EifelSchleife 3-Bäch (Municipality of Hellenthal)

Pure relaxation: Let all your everyday worries fade away as you listen to the babbling brook that constantly accompanies you on this easy hike!

This easy hike, with the babbling of its three namesake streams Kirmesbach, Pretherbach, and Ramsbach, brings pure hiking happiness in the Eifel forests. Wonderful views over the valley and historical relics found all over the border area between Germany and Belgium make for variety, as the hike partly follows the old tank barriers of the German Reich. 

After the First World War, many European countries built elaborate border fortifications. It was believed that the deterrent effect of modern defense installations could avoid conflicts in the future. Construction at the German western border began from 1936. The bunkers and tank obstacles (tank barriers) built by the National Socialists were propagated as a “protection and peace wall”. However, it turned out that the Westwall, with a length of 630 kilometers from Kleve to Basel, was part of the German Reich’s war preparations.