At a crossroads in the middle of the forest, historical and modern boundaries converge: the hidden boundary stones along the path mark the present-day German-Belgian border. On closer inspection, the boundary trench reveals an even older boundary line. From the 14th century onwards, the people of Aachen used an earthen rampart and a dense beech hedge to secure the rural areas and the forest outside the city walls. From 1611 onwards, once the town had been fortified all around by the 70-kilometre-long green boundary, the border was marked with boundary stones bearing an engraved eagle: the Aachen coat of arms. Remnants of earthworks, and gnarled, mighty beech trees from the former hedge line can still be found today on our walk. We encounter these here, and later in an idyllic hillside passage, an eagle stone and also a former watchtower at the Beeck Turret. They all bear witness to the area’s ancient border history.
The old Pilgrimage Path from Aachen to Moresnet-Chapelle, part of the Way of St James, leads us to the ‘Königswald Forest”. After Aachen, Kelmis, Montzen and Moresnet had repeatedly clashed over communal rights of use in this area, the territory was placed under the authority of the Dukes of Burgundy in 1615 as the ‘Königswald Forest’. Special boundary stones bear the Golden Fleece or the Cross of St Andrew, the emblems of the Habsburg rulers of the time.
Another historic yet clearly visible border runs in a straight line up to the Three-Country Point. The site offers a host of attractions: the Three-Country boundary stone, the highest point in the Netherlands, viewing towers and plenty of opportunities for young and old alike to take a break.
At the blue stone boundary marker we easily cross between three countries. For over 100 years, there were actually four. Here, too, disputes over usage rights were the deciding factor. In this instance, Prussia and the Netherlands had been unable to reach an agreement in 1815 regarding the lucrative calamine mining in Kelmis. Consequently, the microstate of Neutral Moresnet was created: a triangular area of 350 hectares between the Three-Country Point, Kelmis and the Liège Road. Zinc industry and spirits smuggling led to an economic boom, but the decline of the mine in 1895 heralded the end of its special political status. In 1919 Neutral Moresnet became part of Belgium at the request of its inhabitants.
