"Ante Romam Treveris Stetis Annis Mille Trecentis" - Trier existed 1,300 years before Rome

The “Red House’’ near the Hauptmarkt (Main Market) bears this inscription. Although this is a medieval fiction, it has historical relevance. Human Settlements from as early as 3rd Millennium B. C. are known to have existed in the Trier valley and Trier was the first place north of the Alps to justly bear the title of “city”.

About 16 B.C. – when Augustus was Emperor – the Romans founded Augusta Treverorum (later named Trier) near a tribal sanctuary of the Celtic Treveri. By the end of the 3rd century A.D. the Emperor Diocletian made Trier both the capital of the western part of the Roman Empire and an imperial residence.

Trier also became a centre of early Christianity at that time. In the 5th century A.D. the Germanic tribes, called Franks, conquered Trier, and when the Carolingian Empire was divided in 870, Trier became part of the East Frankish – German Empire.

The Market Cross dating from 958 marks the market place and the centre of medieval Trier. In the 13th century, the Archbishop of Trier became one of the electors of the German Kings. From this time until the turn of the 19th century, Trier experienced periods of both great prosperity and great decline.

In the time of Napoleon, Trier was part of France, but after 1815 it became part of Prussia. Since 1945, Trier has been part of the Federal State “Rhineland-Palatinate” in the Federal Republic of Germany.