Burg-Reuland

The viewpoint indicator is on the ridgeway between Weweler and Lascheid between hiking nodes 8 and 9. From here, a beautiful long-distance view out over the valley of Ulf and Our presents itself to the observer. The aerial photo illustrates the special features of the relief and those of the sights worth seeing. These are not far from the indicator and well worth a detour.

The castle at Burg-Reuland is among the most beautiful and largest castle ruins in the Ardennes. It was built in the 12th century and continued to be a powerful entity right on into the 18th century. Today’s ruin complex still measures 55 by 65 m, and that is just a small part of the former castle. The mighty walls which used to surround the outer courtyard, extending all the way down into the Ulf valley, no longer exist. The Burg-Reuland listening tour gives visitors an impressive insight into history and life around Reuland Castle. A free app, narrated by locals, retraces its history. Visitors can thus obtain an inspiring picture of the colourful life people led in and around the castle. For example, they can find out how the castle well both made a contribution to its defence and supplied the residents with water. The ruin is owned by Belgium’s German-speaking community and is a listed building. In the castle’s information pavilion, part of which is made with stones from the 17th-century residential building, its history is clearly set out. The items on show include finds from the archaeological excavations on site. In both pictures and words, the small exhibition documents the excavation and restoration work and provides an overview of the castle’s owners and inhabitants. Moreover, the exhibits include illustrations of ancient documents and seals.

The location of this expertly restored church in Burg-Reuland has a long history that goes all the way back to the year 1213. As early as that, a chapel in Rullant was mentioned in an official document. In 1771, a larger church was built by the architect Ferdinand Starck on the site of the preceding buildings and consecrated to St. Stephanus. The onion-shaped spire of the parish church is very conspicuous. The architect from the Tirol had settled in Recht. He brought this shape of building from his native region and put it into effect on the church in Reuland. The round-arched portal of the church, framed in bluestone from Recht, and the Madonna in the conch niche are likely to have been Starck’s work too. On the inside, the church excels with its baroque décor. A sarcophagus made in Belgian slate puts us in mind of one of the lords of the castle, Balthasar von Pallant († 1625), and his wife Elisabeth († 1614). The late baroque and rococo high altar dating from 1750 is consecrated to the parish patrons Stephanus and Eligius and crowned with a cross and angels in prayer. The two side altars are consecrated to the Mother of God and St. Joseph. On the left side of the altar there is a statue of St. Lucia, who is invoked as the patron saint of those suffering from a sore throat. The church organ originates from the year 1862 and was built by the Müller brothers of Reifferscheid.

Society changed in the 18th century: the nobility that had ruled until then was gradually ousted by bourgeois businesspeople. Whilst the nobility had flaunted their power and wealth with splendid castles, the businesspeople now did so by building stately houses. Haus Orley is a good example of that change. Whilst the castle above the house gradually became more and more dilapidated, the Orley family erected a magnificent building at the foot of it. The family coat of arms and the year of its erection, 1747, are to be seen above the baroque door frame in Recht slate. Given the conditions at that time, Haus Orley can be described as a luxurious house: it had toilet facilities, a heating system and particularly large windows. Even the red paint on the façade was costly and documented the social status of the Orley family. All these details were unusual at that time and cost a good deal of money. The house was built in quarry stone and then rendered. The frames of the windows and doors were made in Recht slate. The cellar, a fireplace in the kitchen, and numerous panels in the interior are presumed to have come from a previous building.

The quarry ‘Auf Schleid’ is near Steffeshausen. Fossils from the Devonian period, which began approximately 420 million years ago and lasted approximately 60 million years, have been found here. At that time, the European land mass was down below the equator and covered by a shallow sea. The continental drift during the millions of years that followed moved it to where it is today. As the water receded, that which it had left behind was covered by other strata and petrified as time went on. The fossils found in the quarry bear the impressions of bivalves on the one hand and corrugated sand on the other, the latter having formed on the seabed. Some of these finds can be seen in the museum of local history in the arts and leisure centre (von-Orley-Strasse 24).

The former station at Burg-Reuland, a red brick building, lies on the historical railway line which connected Aachen and Luxembourg. In the time around 1900 this was a busy line on which coal was transported to Luxembourg and iron ore to Aachen. Above and beyond its industrial importance, the railway line also provided the inhabitants of the Eifel-Ardennes region with a facility for getting to work and doing business in larger towns such as Sankt Vith, Malmedy and Aachen. When the districts of Eupen and Malmedy shifted from Prussian rule to the aegis of the Belgian crown through the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, the railway connection began to lose importance. The link from Aachen to Luxembourg was diverted to run through the Moselle valley, and the rail traffic diminished considerably. During the two world wars the line was run by both the German and allied military in turn. Having said that, after the Second World War the destruction turned out to have been so massive that the line was gradually closed down and the goods traffic shifted completely to the road in the 1960s. Since then, the link known as the ‘Vennbahn’ has been disused. It was subsequently revived as a cycle path. Today, many cyclists enjoy the Vennbahn cycle path between Aachen and Luxembourg, which has only gentle climbs, is traffic-free and goes through very natural surroundings.

The Vennbahn once connected the coalfields around Aachen with the north of Luxembourg. Above all, the railway line served in the transportation of coal and iron ore. Now, it is a 125-kilometre cycle and hiking trail from Aachen, right across East Belgium to Troisvierges in Luxembourg. Travelling along the Vennbahn there are some fascinating landscapes to pass through. Those touring here can experience the flair of the border country and witness Vennbahn stories presented in a lively manner, as well as the historical insights on the many posters. The valley of Our and Ulf features some of the most idyllic passages along the Vennbahn. On the section from Auel to Oudler, those involved in leisure activities in the valley of the Ulf can enjoy views of quaint houses and the castle ruin of Burg-Reuland, a typically mediaeval village. The gentle gradient and the almost fully tarmacked surface of the Vennbahn ensure top-class riding comfort. The Vennbahn is one of Europe’s longest railway cycle paths and has already received several international awards. Info: www.vennbahn.eu

The village of Steffeshausen lies on a hill in the Our valley. It was mentioned in official documents for the first time in 1214. It got its name from the former lords of Steffeshausen. The parish church of St. Petrus is presumed to have originated in the 12th century. It was converted more than once during the course of time, taking on today’s appearance in 1935. A remarkable thing about this village, which has only 122 inhabitants, is that it also has another church, the Church of the Sacred Heart. This church was built at the end of the 20th century on the initiative of the traditionalist Catholic priest Paul Schoonbroodt, and consecrated in 1991. At first, Schoonbroodt was a curate and teacher of religious studies in various towns in the bishopric of Liège. In 1970 he took on the priesthood at Steffeshausen. When he was requested by the bishopric to celebrate the new liturgy, he refused, sticking instead to the liturgy in the Tridentine rite. This led to conflicts with the bishopric, which first removed him from the parish and then excommunicated him in 1988. By means of donations, he had the Church of the Sacred Heart built, and celebrated the liturgy in the traditional rite there until his death in 2012.

The hamlet of Weweler lies high up above the confluence of the Ulf and the Our. Archaeological finds indicate that there were already settlements here in Roman times. One is presumed to have been situated where the village now lies above the valley, whilst another was at the ford through the Our, which was in use for a long time down below Weweler. Weweler was mentioned in an official document for the first time as Wewilre in the year 1313. In particular, the white tower of the St. Hubertus Chapel is clearly visible from a long way off and stands out in the lush green of the landscape. On account of its elevated position, the chapel was struck by lightning on several occasions and once caught fire. Looked at from close up, the 13th-century Romanesque tower stands out because of its seven-tiered baroque roof. The late Gothic nave and the choir originate from the 15th century. The stellar vault, supported only by a round centre column, is spectacular. This rare type of vaulted building, also known as a single-pillar church, can only be found in one other place in the region, Büllingen. The floor in the nave contains several tombstones and grave crosses of former parish priests of Weweler, Burg-Reuland and Thommen from the 16th and 17th centuries. The cemetery at Weweler is worth a tour, and not only because of its historical graves; by its outer wall, visitors can obtain some impressive views out into the Our and Ulf valley and over the surrounding hills.

The Johann Arens cross is one of the many wayside crosses that can be encountered on the roads and hiking trails of East Belgium. At this place, the family members of the farmer Johann Arens followed the custom of erecting a cross at the site of an accident in memory of the victim. Arens worked up on the Hungerberg. He was struck by lightning and found dead shortly afterwards by members of his family. They erected a wayside cross in memory of his tragic death. The hill was given the name Hungerberg because its soil is dry and stony. The yield obtained by the farmers on land of that kind was only just enough to keep them from starving. The road that goes past the Johann Arens cross is known as the way of the dead. That was the road that the inhabitants of the village of Lascheid used to take their deceased family members to Weweler and have them buried in the cemetery there. According to the legend, the road was built absolutely straight so that the distance to be covered would be as short as possible.

The post office was built in 1852, when East Belgium was still part of Prussia. At that time, the post was transported by a horse-drawn coach, which also took travellers across the country. This system worked so well that – even at that time – it did not take a letter longer than a day to get from Burg-Reuland to Aachen. There is a post horn depicted on the peak of the post office gable. A horn of that kind was blown when the coach was driven into the village in question. Its insistent tone signalised to the inhabitants that they could come and get their post or embark on their own coach journey.

In the little museum of local history in the village’s culture centre (von-Orley-Strasse 24), everyday objects from ancient times impart a vivid picture of former life in Burg-Reuland. There are also finds from the archaeological excavations to be admired in the museum. Those excavations brought to light fossils from the sub-tropical shallow sea which lay over the region many millions of years ago. The amenities of the museum of local history are rounded off by an exhibition about the life and work of the writer Paul Gérardy, who was born in nearby Maldingen.

Anyone wishing to rediscover the history and nature of the region in its entirety can do so with the listening tour app. At the most exciting places on this 20-kilometre tour, it has audio plays in store for visitors, in which local experts present the region’s history, legends and nature as a listening experience. They tell of the demise of the castle and the burgeoning of a new social stratum, all the way through to the unique Gothic art of the Eifel. And why the post was just as fast in the 19th century as it is today is another thing visitors can learn on this listening tour. Further information: East Belgium becomes a cinema for the ears

An impressive edifice known as Bracht Castle stands out in the centre of the hamlet of Bracht, which has some 100 inhabitants. It was erected as a country seat from 1782 to 1785 by order of Georg Friedrich August Ferrand von Montigny (1705-1790), whose gravestone is to be found in the St. Hubertus Chapel in Weweler. In the 19th century, the von Montigny family left the Eifel and abandoned the castle. Subsequently, it passed into the possession of the great-grandfather of the present-day owner Erwin Kaut. The coat of arms of the von Montigny family, on which swords and a leaping lion are to be seen, can still be found at the rear of the building.