Düren (German pronunciation: [ˈdyːʁən];[3] Ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne, on the river Rur.

The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the territory of the Eburones, a people who were described as both Belgae and Germani.

Frankish king Pippin the Short often visited Düren in the 8th century and held a few important conventions there.

The Franks made of Düren a royal palace, from which the name Palatine (Pfalz in German) is derived.

The chiseler Leonhard stole a small box with the relic of Saint Anne out of the Mainzer Stiftskirche St. Stephan in 1501 and brought it to Düren.

Since the beginning of the 17th century, paper industry had settled here, advantaged by the exceptionally soft water of the Rur.

After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Düren was ceded to the Kingdom of Prussia and was subsequently administered within the Rhine Province.

The city of Düren was located on the main fighting front during the Allied invasion of Germany in World War II.

Destroyed buildings included the Stadttheater Düren (1907), designed in Jugendstil by Carl Moritz.

After the bombing of November 16, 1944, on March 1, 1945, only four German residents lived in the city, including forced laborers etc.

After the war was over in the summer that year, many evacuated people came back to the destroyed city and started to rebuild their homes against the advice of the American troops.

The Baroque Revival style building erected in 1905 presents changing exhibitions of contemporary art.

Since 2006, the former nurses' home of the St. Augustinus Hospital Lendersdorf has housed the Düren Carnival Museum.

Since 2004 the multi-functional Arena Kreis Düren, which has around 2000 seats, serves as a venue for major concerts.

In Theodor Heuss Park is the Bismarck Memorial, erected in 1892 to commemorate the most famous honorary citizen from Düren.

The current mayor of Düren is Frank Peter Ullrich of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) since 2020.