Trier: 'Augusta Treverorum'

The university and cathedral-city of Trier on the Mosel, was founded more than 2000 years ago and is the oldest city in Germany. The Treverians who lived in this region in the Latène age (475-20 BC), were defeated by Julius Caesar in the Gallic wars (58-51 BC) and then "Romanized". The city of Trier was founded between 16 BC and 13 BC by Augustus ("Augusta Treverorum"). From 286 until 381 AD, Trier was the imperial residence and administrative center for the western half of the Roman Empire. The Porta Nigra, the basilica of Constantine, the amphitheater seating 20,000, as well as the imperial Kaiser thermes with their ingenious underground water canals and heating system are witnesses to this great epoch. Others are the Barbara thermes and the Roman bridge. The early Romanesque cathedral is more than 1600 years old making it the oldest cathedral in Germany. Together with the Liebfrauen church and the Roman historical monuments, it is classified as a part of the world cultural heritage and is under the protection of UNESCO. In the midddle ages, Trier was the metropolis of a politically influential, powerful bishopric and center of an elector state, whose most famous representative was Balduin von Luxemburg (1307-1354). The worldly power of the archbishops of Trier only ended in 1794 with the French occupation.

Today, Trier is a regional center in the corner where France, Luxemburg and Germany meet. The university, founded in 1970, has done its part to make Trier not only a center for tourism but a place of scientific renown as well.