Aachen (German pronunciation: [ˈʔaːxən] ( listen), French: Aix-la-Chapelle) has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost city of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, 65 km (40 mi) west of Cologne.RWTH Aachen University, one of Germany's Universities of Excellence, is located in the city. Aachen's predominant economic focus is on science, engineering, information technology and related sectors. In 2009, Aachen was ranked 8th among cities in Germany for innovation.

A quarry on the Lousberg, which was first used in Neolithic times, attests to the long occupation of the site of Aachen.

No larger settlements, however, have been found to have existed in this remote rural area, located at least 15 km from the nearest road even in Roman times, up to the early medieval period when the place is mentioned as a king's mansion for the first time, not long before Charlemagne became ruler of the Germanic Franks.

Pierre Vogel (b. July 20, 1978 in Frechen), Islamic name Abu Hamza is a German Islamic preacher and a former professional boxer.

Vogel converted to Islam in 2001 and shortly thereafter began courses on Islamic studies in Germany. For two years he studied Arabic and the Quran at the private school Om Al-Qura in Mecca.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006 he returned to Berlin and started teaching Islam at the Al-Nur-Moschee mosque Neukölln, in universities and even among Christians.^{[citation needed]}

After 66 amateur fights^{[citation needed]} he turned professional at the age of 22, fighting briefly (for two years) as a cruiserweightfor the Sauerland club and was undefeated in seven bouts.

Vogel is married to a Muslim Moroccan woman and is father of three children.

He has been described in one German report as a "radical Muslim".

When he appeared at a Muslim meeting in Ferihegy^[when?], he said that polygamy is legitimate due to the fact that there are more women than men in Germany.

Ludger Beerbaum (born August 26, 1963 in Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia) is an internationally successful German rider who competes in show jumping, and has been ranked the No. 1 Show Jumper in the world by the FEI on multiple occasions.

Beerbaum was born in Detmold, Germany. In school he took Business Studies, but eventually gave it up for a career in show jumping.

Beerbaum began riding on a Highland Pony at the age of 8. He had a very successful career as a young Rider which continued into his adulthood. His most notable accomplishments include winning 4 Olympic Golds (his first at age 25) and numerous European and World Championship medals.

On Sunday September 21, 2008, at the Samsung Super League Final in Barcelona, Beerbaum was a member of the winning German Nations Cup team. He was awarded Leading Rider of the 2008 Super League, along with 50,000 CHF ($46,000). In the Final he rode the nine year old Westphalian gelding, All Inclusive NRW to a double clear round, and was one of only two riders to do so, his team mate Marco Kutscher being the other.

Nicholas "Nick" Skelton (born 30 December 1957 in Bedworth, Warwickshire) is a British equestrian who competes in showjumping. He began riding at age 18 months and in 1974 and 1975 took two team silvers and an individual gold at the Junior European Championships. He has competed numerous times at the European Show Jumping Championships, winning three golds, three silvers and three bronzes both individually and with the British team over a 26-year time period. In 1980, he competed in the Alternative Olympics, where he helped the British team to a silver medal. He currently holds the British Show Jumping High Jump record, which he set in 1978.

Skelton began riding aged 18 months when he got his first pony, a Welsh Mountain, called Oxo who was born in the same year as Skelton and lived to be 39; both Skelton's children learnt to ride on Oxo. Skelton rode in pony classes with little tuition before taking his pony to Ted and Liz edgar for help when he was 14. He worked for and helped at The Edgars' for two years before leaving school with no qualifications to work full time for them. Skelton had plenty of early success with a horse called Maybe, but he went lame just before the Junior European Championships in 1975 and his placed in the team looked lost, however, O.K, an reputedly ordinary horse substituted and Skelton won Individual Gold. After this Skelton began riding more of The Edgar horses and in 1978 jumped just over 7 foot 7 inches to set a new British record at Olympia with Lastic; when Skelton partnered with St James the following year he broke into the senior GB team of which he has been an integral part of ever since.