Cloppenburg vs Aachen

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Cloppenburg (German: [ˈklɔpn̩ˌbʊɐ̯k] (listen)) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, capital of Cloppenburg District and part of Oldenburg Münsterland. It lies 38 km south-south-west of Oldenburg in the Weser-Ems region between Bremen and the Dutch border. Cloppenburg is not far from the A1, the major motorway connecting the Ruhr area to Bremen and Hamburg. Another major road is the federal highway B213 being the shortest link from the Netherlands to the A1 and thus to Bremen and Hamburg. The town is a centre for the largely agricultural region of southern Oldenburg.

It is the administrative centre of the district and there are many schools. However, there is also some industry in town: e.g. Lumberg, (connector systems) and Derby Cycle (bikes). The town had strong cultural links with St Munchins Parish in Limerick, Ireland from the 1970s to the 1990s. During this period many groups of teens/young adults from both areas visited and were hosted by families from the other area. It was a very successful exchange program fostering some lifelong friendships.

Source: Wikipedia

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Aachen (, German: [ˈʔaːxn̩] (listen); Aachen dialect: Oche [ˈɔːxə]), also known as Bad Aachen ("Aachen Spa"), in Dutch as Aken, in French as Aix-la-Chapelle, in Italian as Aquisgrana, and in Latin as Aquæ Granni, is a spa and border city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen developed from a Roman settlement and spa, subsequently becoming the preferred medieval Imperial residence of Emperor Charlemagne of the Frankish Empire, and, from 936 to 1531, the place where 31 Holy Roman Emperors were crowned Kings of the Germans.

Aachen is the westernmost city in Germany, located near the borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, 61 km (38 mi) west of Cologne in a former coal-mining area. One of Germany's leading institutes of higher education in technology, the RWTH Aachen University, is located in the city. Aachen's industries include science, engineering and information technology. In 2009, Aachen was ranked eighth among cities in Germany for innovation.

Source: Wikipedia