European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 2, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A Young Man joins a group of statues in Aachen s downtown area. Loom above ancient half timbered restaurants. One of the More curious but pleasing aspects of the City is its statues. The City s sculptures Aren t limited to the likenesses of old Kings and City officials. Visitors can also see statues of everyday people mixed with the real everyday people on the Street. In one Public courtyard filled with benches for example there is a statue of a woman resting on a Bench Reading a Book. There Are statues of men dressed in Normal clothes exchanging jokes on a set of stairs and another group gathered around a Fountain. Near the City Hall Are miniature sculptures with hinged legs and arms that Are positioned and repositioned by both children and adult passers by. Aachen also offers Art lovers a variety of museums that display everything from a sculpture of a hefty woman with curlers in her hair pushing a loaded grocery cart to medieval paintings. Big name artists and renowned orchestras regularly perform in Aachen and the traditional City theater has a diverse program ranging from opera to contemporary experimental plays. The City is also Home to Many equestrian and horse jumping sports and has remained the spa and health resort so sought after by the romans. And yes Aachen is also Home to the last Esso station before crossing the Border into Belgium. But those who drive past it and into town will find a treasure of old and new attractions beyond the pumps. Above browsers Check out books in a downtown store. Left the emperor s Hall of the City Hall. A amps photos by Dave did 10 old maastricht has new role the outdoor Market near maastricht s City Hall. By the new York times the dutch City of maastricht the third Point of the Triangle formed with Aachen Germany and li6ge, Netherlands has witnessed More than 2,000 years of european history. Its old fortifications have seen besiegers and liberators from a dozen countries including most of the 12 members of the european Community which met Here recently for a historic meeting on the one Market Economy. Among the visitors Over the centuries have been Charlemagne Louis Xiv Peter the great and Napoleon. The City of 120,000, on the West Bank of the Meuse called the Maas in dutch is the oldest in the Netherlands. But its buildings Are made of Stone rather than the Brick of the North and its famous lenten carnival further distinguishes the roman Catholic Region from the protestant influence of the rest of the Netherlands. These Days maastricht is a Laboratory for european integration. The closing of Coal mines Cost 75,000 jobs in the Region from 1975 to 1987, and planners had to turn to cooperation to attract new Industry. The City is now a part of a so called Quot eur Region Quot with Aachen 16 Miles to the East and Lidge 16 Miles to the South. The area of 3.2 million people has joint universities and research centers As Well As More than 20 european institutions. The markets around the 15th-Century old town Hall on wednesdays and fridays attract traders from Belgium and Germany much As they did in the Middle Ages. Headquarters of groups like the european fair Trade association and the european Institute of Public administration vie for tourists attention with attractions from previous centuries like the fortified round Tower called hate and envy where attacks used to come from the country s neighbors. So do several historic churches. Among them is the Church of St. Servatius the oldest Church in the Netherlands. Its original Structure was erected in the sixth Century but Little from that time is left. Nearby is the gothic St. Jans Kerk which has a 256-foot Tower that can be seen throughout the town and a few blocks away the Church of our lady which was built on roman foundations and has an exterior that was obviously built for defensive purposes. April 2, 1992 stripes Magazine 7