Note: The western German city of Eschweiler is located on the edge of the Eifel mountains some 11 miles northeast of Aachen. Inhabited since at least 9th century, it was ruled by the duchy of Jülich from 1420 and by Prussia from 1815. It is the main industrial center for the Aachen coal basin, producing coal, iron, steel, plastics, and limestone. It was the site of severe fighting in 1944 in World War II. Its population estimate for 2004 was 55,200.