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Kids on route - On the trail of old borders
Photo: Benno Hermes, CC BY-SA, East Belgium Tourist Agency
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Where smugglers once sneaked
easy
Distance 6.3 km
Duration1:35 h
Ascent61 m
Descent60 m
Highest point296 m
Lowest point246 m
Your hike starts at the Köpfchen border crossing. Here you can stand with one foot in Belgium and the other in Germany. Do you see the former customs house? In the past, travelers had to show their passports there before crossing the border. Cars were also searched by border police, as a lot of smuggling took place. Today you can admire art and culture in the customs house.
You hike around the Köpfchen border crossing. The path is hilly and leads mostly through forest. Sometimes without noticing, you cross the borders several times. For example, you pass by the Aachen Landgraben. With its embankments and ditches, it once marked the border of the city of Aachen. On the highest embankment, you can still discover an old beech hedge today. In the past, the few passages through the hedge were guarded by border guards and closed at night with bars. In the last third, you hike back to the German border and encounter stones that look like dragon's teeth! These stones were meant to block tanks from passing during the war. Today, they have become a retreat for plants and animals, and children can also hide here very well.
