Basic Information
Ahaus is a town in Germany (30000 inhabitants), Norhrhine-Westfalia.
It is situated in the north-western part of the Münsterland near the Dutch border.
Ahaus was first mentioned in 1030 and got town rights in the 13th century. In 1406 it fell to the ownership of the prince-bishop of Münster.
The old castle was torn down in 1688 and a new baroque watercastle was built until 1690.
The castle still belonged to the diocese Münster. The archbishop often spent his summertime in Ahaus hunting.
In Ahaus, there is still a semiprivate grammarschool led by nuns, a Nonnenstift. During elevator constructionworks in the 60s construction workers found a tunnel between the castle and the nun's school. It is said, that dozens of foetus and babyskeletons were found.
There is a nuclear waste dump called BZA - Brennelemente Zwischenlager Ahaus in Ahaus.
Sources
nuclear waste dump:
- http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportbeh%C3%A4lterlager_Ahaus
- http://www.gns.de/generator.aspx/templateId=renderPage/lang=de/id=35704.html
Game and Story Use
- For medieval fantasy play:
- Ahaus was surrounded by swamps and deep forests in the past. Many swamprelated adventures can be placed here.
- A heathens cemetary was used till the 20th century in the farming community of Ammeln.
- Ahaus being the archbishops summersite, could be place of intrigues.
- For vampire play:
- same as above, castle of Ahaus could have been the domain of a clan
- For 30s/40s play:
- Ahaus was nearly destroyed in the bombings of WWII. Some strange creature could have been awaked at the "Karnickelberg" the rabbitsmountain or in the tunnel between castle and nun's school.
- For todays/future play:
- Ahaus may be the domain of vampires
- the oil drilling facilities near Ahaus may awake some creatures
- the nuclear waste facility may leak and mutate the environment
