Geilenkirchen
town of Germany
Geilenkirchen (German pronunciation: [ˈɡaɪlənkɪʁçn̩] , Limburgish: Jellekerke [ˈjæləˌkæʀ˦(ə)kə]) is a town in the district Heinsberg, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated near the border with the Netherlands, on the river Wurm, approx. 15 km (9.3 mi) north-east of Heerlen and 20 km (12.4 mi) north of Aachen.
It was the site of Operation Clipper in November 1944.
The town gives its name to nearby NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen. The base is home to seventeen E-3A airborne early warning and control aircraft flown by aircrew from over fourteen nations.
On 24 July 2019 the highest temperature ever recorded in Germany was measured in Geilenkirchen at 40.5 °C (104.9 °F) during a heat wave that affected much of Europe. The record was broken the following day when temperature in Lingen reached 42.6 °C (108.7 °F).
“Geilenkirchen” enters the record as town of Germany. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Geilenkirchen, town and Germany can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Geilenkirchen” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Geilenkirchen, town and Germany provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q205050. VIAF identifies the subject as 143171734. The Library of Congress control number is n88080050. Authority coordinates are 50.965, 6.119. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1944 and 2019.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Geilenkirchen”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Geilenkirchen primary sources, Geilenkirchen archive and Geilenkirchen research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Geilenkirchen”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Geilenkirchen” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.