Euskirchen (district)

Euskirchen
District
Flag Coat of arms
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Adm. region	Cologne
Capital	Euskirchen
Government
• District admin.	Markus Ramers (SPD)
Area
• Total	1,249.093 km2 (482.278 sq mi)
Population  (31 December 2023)[1]
• Total	199,828
• Density	160/km2 (410/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Vehicle registration	EU, SLE
Website	http://www.kreis-euskirchen.de

Euskirchen (German pronunciation: [ˈɔʏskɪʁçn̩] ^ⓘ) is a Kreis (district) in the south-west of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Aachen, Düren, Rhein-Erft-Kreis, Rhein-Sieg, Ahrweiler, Daun, Bitburg-Prüm, and the Liège province (Belgium).

In 1827 a first district around the city of Euskirchen was created, however much smaller than today. In 1932 the district of Rheinbach was dissolved, whereby the Euskirchen district gained its southern part. In 1972 the Euskirchen district grew again by the inclusion of the Schleiden district.

Geographically, the south-western half of the district is inside the Eifel hill chain. This land is hardly suitable for agriculture, and therefore in historical times the region was rather poor. Areas further to the north-east are more flat and have historically been used to grow a variety of crops, most notably sugar beets. The only other source of wealth was the iron ore, but today the many forests there make the area interesting for tourists.

The coat of arms shows the four signs of the main historical territories or rulers of the district. Top-left are the roses of the counts of Arenberg, top-right the lion of Jülich, bottom-right the wave-line of the counts of Manderscheid-Blankenheim, and bottom-left the Cologne cross. The coat of arms was granted in 1973.

Media related to Kreis Euskirchen at Wikimedia Commons

• Official Website (German)

50°30′N 6°40′E / 50.5°N 6.67°E / 50.5; 6.67