City in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany forty miles southwest of Cologne, Germany, near the Dutch and Belgian borders. It was the northern capital of Charlemagne's empire and thirty-two emperors of the Holy Roman Empire were crowned there. In 1801, it was annexed by France. In 1815 it was given to Prussia. It was badly bombed in World War II. It has a population of approximately 252,000. Its French name is Aix-La-Chapelle.