the Moselle and roughly
the area of the collective communities of Schweich, Trier-Land and
Ruwer. The Christ Church in the Heiligkreuz district, consecrated in
1963, was abandoned in 2014. Today, all Protestant Christians in Trier
belong to the Trier Evangelical Church District of the Evangelical
Church in the Rhineland, unless they are members of a free church.
In addition to Protestant and Roman Catholic parishes, there are
other free churches and religious communities in Trier: Evangelical Free
Church (Baptists), Free Evangelical Church, Adventist Church, Free
Pentecostal Church, Christian Church, The Christian Community, Church of
Christ, a New Apostolic Church, Russian Orthodox Church and several
Congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses.
The Jewish community in
Trier, which has existed since the Middle Ages, possibly even since
antiquity, included Karl Marx, Trier's most famous son; many of his
ancestors had been rabbis in Trier. The Trier Bishop Matthias Eberhard
also came from a Jewish family on his father's side; his grandfather had
converted to Catholicism.
There is a Buddhist center on
Hornstrasse. There is an Islamic cultural center with a mosque on
Luxemburger Strasse. The Turkish-Islamic Haci Bayram Camii in Konz is
also responsible for Trier.
Under the name of "les amis de
l'humanité" a Masonic lodge was founded in 1805 under Napoleonic rule.
This lodge still works today in its lodge house in the Brückenstraße
under the name "To the Association of Friends of Humanity".
Trier
is on a Way of St. James that leads pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela.
In 2007, almost 67,500 Roman Catholic Christians, around 13,600 Protestants, around 2,000 Muslims (estimate) and around 500 Jews lived in Trier. At the end of 2012, 63.6% of the residents were Roman Catholic and 12.9% Protestant. 23.2% had no religious affiliation or some other religious affiliation. The proportion of Protestants and, above all, that of Catholics has fallen since then. In Trier, less than half of the citizens are Catholic. At the end of May 2023, 48.8% of the residents were Roman Catholic and 9.9% Protestant. 41.3% either belonged to another religious community or were non-denominational.
At the head of the city of Trier since 1302 was the lay judge,
sometimes also called the mayor. The mayor was the representative of the
archbishop's sovereign rights over the city. In the 15th century there
were two mayors at the top. There was always a dispute with the
Archbishop about the status of the city. In 1795, the French occupation
introduced the collegial municipal constitution. In 1798 the Mairie
constitution was introduced and some suburbs incorporated. A new
municipal constitution followed in 1801, which was essentially retained
until 1845, with the mayor bearing the title of Lord Mayor from 1818
(Trier had meanwhile become a city district). The mayor was also
district administrator of the district of Trier (until 1851). In 1856
the city received the "Rhenish City Code". The municipal council opted
for the mayoral constitution (in contrast to the magistrate
constitution). With the Prussian Municipal Constitution Act of 1933 and
the German Municipal Code of 1935, the leader principle was enforced at
municipal level. After the Second World War, a mayor was first
appointed, who was elected by the city council in 1946. He initially
worked on a voluntary basis, but since 1949 he has been working
full-time again.
Trier is part of the federal constituency of
Trier and the state constituencies of Trier and Trier/Schweich.
The city leaders since the 18th century:
1782 and 1784: Franz
Schaep, Mayor of Trier, an ancestor of Joseph Schaab
until 1794:
Ludwig Karl Gottbill, Mayor of Trier, in the Electorate of Trier
1794-1796: Ludwig Karl Gottbill, first Mayor of Trier, during the French
period
1796-1797: Matthias Gedeon Dupre, Maire
1797-1800: Franz
Heddesdorf, President of the municipal administration
1800-1810:
Anton Joseph Recking, Maire
from 1810: Heinrich Leistenschneider,
Maire
1815-1817: Anton Joseph Recking, first mayor of Trier, under
Prussian administration
1818-1840: William of Haw
1840: F. A.
Kayser (acting)
1841-1848: Franz Damian Goertz
1849-1862: Franz
Xaver Buhs
1862-1904: Karl de Nys
1904-1927: Albert von
Bruchhausen
1928-1934: Heinrich Weitz, centre
1934-1938: Ludwig
Christ, NSDAP
1938-1945: Konrad Gorges, NSDAP
1945–1946: Friedrich
Breitbach (deployed by the US Military Administration)
1946-1949:
Heinrich Kemper, CDU
1949-1963: Heinrich Raskin, CDU
1964-1976:
Josef Harnisch, CDU
1976-1979: Carl Ludwig Wagner, CDU
1979-1989:
Felix Zimmermann, CDU
1989-2007: Helmut Schröer, CDU
2007-2015:
Klaus Jensen, SPD
2015–: Wolfram Leibe, SPD
The mayor of Trier
wears a chain of office made of gold, which shows the old Trier city
seal, on which the patron saint of Trier Cathedral, St. Peter and the
first bishop of Trier, Eucharius, receive the key to the Sancta Treveris
(Holy Trier) from Christ.
The former deputy Ulrich Holkenbrink
ran for the CDU in the election for the new mayor on September 24, 2006,
but was defeated by his opponent Klaus Jensen, who was supported by the
SPD and Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and who is a member of the SPD but ran as
an independent candidate. clearly. Holkenbrink received 33.1% of the
valid votes, Jensen 66.9%. Voter turnout was 43.2%. Since April 1, 2007,
the mayor of Trier has not been appointed by the CDU for the first time
since the end of the war. Helmut Schröer did not run again. On October
12, 2014, Wolfram Leibe (SPD) was elected Klaus Jensen's successor with
50.2% of the votes. He took office on April 1, 2015. In the direct
elections on September 25, 2022, Leibe was confirmed in office for a
further eight years with a share of the vote of 72.2% with again a low
turnout (32.2%).
In addition to the Lord Mayor, the Trier City Executive also includes
the Mayor and two full-time deputies. The members of the city council
are also in charge of the five departments.
Department I: Main
Department – Lord Mayor Wolfram Leibe (SPD)
Department II: Social
Affairs, Education, Youth and Integration – Mayor Elvira Garbes
(Greens), since February 2018
Department III: Culture, Tourism and
Further Education – Deputy Markus Nöhl (SPD), from September 1, 2021
Department IV: planning, building and designing - Deputy Thilo Becker
(independent), from May 2023, predecessor: Andreas Ludwig (CDU), 2015 to
2023
Department V: Citizen services, city center and law - Deputy
Ralf Britten (CDU), from November 1, 2021
According to the 2012 sports club survey, there are 112 sports clubs in Trier. A total of 21,297 athletes are organized in the 67 clubs that took part in the survey, with women being underrepresented at 39.7%. The club with the most members is the Post-Sportverein Trier (from 1929) with 3300 members. Around 83 percent of all officials in the surveyed clubs work on a voluntary basis. The most popular sports are soccer for men and gymnastics for women.
The Eintracht Trier football team made it to the semi-finals of the
1998 DFB Cup and narrowly missed out on taking part in the European Cup
after a penalty shoot-out. In the summer of 2002, after a long absence,
she managed to get promoted to the Second Bundesliga, but was relegated
to the Regionalliga in 2005 and one year later to the Oberliga. After
promotion on June 14, 2022, Eintracht is currently (2022/2023) playing
in the Southwest Regional Football League.
Trier was represented
in the basketball Bundesliga from 1990 to 2015 by TVG Trier, later TBB
Trier. One of the greatest successes is winning the German Cup twice in
1998 and 2001. In 2015 the team was dissolved after bankruptcy. The
newly founded team Gladiators Trier took over the starting place in the
2nd Bundesliga ProA. The women's handball team of DJK/MJC Trier ("Die
Miezen") played in the 1st Bundesliga from 2000 to 2015 and won the
German championship in 2003. The women's handball and basketball teams
play their home games in the Arena Trier. The wheelchair basketball team
Trier Dolphins also plays in the 1st Bundesliga, they play their home
games in the Mäusheckerhalle.
American sports also established
themselves in Trier. The Trier Cardinals baseball team won the German
championship in 1995 and 1996. After the withdrawal of sponsors,
however, a long decline began soon after. They are currently playing in
the state league of the Südwestdeutscher Baseball- und Softball-Verband
e. V. (SWBSV). In 2007, the mixed softball team took third place in the
unofficial German softball mixed championship.
Another American
sport, American football, is represented by two teams in the city. The
Trier Stampers of the Post-Sportverein Trier were founded as early as
1990. Until they were re-established in 1998, they still bore the name
Trier Saints. In 1999 you just missed out on getting into the 2nd
Bundesliga. In the last two seasons (2013/2014) the men's team won the
championships. The men's team is currently playing in the regional
league and the youth team in the youth league. Another football team are
the Trier Wolverines, which were founded in January 2008 and reached
second place in the youth development league with their youth team in
the same year. In 2009, the newly founded men's team of the Wolverines
established itself. The club broadcasts its American football magazine
GRIDIRON regularly on the local TV channel OK54 and reports on the
Rhineland-Palatinate League and American football in general.
There is also a rugby team that plays in the 3rd Bundesliga South West.
She plays for FSV Trier-Tarforst.
In August, the Rallye Deutschland, which has been part of the World Rally Championship since 2002, was held in Trier and the surrounding area from 2000 to 2016. The International Trier Hill Climb was run from 1971 to 2011 by the Racing Team Trier 1967 e. V. and since 1991 has been a run for the European Mountain Championships.
RV Treviris Trier is the home club of Richard Schmidt, who won
Olympic and World Cup medals with the Germany eight from 2009 to 2021.
In the bowling Bundesliga (scissors), the bowling club Domstein Trier
was German champion several times.
The chess club SG Trier 1877
belonged to the Bundesliga from 2007 to 2017.
The Trier Go section of
the German Go Federation plays as a joint team with Luxembourg (TriLux)
in the 2nd Bundesliga. The Trier Go group is characterized above all by
successful youth work, from which both the German youth champions in
2014 and the German school team champions in 2014 and 2015
(Friedrich-Wilhelm-Gymnasium) emerged.
The Trier New Year's Eve Run
regularly takes place on December 31st. It is considered one of the
best-attended year-end runs in Europe and is called the "German São
Paulo" in reference to the famous Brazilian New Year's Eve run.
The
association Trierer Kanufahrer 1948 (TKF) is located near today's modern
Römerstadt youth hostel in the former youth hostel building
(Hans-Karl-Schmitt-Haus). He celebrates national and international
sporting successes in canoeing.
The Fallschirmsportclub Trier e. V.,
located at the Trier-Fohren airfield, was founded in 1975.
The PBC
Trier played temporarily in the first pool billiard league.
Swimming
pools are the bath at the Kaiserthermen, the outdoor pool north and the
outdoor pool south.
In 2021, the city applied to host a four-day program for an international delegation to the Special Olympics World Summer Games 2023 in Berlin. In 2022, she was selected to host Special Olympics Panama. The delegation consisted of 18 people. The city thus became part of the largest municipal inclusion project in the history of the Federal Republic with more than 200 host towns.
In 2016, Trier, within the city limits, had a gross domestic product (GDP) of €4.741 billion, ranking 65th among German cities by economic output. GDP per capita was €42,142 in the same year (Rhineland-Palatinate: €34,118, Germany €38,180). The GDP per labor force is 58,640. In 2016, the city's GDP grew nominally by 0.3%, compared to 4.7% in the previous year. Around 80,900 people were employed in the city in 2016. The unemployment rate was 4.3% in December 2018, slightly above the average of 4.1% in Rhineland-Palatinate (in the neighboring district of Trier-Saarburg it was 2.5%).
Inner-city private transport
Individual traffic in Trier mainly
runs on the existing federal, state and district roads. The mobility
concept Trier 2025 was decided in 2013 and the update of this concept
was decided in 2018 by the city council of Trier. The following
priorities were defined in a 10-year concept for road construction
measures, which are subject to an annual review:
Various traffic
measures in Trier-West (priority: 1), of which the Römerbrückenkopf West
traffic circle has already been implemented;
New connection of the
Avel valley via the Am Grüneberg road and via the railway tracks to
Dasbachstraße and the federal motorway 602 (priority: 2a)
Expansion
of Aulstrasse and Arnulfstrasse in Trier-Süd (southern tangent ring)
(priority: 2b)
Moselle railway breakthrough (between Kürenzer Straße
and Metternichstraße) (priority: 3), from 2027;
Waterway breakthrough
(between Herzogenbuscher Strasse and Zurmaiener Strasse) (northern
tangent ring) (priority: 4), not included in the 10-year plan;
Special project redesign of the station forecourt of Trier main station
as part of the implementation of the public transport concept RLP-Nord
The following motorways lead to/from Trier:
A64 Luxembourg (there
Autoroute 1 A1)–Trier
The A64a leads from Kenn over the Moselle
bridge in Ehrang to Trier-Ehrang and through the Pfalzel Forest to the A
64
A602 leads from the Trier roundabout to the Moseltal motorway
triangle and from there to the A 1
The Moselle ascent and the
Meulenwaldautobahn as Trier's western and northern bypasses are under
discussion.
The following federal roads lead through the city
area:
B49 border crossing Wasserbillig (L)-Trier-Koblenz
B51
border crossing Hanweiler (F)–Saarbrücken–Trier–Bitburg–Cologne
B53
Trier - Schweich - Mehring - Bernkastel-Kues - Zell - Alf
B268
Trier-Losheim am See-Heusweiler-Riegelsberg-Saarbrücken
B422
Ehrang-Kordel-Welschbillig-Helenenberg
Local public transport is largely operated by the bus lines of
Stadtwerke Trier (SWT). In addition, numerous uninterrupted regional bus
lines from various bus companies operate in Trier. The tariff of the
Verkehrsverbund Region Trier (VRT) applies to all Trier bus lines.
The Trier tram also existed from 1890 to 1951. It was replaced by
the Trier trolleybus introduced in 1940, which in turn was discontinued
in 1970.
rail transport
The main train station is located in
the northeastern area of the city center between the Mitte-Gartenfeld
and Nord districts. Trier is connected to Koblenz to the north via the
Moselle line and to Cologne via the Eifel line; to the south, the Trier
West line leads to Luxembourg, the Saar line to Saarbrücken and the
Upper Moselle line to Perl and Metz (France). Through trains run from
Koblenz to Saarbrücken and on to Mannheim or Luxembourg as well as from
Wittlich to Perl Mondays to Fridays, otherwise the Trier main station is
usually the terminus. Other breakpoints are in the north-west of
downtown Quint, Ehrang-Ort, Ehrang and Pfalzel, in the south Trier Süd.
From December 11, 2005 to December 10, 2011, the city of Trier had a
direct ICE connection to Berlin. Directly north of the main station is a
depot of the Deutsche Bahn (formerly Bahnbetriebswerk Trier). In Ehrang
there is a former marshalling yard, which is still used to a lesser
extent as a freight yard by Deutsche Bahn AG. In June 2008, the state of
Rhineland-Palatinate decided that the Trier western route between
Trier-Ehrang and Trier-Zewen should be reactivated for passenger
transport, primarily to improve the connections for commuters to
Luxembourg. In addition, the construction of two new train stops at
Trier Nord (probably near Dasbachstraße) and Trier-Kaiserthermen
(probably near Hermesstraße) is planned on the Moselle line.
The cycle path network is moderately developed in the Trier city
area. In particular, cyclists who move about in urban areas often have
to switch to narrow, busy streets and accept the corresponding safety
risks. The ADFC still rated the situation for cyclists in Trier in 2010
as "poor to sufficient". However, in 2014 Trier got the “3rd place” in
the ADFC bicycle climate test. catch-up" prize in the city size group of
100,000 to 200,000 inhabitants and is now in 29th place out of 37
(bottom 22%) (compare 2012: 39 out of 42: bottom 8%). In 2015, the Trier
2025 cycling concept was adopted.
The Moselle cycle path leads
through the city and is part of the international cycle route Velo Tour
Moselle. The Kyll cycle path into the Eifel starts in Trier-Ehrang and
the Ruwer-Hochwald cycle path into the Hunsrück starts in Trier-Ruwer.
The Nahe-Hunsrück-Moselle cycle path runs between Bingen am Rhein and
Trier.
With the canalization of the Moselle between 1958 and 1964 to become
an international major shipping route, Trier is connected to the
industrial area of Lorraine, the state of Luxembourg, the western German
industrial centers and the North Sea ports in the Netherlands and
Belgium via inland waterways. Trier is the seat of the Moselle
Commission, which was founded in 1962 to regulate all matters relating
to shipping on the Moselle. The Trierer Hafengesellschaft, founded in
1962, completed the commercial and industrial port in Trier-Ehrang in
1965. With the opening on May 26, 1965, Trier became a port city. The
port of Trier is a transhipment point for goods traffic, which consists
mainly of the transport of crude oil and mineral oil as well as ores and
metal waste. An expansion of the port facility has also allowed
containers to be handled since 1998. The port facility is directly
connected to the road network and the rail network.
Tourist
attractions are the Moselle trips on passenger ships both to Luxembourg
and in the direction of Koblenz.
The Trier Waterways and Shipping
Office has existed since 1952 and was merged with the offices in Koblenz
and Saarbrücken to form the Mosel-Saar-Lahn Waterways and Shipping
Office with a location in Trier on the Pacelliufer.
The nearest airport for national and international connections is Luxembourg Airport, around 40 kilometers away. About 25 kilometers from the city center is also the Trier airfield, which was relocated from Trier-Euren (in operation from 1910 to 1977) to Föhren. It is about 70 kilometers to Frankfurt-Hahn Airport and about 105 kilometers to Saarbrücken Airport.
Trier is a hub in the Rhineland-Palatinate network of hiking trails. In addition to the Eifelsteig, the Saar-Hunsrück-Steig also has its start and end point here. A dream loop on the Saar-Hunsrück Climb is the Trierer Galgenkopf Tour, a 15.8 km long high-altitude trail that includes leading to the Naumeter head. The Moselhöhenweg runs through the city of Trier on both the Eifel side and the Hunsrück side. Since April 2014, Trier has also been connected via the Moselsteig Trail, which runs alternately on both sides of the Moselle valley. The Ausoniusweg from Trier to Bingen am Rhein has also been dedicated as the Hunsrück Way of St. James since June 2013.
Park-and-ride car parks are available both in the southwest (Messepark) and in the north (Riverside/Verteilkreis) of the city. For larger events, the car park at Trier University of Applied Sciences at Schneidershof also serves as a park-and-ride car park. On the Saturdays in Advent, three special free P+R lines are offered every 10 minutes (financed by the City Initiative), otherwise the car parks are served by normal scheduled services.
For almost two millennia, the only way to get to the left bank of the Moselle was via the Roman bridge, the first version of which dates back to 18 BC. / 17 BC was built. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that the Kaiser Wilhelm Bridge followed as the second river crossing; in 1973 the Konrad-Adenauer Bridge was added, which since then has been the last road bridge completely within Germany upstream from the Moselle (the next bridge leads 18 km upstream from Wellen to Grevenmacher). The Pfeiffersbrücke in Ehrang, built in 1949, bridges the Koblenz-Trier railway line and connects the Servaisstraße with the B 53. There is also a railway bridge between Pfalzel and the industrial area north (Mosel route Trier-Koblenz), popularly known as the "Pfalzeler Bridge", which is also accessible to pedestrians and cyclists to cross the Moselle. In the north of the city is the Moselle bridge Ehrang of the federal autobahn 64a between Trier-Ehrang and Kenn, which also allows pedestrians and cyclists to cross the Moselle. It connects the A 602 and B 53, but due to its location it also has an inner-city development function. The Konzer Moselle Bridge leads from Konz to Trier-Zewen. It connects the Saar line and the Upper Moselle line with the Trier west line. In Trier-Pallien, the Napoleon Bridge spans the valley of the Sirzenicher Bach. It is part of federal highway 51. The Aul Bridge in St. Matthias crosses the railway line between Trier's southern railway station and Konz-Karthaus. Other bridges are the Biewerbachtalbrücke or the Gartenfeldbrücke.
The Trier public utility company is responsible for obtaining,
treating and distributing the drinking water. The raw water from
different sources is treated in two waterworks: in the Irsch Welt-Icon
waterworks from the Riveristalsperre and in the Kylltal waterworks from
24 wells, which pump the groundwater of the Bitburg-Trierer Mulde.
For the treatment of the dam water, ultrafiltration is used in the
Irsch waterworks to clean the water. This is followed by filtration over
limestone to harden the water. Disinfection has been carried out using
UV lamps since 2015. With a total hardness of 0.8 mmol/l (4.2 °dH), the
water can be assigned to the “soft” hardness range.
The
filtration of the groundwater takes place via large filter basins, which
largely retain particles. With a total hardness of 1.6 mmol/l (9.0 °dH),
the water is assigned to the "medium" hardness range.
The Irsch
waterworks basically takes over the supply of the districts of Kürenz,
Gartenfeld, Olewig, Auf der Hill, Kernscheid, Irsch, Filsch, Tarforst,
Trimmelter Hof and Weidengraben, as well as the communities of
Korlingen, Gutweiler and Sommerau. Depending on the status of the dam,
all other parts of the city are supplied either from the Irsch or
Kylltal waterworks. Most of the drinking water for the entire city area
comes from the Riveristalsperre in the months from February to
September. In the winter months, the reservoir is then filled again by
the precipitation.
A total of approx. 10 million m³ of drinking
water are released annually. In the 680 km long pipeline network, 20
elevated tanks are installed for temporary storage and to ensure the
water pressure. The energy requirement for Trier's drinking water supply
(1.7 million kWh per year) is now completely covered by the company's
own energy production. There are also several turbines in the network
and photovoltaic systems on the roofs of elevated tanks, pumping
stations and the Irsch waterworks.
The gross consumption price is
1.74 euros per cubic metre.
The heat supply in Trier is mostly decentralized. There is only a larger district heating supply in the district of Mariahof, which covers 2.8% (as of 2015/16) of the city's heat requirements.
The discharge and cleaning of the waste water is also the
responsibility of the Trierer Stadtwerke. The sewer network has a length
of 499 kilometers, 386 kilometers of which is in the mixed system (77%).
There are 13,300 manholes and 16,000 gullies in the city. The degree of
connection to the sewage system is 99.9%. Wastewater treatment takes
place in the main sewage treatment plant in Metternichstrasse Welt-Icon
(built in 1959, 170,000 population equivalent) and in the Trier-Ehrang
Welt-Icon sewage treatment plant (built in 1984).
As with the
drinking water supply, the main sewage treatment plant in Trier is now
energy self-sufficient. In 2016, electricity consumption of 3.05 million
kWh was offset by energy generation of 3.28 million kWh. On the one
hand, self-sufficiency was achieved by saving energy through process
optimization, intelligent control and more energy-efficient technology,
on the other hand by generation in two combined heat and power plants,
which convert the sewage gas into electricity, by photovoltaics and by
turbines in the sewage treatment plant's outlet.
Trier is the seat of one of two federal cash registers and a branch
of the Federal Agency for Real Estate Tasks.
Judicial authorities
are the district court of Trier, the regional court of Trier, the labor
court of Trier, the social court of Trier, the administrative court of
Trier, the public prosecutor's office in Trier or the prison in
Trier-Euren.
In Trier there is a Federal Police Inspectorate, the
Trier Police Headquarters, the Trier Technical Relief Agency and the
Defense Technical Service for land-based vehicle systems, engineer and
troop technology of the Bundeswehr in Trier-Kürenz (420 employees), the
Rhineland-Palatinate Court of Accounts (Headquarters Speyer) has a
branch office . Other authorities are the Trier tax office with 400 and
the Zweckverband A.R.T. with 300 employees.
Other institutions
are the Trier fire brigade, the Trier Chamber of Crafts and the Trier
student union.
The city of Trier assumes the function of a medical center with
services of maximum care and specialized medical care in the outpatient
sector for the former administrative district of Trier as well as the
Hochwald region and parts of the Saarland. In the medium-sized centers
in the area there are only basic and standard care hospitals with 100 to
around 300 beds, some of which are threatened with closure in the medium
term. There are three clinics in the Trier city area. Changes in recent
years have included the takeover of the clinic in Ehrang (closed after
flood damage in 2021) and the former Evangelical Elisabeth Hospital by
the parent company in 2016 and the closure of the Herz-Jesu-Krankenhaus
in 2006. Overall, the clinics have the city today has about 1500 beds.
In the Middle Ages there were also the St. Jakobs Hospital and the St.
Jost leprosarium in Trier.
Klinikum mother house of the Borromean
women, 667 beds, 2500 employees
Klinikum mother house of the
Borromean women north (formerly Elisabeth-Krankenhaus; 182 beds)
Hospital of the Brothers of Mercy (Brothers' Hospital), 612 beds, 2400
employees.
St. Irminen geriatric rehabilitation clinic, 80 beds, a
social facility of the United Hospitien
Animal shelter Trier
There is an animal shelter on the Heidenberg in Trier-Zewen, which is
run by the Tierschutzverein Trier und Surroundings e. V. is operated. It
is responsible for animals from the entire Trier region. The four
districts in the region and the independent city of Trier are co-owners
of the property on which the animal shelter is located.
Trier, with the two cigarette manufacturers based there, JT
International and Heintz van Landwyck, is one of the centers of the
German tobacco industry. Viticulture and further processing also play an
important role. In addition to various wineries, the three sparkling
wine producers Schloss Wachenheim AG, Peter Herres Wein- und
Sektkellerei and Bernard-Massard Sektkellerei GmbH have their
headquarters in Trier. Regionally active banks are the Sparkasse Trier
and the Volksbank Trier. Furthermore, in Trier have their main or German
headquarters:
Steil Holding GmbH (recycling company)
Landal
GreenParks (tourism company)
Triwo, owner and operator of several
airfields and business parks
Other well-known companies with a
long existence are or were:
Steil crane work, founded in 1924
Leyendecker HolzLand GmbH & Co. KG, founded in 1860, 130 employees
HEES + PETERS GmbH, founded in 1948, 150 employees
Mercedes-Hess GmbH
& Co. KG, founded in 1913, from 2022: Merbag Holding.
Joh. Rendenbach
Jr. GmbH & Co. KG, founded in 1871; one of the last tanneries to use the
traditional Eichenloh pit tanning process; 2022 End of operations, the
trademark rights go to a company in Viechtach.
The Trierischer
Volksfreund publishing house publishes the local daily newspaper. It
belongs to the Rheinische Post media group.
Since the Trierische Landeszeitung was discontinued in 1974, the
Trierischer Volksfreund (TV) has been the only regional daily newspaper.
In addition, the "Rathauszeitung" is issued free of charge to all
municipal households as an official newsletter for official
announcements. The weekly mirror, which is distributed to all households
as a weekly newspaper, is also free. In the field of online media, there
are several online portals/city magazines that are subject to a certain
fluctuation, such as 5vier.de, lokalo.de or trier-reporter.de in 2016.
One of them was the local news site "16vor" from 2007 to 2014, which
also appeared as a printed magazine from 2014 to 2015. There is also a
studio for the public Südwestrundfunk (SWR), which occasionally
broadcasts the regionalized radio program SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz from
Trier, and a regional studio for the nationwide private radio station
RPR1. The citizens' television OK54 emerged from the Offener Kanal
Trier, which was founded in 1987.
On November 13, 2010, Cityradio
Trier took over the transmission frequencies of 884 Trier. The private
radio station uses the frequencies 88.4 MHz Trier-Petrisberg, 94.7 MHz
Wittlich and 87.8 MHz Welschbillig formerly occupied by Antenne West. An
"adult contemporary" format will be broadcast, which can be received in
Trier and the surrounding area.
Transmission systems in Trier:
Trier-Petrisberg telecommunications tower, SWR transmitter
Trier-Markusberg, transmitter Trier.
As part of the withdrawal of French armed forces, the areas that had
become free were used for conversion. The largest project of this type
to date was implemented in the mid-2000s on the Petrisberg, which, in
addition to an area for living and working (“WIP” science park), also
includes extensive green and leisure areas that were created as part of
the 2004 state garden show. The characteristic historical building
ensemble visible from the main town in the valley has been preserved.
The former Castel Feuvrier between Moselle and Zurmaiener Straße was
developed with a hotel and rental apartments by a private investor from
2017 with a delay of a few years. Plans beyond that, such as a
restaurant on the banks of the Moselle and a Moselle footbridge, failed.
A shopping center and residential units were built on the Castelnau site
in Feyen.
In addition to the site formerly used by the military,
conversion projects in Trier also deal with derelict railway and
commercial areas, as well as with the conversion of vacant buildings
that were previously used by the public sector or religious communities.