Every design for Frechen

Frechen is known for the Bartmannskrug, the bearded stoneware jug its potters made in the 16th century and beyond, so well that examples now sit in museums in London, Paris and New York City. First mentioned in 877, the town on Cologne's western border later lived off lignite: mining dominated its economy until the end of the 20th century, and the first briquette factory opened in 1891.

What makes Frechen stand out is how openly it shows that past. The Keramion, a ceramics museum in a striking glass-walled building by the architect Peter Neufert, opened in 1971 to display a local collector's historic and contemporary pieces, and the reclaimed mining land now belongs to the Naturpark Rheinland.

Then there are Burg Bachem and Haus Bitz. If the glass walls of the Keramion were part of your childhood, Frechen belongs on your shirt.