Geilenkirchen (, Limburgish: ) 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. 15km (9.3mi) north-east of Heerlen and 20km (12.4mi) 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 during a heat wave that affected much of Europe. The record was broken the following day when temperature in Lingen reached .

Population

Born in Geilenkirchen

• Marlon Bröhr (born 1974), CDU politician

• Ludolf Camphausen (1803–1890), banker, Prussian minister president in the revolutionary year 1848

• Otto von Camphausen (1812–1896), Prussian Finance Minister

• Christoph Dohmen (born 1957), professor of the Old Testament at the University of Regensburg

• Hans Meyer (1900–1962), German physician and ministerial official

• Max Wilms (1867–1918), German physician and surgeon

References