Vennbahn cycle path has been partially renovated
The Vennbahn cycle path in Aachen was renovated in October 2018 between Philipsstraße and the Madrider Ring bridge and between Debyestraße and the Brand business park. The renovation had been necessary for some time. The asphalt surface had been lifted in many places by tree roots, making the route very bumpy and difficult to ride on.
Vennbahn now has 4 stars!
The Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad-Club (ADFC) has now certified the Vennbahn with 4 stars. Minister President Oliver Paasch, Minister Isabelle Weykmans, the Director of the Tourism Agency of East Belgium (TAO) Sandra De Taeye and City Councillor Helmut Etschenberg accepted the award at the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) in Berlin. This means that the 125-kilometer cycle route, which runs from Aachen to Luxembourg, is one of around 30 routes in the second-highest category.
"The quality of a route determines its success as a tourist attraction," Etschenberg is convinced. That's why the Vennbahn is set to achieve the highest category by 2018. "In some categories, we already meet the requirements for five stars," says Etschenberg. The city-region councillor extends special thanks to the Belgian partners, without whom the project would not have been possible.
The film "Vennbahn - a path for generations" also received an award in Berlin. The short film about the region's tourist highlight won the international film competition "Das goldene Stadttor 2015" in the "TV spot" category.
The Vennbahn line
The Vennbahn line was built between 1882 and 1889 primarily for the mass transportation of coking coal and ores between Rothe Erde and Luxembourg. Passenger traffic was initially started with three pairs of trains between Aachen and Monschau, and later on to Malmedy. A double-track extension followed and economic cooperation between the regions flourished. Between 1910 and 1920, the importance of the Vennbahn reached its peak. With the decline of heavy industry in the region and the growing competition between the regions, the Vennbahn later lost importance.
Many sections of the line have been closed or even dismantled. In recent years, the Vennbahn cycle path has been created on the section from Rothe Erde station to Walheim.
The cycle path
The Vennbahn cycle path starts at Aachen main station. The topographically difficult route through the low mountain range landscape between Aachen and Luxembourg required the route to be adapted to the terrain due to the large bends. Nevertheless, valley cuttings had to be repeatedly bridged on viaducts.
These bridges rest on sturdy bluestone supporting arches that blend harmoniously into the landscape and are reminiscent of Romanesque buildings in the Eifel and the Ardennes.
The former railroad stations in Brand and Kornelimünster are now used as excursion restaurants geared towards cyclists.
A six-kilometre educational planetary trail has been created on the section between Kornelimünster and Brand. The pupils of the Inda-Gymnasium had the idea of illustrating the proportions of the stars in the solar system with markings along the Vennbahn cycle path. A point opposite the Kornelimünster district administration was chosen as the starting point or location of the sun. The pupils not only depicted the distance of the planets to the sun and to each other to scale on the edge of the cycle path, but also created models of the planets corresponding to their respective sizes. Brass casts were made of the models and mounted on solid bluestone bases. In the city center and in Kornelimünster, consecration stones with the inscription "I.O.M." (IUPITER OPTIMUS MAXIMUS = Jupiter, the best and greatest) were found.
Between Kornelimünster and Hahn, approximately at the level of the old lead smelter, the branch of the Vennbahn coming from Stolberg leads to the Aachen-Monschau railroad line on a viaduct over the Indetal valley. The line was double-tracked until the end of the First World War, but the Treaty of Versailles obliged Germany to reduce it to a single track. As a result, there is still enough space for a cycle path next to the track, which has been extended to Walheim.
The old gatekeeper's house at the junction of the Vennbahn and Schleidener Straße is still largely preserved in its original state. Since 2013, it has been possible to travel along the Vennbahn through three countries. The Vennbahn is part of the RAVeL program of the Walloon region of Belgium.