Raeren

The panorama board is in the immediate vicinity of the Café Pavillon on the former station premises. Because of its elevated position, there is a particularly beautiful view from here. On the panorama board, an aerial photograph and a map of the village provide orientation. The 125-kilometre Vennbahn cycle path from Aachen to Troisvierges in Luxembourg takes you directly past this viewpoint.

The village of Raeren is located right on the Belgian-German border and it is the historical core of what is now the municipality of Raeren. The village is characterised by its rough stone architecture and still has its original appearance. The name Raeren comes from roden (meaning 'to clear land') and points to the fact that Raeren originated in an area that had been cleared in the Aachener Reichswald. The village was first mentioned in official documents in 1400, and was known throughout Europe as from the 15th century for its stoneware production, which reached its climax from the mid-16th to the 17th century. The best specimens of the stoneware produced in the many potteries are now to be found all over Europe in major and more minor museums. In the pottery museum at Raeren, the history of the Raeren potteries is documented in a clear and interesting way.

Originally, the village of Raeren consisted of numerous hamlets. These settlements, not directly contiguous, were connected by footpaths, so-called stiegelwege. The stiegel were openings with wooden stakes or stones which prevented grazing livestock from passing but allowed humans to do so. In this way, the inhabitants of the various hamlets were able to visit one another via these short routes and trade with one another. Some of the 'modern' stiegel work on a see-saw principle, whilst others are fitted with little rotating gates.

Raeren Castle was built in the 14th century at the confluence of the Iter and Periol streams. The two streams supplied the moat which surrounded the castle and protected its inhabitants against intruders. In the 16th century, the castle was extended, and in the 18th century, it was restored in the romantic style. Thus, the site that visitors see today was established, with its high tower, balcony and today's access road with its archway. The castle is in the historical centre of Raeren, where the earliest potteries also settled. The history of the Raeren potteries is documented today in the pottery museum, housed in the main building of the castle.

This chapel was built in 1716 and dedicated to St. Anna, who was one of the most revered patron saints in the region as from the 15th century. In 1991, four stations of the cross by the ceramicist and professor of art Maria Hasemeier-Eulenbuch were installed in the interior. Also, in relatively recent times, two of the windows were designed by the Raeren artist André Blank. The chapel is still used for worship today.

Haus Raeren is a well-preserved castle built in water which has not changed much, and it is the direct neighbour of Raeren Castle. It was built in bluestone just like the latter, in the 14th century as a donjon, a mediaeval residential and defensive tower. Unlike the German keep, the donjon was inhabited.

Typical of Raeren are houses made of broken bluestone such as Haus Zahlepohl. They were constructed on the principle that the potters would build a residence, next to it a workshop and then, adjacent to that, stables – a design which was extended in the generations that followed. Most of these rows of houses are at a right angle to the course of the road as it is now, often along old paths that can no longer be recognised.

The Raeren Parish Church of St. Nikolaus is regarded as one of the most beautiful churches in the Eupener Land. It was built in rough bluestone at the beginning of the 18th century. The windows of this hall church with its three naves have Romanesque round arches, whilst the interior decor is baroque. The floor of the choir consists of polished bluestone, which makes it appear almost black, whilst in the construction of the pillars the same bluestone was used, but unpolished, which makes it appear pale grey. The font in the choir was also hewn in bluestone. It replaced the baptistry of former times in 1848. The main altar is dominated by a baroque painting dating from 1778. It depicts the Annunciation and is by the artist Ludovicus Reinardsteine of Stavelot. High up above the altar there hangs an undated, heavy crucifix by the Raeren sculptor Leonard Mennicken. The confessionals and pews of the parish church too were made after designs by Leonard Mennicken in the 1930s. The pulpit, no longer in use today, distinguishes itself by an impressive baldachin. The baldachin covers the pulpit and served as an abat-voix which ensured that the sound of the preacher's voice was evenly distributed throughout the church. In 1978, furthermore, the interior was supplemented with a way of the cross designed by the Raeren artist André Blank. The depictions in it feature a mixture of classical and modern painting. The organ, also installed in relatively recent times, is played regularly by internationally renowned organists.

Raeren station, meanwhile disused, is for the most part still preserved in its original condition as far as the technical installations go. It was commissioned in 1885 when, with the Vennbahn, a line was opened running from Aachen and Stolberg via Monschau and Sankt Vith all the way through to Luxembourg. In 1887, the station was also connected to the important railway line Aachen-Liège. When the Treaty of Versailles came into force in February 1921, Raeren station became the border station between Germany and Belgium. It served in the handling of both cross-border passenger services and goods traffic. After the Second World War, however, passenger transport was not resumed. Goods traffic too declined continuously after the Second World War and finally ceased altogether in the 1990s. Today, the 125-kilometre Vennbahn cycle path (www.vennbahn.eu) goes past Raeren station on the former railway line between Aachen and Troisvierges. It is one of Europe's longest railway line cycle paths. The Café Pavillon at the control cabin invites cyclists and walkers to stop off for a rest in a historical setting: they can visit the railway signal boxes, which date from 1885, and a turntable for locomotives which is also over 100 years old. The historical ensemble is garnished with numerous sets of signals.

The Saxby control cabin at the former station in Raeren is regarded as one of the few completely preserved installations of its kind. The invention by the Englishman John Saxby marked the beginning of safety technology in railway signalling: in this generation of control cabins, for the first time, it was only possible to set the points and the signals in mutual dependence. That ensured that the signalling always corresponded to the setting of the points. The interior of the Saxby control cabin can be viewed from a walk-on gallery on the control cabin building and visited on request in the Tourist Information in Raeren (+32 87 85 09 03, tourist-info@raeren.be).

The Café Pavillon at the control cabin offers guests snacks and drinks in a railway history setting. Apart from the pavilion with its terrace, there is also a converted railway wagon in which guests can sit. If the weather is nice, the café also has an open plateau wagon on which they can enjoy coffee, cake, snacks and Belgian beer specialities in the open air. The Café Pavillon is a popular stop-off for the many cyclists and hikers on the Vennbahn cycle path.

The numerous historical relics that bear witness to Raeren's turbulent past were documented by cultural and historical signposting in 2019. The 21 bluestone columns are distributed among the former hamlets that form the village of Raeren today. The signposting identifies historical buildings, artists' residences and former pottery kilns, and explains former customs and traditions.

The High Bridge spans the Periol stream to the south of Raeren Castle. It was built in the 18th century in the bluestone typical of the region. There is a footpath that goes over the bridge. Under the bridge, wagons laden with pottery were driven along the bed of the stream towards Raeren Castle and then on to Aachen. This is why the bridge was built with an overhead clearance of 6 metres.

A peculiarity of the region around Raeren are the genuflection monuments, known in the vernacular as héllejehüssje (little shrines). They are to be found in many places in the various hamlets and are part of the so-called 'small cultural heritage' of the German-speaking community. When someone died, these monuments had an important function: during the time between the person's death and his or her burial, seven virgins would say seven Hail Marys at seven successive genuflection monuments for the peace of the deceased's soul. The practice has however fallen into oblivion since the 20th century.

The wells in the Raeren hamlets were not just places where water could be obtained, but also important meeting places for the people's leisure and social life. 'Am Plei' features one of the few wells with a hand pump that are still preserved. In earlier times, the housewives met up here to do the washing, which was then laid out on the local meadow and bleached. But the well for drinking-water was also a popular meeting place for other reasons, at which, in the times before television and the Internet, the inhabitants would sit together in the evenings and talk about the news of the day.

The residence of the sculptor Leonard Mennicken is situated in the district Am Plei. He lived in Raeren from 1874 until his death in 1969, and was known above all for his works of sacred art, which adorn numerous churches in the Rhineland and Eifel. The Raeren village square in the district of Driesch features the war memorial in honour of the dead of the First World War, which was also created by Mennicken. Elaborate sculptures by Mennicken can be seen on the facade and door of his former residence at Hochstrasse 25.

In 1865, the miller Wilhelm Joseph Schauff made the bark mill and his home available to the municipality of Raeren so that a place of residence could be established for the sick and the elderly and those who were unable to work. Today, the Marienheim, born of that initiative, is a rural retirement home.