Information Service

Trier sets its own standards, and no other town in Germany comes close to matching up.

With no subway and no airport, and its local football team, Eintracht Trier, only playing in the second division, Trier is far from being a metropolis in the conventional sense. It also falls short – by around 200 people – of the magic figure of 100,000 which would allow it to be known officially as a “city”. But why should Germany’s oldest urban settlement be measured by the same criteria as every other city? Trier sets its own standards, and no other town in Germany comes close to matching up.

Romantic position

Located in the Mosel valley where the river widens, and encircled by the gentle sloping vineyards of the Hunsrück to the east and west, with the craggy red sandstone outcrops of the Eifel mountains towering above the city, Trier’s wild and romantic setting has attracted poetic souls since time immemorial – starting with the Roman poet Ausonius, who heaped paeons of praise on the city. At that time, it was known as Augusta Treverorum – the imperial city of the Treveri – in honour of the Emperor Augustus, who granted the rights of a Roman city to this little Celtic settlement in 16 B.C. Over the next three centuries, Augusta Treverorum evolved into a truly imperial city, becoming the major urban centre in the Province of Gaul. At the end of the third century, it was even chosen as an imperial residence: Emperor Constantine the Great (ca. 280-337) resided here for six years.

The Rome of the North

The architectural remains of this glorious Roman past are still evident all over Trier. No other city in Germany has so many monuments from Roman times. UNESCO has put most of them on its World Heritage List. They include the Amphitheatre, dating back to the first century A.D., which once held audiences of up to 25 000, and the Imperial Baths – in their heyday, one of the largest baths in the Roman Empire. The “caldarium“ – or warm room – is now used for theatre performances and can hold up to 650 people. And of course, there is the Porta Nigra – the imposing Black Gate which, in the second century, formed the northern entrance to the city, which was protected by a six-metre wall. Today, the Porta Nigra is the emblem of the City of Trier.

Centre of Christianity

Emperor Constantine – regarded by locals as one of Trier’s most eminent residents, along with Karl Marx, who was born at Number 10, Brückenstrasse on 5 May 1818 – was a proponent of Christianity, a fact which also benefited Trier’s Christian communities. Trier Cathedral was built on the site of the former Imperial Palace and has been the seat of Trier’s Archbishops since the second half of the third century A.D. Trier not only has the oldest Christian tradition north of the Alps, spanning some 17 centuries. It is also home to one of the most precious relics in Christendom, the Tunica Christi, or the Holy Tunic of Christ, which – according to tradition – was sent to Trier by St Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, in 327. Even today, the Tunic is a traditional place of pilgrimage, with thousands of Christians flocking to Trier, especially during the Festival of the Tunic which takes place every year.

The Capital of Wine

But Trier is not only Germany’s oldest Roman city and an important Christian centre. It is also a city of wine. Its mild climate and gentle sun-kissed slopes make the city not only a popular destination for tourists and hikers, but also ideal for viticulture. The name “Mosel-Saar-Ruwer” – the three rivers whose confluence is close to Trier – is renowned as one of Germany’s best wine regions, with the Riesling grape being a particular favourite for cultivation. The vineyards at Deutschherrenberg, Domherrenberg, Karthäuserhofberg or St. Maximiner Kreuzberg are famous the world over, not only to the cognoscenti.

Each year, some three million people visit Trier to admire its cultural heritage, draw inner strength from its holy places, or enjoy a glass or two of the local wine. Trier may not have an airport, but that does not seem to put off the visitors!