the first German city to be captured by the Allies.

 

 On October 21, 1944, 19 days after the Battle of Aachen began, the city was the first German city to be captured by the Allies.

 A little over a month earlier, American units crossed the West Wall and the Siegfried Line south of Aachen for the first time.

 The US Army's 1st and 30th Infantry Divisions surrounded the city, but this lasted until October 16.  On October 12, Colonel Gerhard Wilck ordered the "hold of the city to the last man".  

On the same day, the 26th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division attacked the city center.  By October 19, the regiment was able to hold large parts of the city.

 On October 21, US Army troops broke through to Colonel Wilck's command post. 

 Wilck capitulated and became a prisoner of war with the remaining defenders of Aachen.

 The German defenders were greatly outnumbered, for every German soldier or Volkssturmmann there were about five American GIs. 

 Despite this inferiority, the Germans were able to hold the city for over two weeks.

  At the end of the battle there were around 6,000 dead on both sides, around 5,000 wounded and on the German side over 12,000 prisoners of war.

The picture shows an American M4 Sherman Tank moving through a European City. 

This was taken at a reenactment and serves as a symbolic picture.