Monschau, Germany 2018

Tuesday 23 – Saturday 27 October 2018

A lovely autumn break to the Eifel region in Germany. Only about a 3 to 3.5 hour drive to be ‘abroad’ in every way.

Did a 4.5 hour hike in autumn colors, explored Monschau and Stolberg, and visited a former ‘Adolf-Hitler-Schule’ school for nazis in the 1930’s called Vogelsang, which is now a museum and food for thought.

Monschau

Monschau is a very pleasant, touristy, pretty German town on the border with Belgium and not far south of Aachen. The center is full of tourist shops and cafes, but it was still a very pleasant place to be in. It has a fortress, a funny beer museum, and lots of pretty half-timbered houses. And is a good base for nature hikes in the Eifel in Germany, or Hautes-Fagnes (Hoge Venen) in Belgium.

I had plenty of coffees, cakes, beers and such in the town, walked up the hills on various sides of the town, and in the evenings I cooked my own meals in my pleasant apartment and watched Netflix. 🙂 It was the week of Halloween.

Hiking the Heckenlandroute

A hike that was a little more strenuous than I had hoped for at times, some of the hills were 20 to 25% steep! Quite taxing for a flat-country chick like me. But it gave me the autumn bliss I was looking for.

22% — At times the paths had 20 – 25% inclines!

Vogelsang (the Hitler school)

Vogelsang IP is now a museum that offers information about how the boys and men trained at this school were indoctrinated and brainwashed into believing that the Arian race was supposedly superior and how to be ‘leaders’. It gave me a creepy feeling and it was weird to know that Adolf Hilter had walked around there at least 3 times. But it was very well displayed and educational. I also climbed a viewpoint tower with a guide who told me more about the history.

Vogelsang borders the beautiful Eifel national park.

Stolberg

On the way back home I spent the day in Stolberg, an ancient town attached to Aachen. There were hardly any locals or tourists around, despite it being a Saturday. All shops and most cafes were closed but I had a nice croissant and coffee in a cafe with a sweet lady working there, and enjoyed wandering through the town, eating onion soup for lunch, seeing the castle, and visiting the In der Torburg museum.