Advertisement
Published: December 12th 2022
Edit Blog Post
Mützenich I
Track leading to the clearing where Emperor Charles the Great, according to a legend, spent a night in the woods. The summer of 2020 was one in which one could never be sure which countries one could travel to and which ones one could not and how regulations were changing. My friend Caro and I wanted to take a few days off, but because of the uncertainty when travelling to other countries, we decided to stay in Germany and spend a few days in High Fens. High Fens is a heath in the lower mountain range of Eifel, very beautiful with a lot of opportunities for hiking, but also with lots of small towns and villages one can visit.
Caro had rented a holiday flat for us in the village of Mützenich, just outside the rather well-known town of Monschau. It was about a two-hour drive from Dortmund, and we arrived in Monschau at lunchtime. Monschau is located in a rather steep valley that was shaped by the river Rur. The town is rather old, it was first mentioned in the late 12
th century, and it has a lot of beautiful old half-timbered houses. Above the town, there is a castle dating from the 14
th and 15
th century. Textile industry was big in Monschau until the 19
th century. Nowadays, the
Mützenich II
On the track towards Emperor Charles the Great's Bed. town is better known for its mustard and for glassblowing.
Cars are not allowed in the city centre, so we parked just outside the town. Before making our way into the town itself, we popped into a market hall where one can buy some of the goods Monschau is famous for: glass art and other things. Then we walked along the river into the city centre. Our first challenge was finding a place to eat. Monschau is very touristy and there are a lot of cafés and restaurants. However, most of them did not seem to be well-prepared for vegetarians. However, we finally found a place where we could sit outside on a terrace and have a mustard soup and some salad. After walking the streets for a bit, we checked into our holiday flat.
Caro wanted to have a rest, but I felt like walking, so I took a walk along the footpaths outside the village. Just outside the village, not far from the Belgian border, is the highest elevation of the region, Steling, with an altitude of 658 metres. From there, one has a beautiful view of the northern part of the Eifel region, and in
Mützenich III
The clearing with the two rocks where, according to a legend, Emperor Charles the Great spent a night. It is said that he slept on the rock on the left hand side of the picture. good weather conditions one can see as far as Siebengebirge, a mountain range close to Bonn, and even as far as the dome of Cologne. There was a certain magic to the place, and the sense of something mystical got even stronger when I walked to a small clearing with two large rocks called Kaiser Karls Bettstatt (“Emperor Charles’ Bed”).
The legend goes that the emperor Charles the Great was out hunting with his entourage. They got lost, and when it started getting dark, they decided to spend the night in the woods. The emperor lay down on the larger one of the two rocks. By looking at the indentations in the rock and with some imagination, one can get an idea of where his head and his feet may have been resting. However, if this was true, then the emperor must have been at least three metres tall – which most likely he was not 😉. The legend goes on that one of Charles’ servants offered him his cap to keep him warm, but the Charles refused, saying “Mütze nich” (“cap, no”). This is where the name of the village is said to come from: Mützenich.
Regardless
Mützenich IV
View towards the Northern part of Eifel and towards Cologne and Bonn. of whether one considers this legend to be true or not, the quartzite block is one of the oldest rocks in the area, and it seems that the clearing was used as a cult site by a tribe. I sensed some energy there, and while it was very windy around the clearing, there was no wind at all on it.
The next day was extremely windy. We took things slowly in the morning, did some meditation and reading and did not leave the house until the late morning. We wrapped ourselves up in coats and hoods and walked a loop through the High Fens in Belgium, just across the border from Mützenich. The tour took us through a forest and then out into the heath. We walked on boardwalks through the boggy heath that was all covered with purple heather flower and green fern. The wind was really strong, and we were glad we had our coats and hoods! Through a birch grove, we entered the forest again and returned to the car.
The next day, we drove through Eupen in Belgium. Between Eupen and Malmedy, there is a nice loop that we did: It took us again
Monschau I
Very old half-timbered houses, newer houses, and the bridge. on boardwalks across the heath, with beautiful views, into a dense, dark forest, along a muddy river, on through the forest, and back to the car.
Since we were in Belgium, we wanted to have some Belgian waffles. We were pretty sure we would get some in Eupen. We parked slightly outside the city centre and walked into town. People there speak German, which made things very easy for us. However, we were not able to find a café or restaurant that had waffles on the menu. How disappointing! We had to content ourselves with some not-so-nice ice-cream in a café with a very unfriendly waiter. But the town itself is rather pretty. We just did not have too much time because there was an online event that we wanted to attend, so we made our way back home.
The next day was our last day already. We decided to stop over in Stolberg, not far from the city of Aachen. I lived in Aachen for three years, but I never made it to Stolberg. However, it is well worth a visit: It was first mentioned in the 12
th century. There is a castle, Burg Stolberg, located on
Monschau II
The town is located in a steep valley. a hill above the river Vichtbach, pretty little houses and alleys, and several churches. The city was well-known for copper and brass. That is why it has the names Copper City and Oldest Brass City in the World! We took a walk through the roads and went up to the castle, where we finally got to eat some waffles, which was really nice! After enjoying the waffles, we went back home, rejoicing in our nice little trip. I took another week off for a solitary retreat, for which I had rented a small cottage on the Lower Rhine, about an hour from Dortmund. But obviously the adventures there were more on the inside, so nothing that I could write a blog post on!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.103s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 12; qc: 36; dbt: 0.0601s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Belinda
non-member comment
I miss you, Katha! I'm happy to read you are still traveling, even though it was two years ago. More places are open now - let us know what you're doing!