Eifel National Park

Eifel National Park (also know as Nationalpark Eifel in German) is a 107 km² park located in the western part of North Rhine-Westphalia, by the border between Germany and Belgium. It's the only National Park in NRW with beech woods, rivers and lakes inhabited by different species of animals like the European wildcat, the black stork, the middle spotted woodpecker, the wall lizard or beavers. Eifel National Park was recognised as the first International Dark Sky Park in Germany. The National Park was established on 2004.

How do I arrive to Eifel National Park ?

 The area isn't bad communicated both with the western part of North Rhine-Westphalia and Belgium.

• Train: there are some trains every hour to Kall from Cologne (aprox. 1 hour), Bonn (aprox. 1 hour 10 minutes, via Euskirche) or Trier (2 hours). There are also trains to Heimbach from Düren (aprox. 45 minutes) or Aachen (aprox. 1 hour 20 minutes, via Düren).
• Bus: there are buses directly from Aachen to Simmerath, Gemünd and Monschau and from Kall to Heimbach and Simmerath.
• Car: from Aachen it can be easily reached Simmerath and Nideggen, from Düren and Cologne you can also reach Nideggen and Schleiden and from Euskirche and Bonn, both Kall and Schleiden. The National Park can be reached from Belgium too; you can arrive to places like Monschau from Eupen (aprox. 30 minutes), Malmedy (aprox. 35 minutes) or Liège (aprox. 1 hour).

 Once in the Park the best ways to move around the park are the car, the bicycle or simply walking. 

History

Exploitation of the forests, especially for the production of charcoal, resulted in the clearing of trees over much of the Eifel by early 19th century. It was the Prussians in the 19th century who planted large parts of the Eifel with spruce. The planting of this type of tree was further encouraged after the Second World War. The terrain was formerly a military training area run by the Belgian Armed Forces and used by NATO troops till Eifel National Park was founded on 2004.
 

What can I visit in Eifel National Park ?

These are many things to do in this National Park, explained now according to the town where they are or the nearest one:     

• 

  Nideggen Castle
  

  Nideggen: 9,945 inhabitants small town by the river Ruhr located in the northern part of the National Park.
  • Nideggen Castle: former 12th century castle built in pink sandstone that was the residences to the Counts and Dukes of Jülich till the 15th century. On its tower keep there's the Nideggen Castle Museum (10-17 Tue-Sun; 3.50€/ 2.50€/ 1.50€  adults/ students/ kids under 7), a small museum with models of castles around Eifel region, exhibitions of medivel armours and explanations of methods of torture and medieval justice (in the cellar the archbishops of Cologne, Conrad of Hochstaden and Engelbert II of Falkenburg were imprisoned). From its top floor, it can be enjoyed great views of Eifel National Park and see as far as Cologne area.  

    

    St. Johannes Baptist Church
    

    
    
  • St. Johannes Baptist Catholic Church: Romanesque church built around 1177 and then donated to the Teutonic Order by Count Wilhelm II von Jülich. The building was severely damaged in the Thirty Years' War in 1648 (rebuilt in 1657) and repared after an earthquake in the 18th century. The restored frescoes in the parish church are worth seeing and it's said that Count Wilhelm IV of Jülich could be buried here.
    
  • In the town district of Schmidt it can be seen St. Hubert Catholic Church. This church, sometimes refered as St. Mokka (because of coffee smuggling across the nearby Belgian border after WW2), was first built as a Baroque church but rebuilt in the 19th century as a three-aisled in Neo-Gothic style. It has a Pietà that is said to have been done in 1320.

    

    1944 Hürtgen Forest Museum

• Around 10 km far from Nideggen it can be found Hürtgenwald, a town with 8,700 inhabitants where it can be visited 1944 Hürtgen Forest Museum (10-17 Sun from Mar to Nov; 9€/ 3€  adults/ people under 18). This museum recalls the heavy fighting during the Second World War in the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, in which the Americans suffered a costly defeat (it was the longest battle on German ground during WW2 and is the longest single battle the U.S. Army has ever fought) and around 55,000 people died in it. It gathers many exhibits about vehicles, documents, uniforms and other artefacts that witness to the battles in the surrounding area.
  
• Heimbach: 

  

  Hengebach Castle
  

  4,333 inhabitants small town which used to be the seat of the local noble family which inherited the County of Jülich in 1207.
  • Hengebach Castle: 12th century castle built for Godizo from Aspel-Heimbach with some different gardens. Since the beginning of the 12th century, with Hermann I von Hengebach, the castle belonged to the von Hengebach family and then to the Count Wilhelm IV of Jülich (becoming the center of a Jülich office and the seat of a Jülich burgrave) until it was occupied by French revolutionary troops in the end of the 18th century. The castle fell into disrepair but in 1935, the district of Schleiden bought it and restored it (having to restore it after the war). Nowadays it's used as a restaurant and a location for public events.

    

    St. Salvator Catholic Church
    

    
    
  • St. Clemens Catholic Church: Baroque style church that was built in 1725 when the previous building was destroyed. Its high altar has a two-storey tabernacle and is worth seeing it, just like the four reliquary busts of the saints on the side altars and the holy grave group. The new St. Salvator Church is attached directly to St. Clemens.
  • St. Salvator Catholic Church: 20th century church with rectangular floor plan that hosts the impressing carved altar (more than 500 years old) by an artist from Antwerp, considered on of the most important works of art of its time in the whole North Eifel, and the miraculous image of the Pietà of the Sorrowful Mother.

    

    Mariawald Abbey
    

  • National Park Gate (10-13 and 13:30-18 from Apr to Oct; 10-13 and 13:30-16 from Nov to Mar; free): exhibition on the subject of forests and national parks with an information point about Eifel National Park.
  • Mariawald Abbey: monastery of the Trappists (formally known as the Cistercians of the Strict Observance) in the middle of the forest. A shrine and chapel were built on the site where Heinrich Fluitter had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary, becoming a place of pilgrimage. The Cistercian abbey was established in 1480 and closed in 1795 as a result of the French Revolution.

    

    Heimbach Power Plant
    

    In 1860 the priory was re-settled by Trappist monks from Oelenberg Abbey in Alsace, exiled during the Kulturkampft (1885-1887) and during WW2 (the monastery had to be largely rebuilt).
  • Heimbach Power Plant: hydropower plant was built in Jugendstil style in conjunction with the Urft Dam in 1905 on the river Rur, but draws its water from the Urft reservoir via the Kermeter tunnel. At the inauguration, the power plant was the largest storage hydropower plant in Europe.
    

  • 

    Hirschely Viewpoint
    

    Hirschley Loop (9.4 km): hike that begins at Paulushof Dam, one of the many dams that exist in this national park, and reaches Hirschley Viewpoint, an observation deck that provides one of the most beautiful views in whole North Rhine-Westphalia. It goes by Urft Reservoir too.
  • Close to Heimbach it's located Rur Dam, that forms Rursee, one of the largest reservoirs in the National Park. On the lake it can be rented some boats or canoes. To discover the lake more it's a good idea to take Ruhrsee Round Route (25 km), a route that leads us along the banks of the Rur Reservoir and offers the visitor wonderful views of the lake and the surrounding landscape, corssing on the way three dams.

  • 

    Ordensburg Vogelsang

    In the town district of Vlatten, a former independent town, the visitor can discover St. Dionysius Catholic Church, a church first documented in 839 that has valuable Baroque funishings.
    
• Schleiden: 13,053 inhabitants town whose most important town in the National Park is Gemünd.
  
  • Ordensburg Vogelsang (different kinds of guided tours), huge estate built under the Nazi German regime as a training center for Nazi party senior officials (it was used afterwards as Belgian army barracks) and has an important archive about Nazi education system and its indoctrination.

    

    Schleiden Palace and Church
    

    It's one of the largest architectural relics of National Socialism and also hosts an exhibition about Eifel National Park.
    
  • Schleiden Palace: Schloss from the late 12th century, although it has suffered several changes with time. It belonged to the Lord of Schleiden till in 1445 the von Schleiden family died out and other aristrocratic families owned until von Arenberg (who sold it in 1920 to the order of the Lazarists). Nowadays parts of the castle are used as a restaurant and as a senior citizens' residence.
    
  • Schleiden Palace Church:

    

    Urft Reservoir
    

    three-aisled Catholic church from the early 16th century, one of the most important late-Gothic churches in the northern Eifel. Its glass windows from 1533 its furnishings make it quite interesting to be visited, apart from housing the graves and numerous relics of the aristocratic ruling families of Schleiden. The church keeps its original organ from 1770, designed in the Rococo style.
    
  • In Gemünd it can also be found the Eifel National Park Forestry Office (8:30-13 and 13:30-16 Mon-Thu, 7:30-12 Fri) where getting information about the routes and nature on it.
  • Vogelsang-Urftseebrücke Round Trail (12.1 km): trail that begins in Ordensburg Vogelsang and goes around Urft Reservoir, crossing Urft Dam.

    

    Ruins of Reifferscheid Castle
    

    From the opposite side of Vogelsang there are great views of the reservoir.
    
• Continuing south from Schleiden it can be arrived to Hellenthal, a 7,863 inhabitants town. Here there's also Hellenthal Reserve (9-18 from Apr to Oct; 10-17 from Nov to Mar; 11€/ 9€/ 1.50€  adults/ students/ kids under 14), a zoo focused on native animal species of the natural surroundings (like the red deer, fallow deer, wild boar, mouflon, lynx, foxes, wild cats, raccoons, raccoon dogs and wild horses...). Not far from its Altstadt are located the Ruins of Reifferscheid Castle, a castle owned by the Lords of Reifferscheid that was damaged during different fires and the wars with France,

  

  Winkelhof in Simmerath
  

  being auctioned off for demolition. Another thing to see here is St. Ägidius Catholic Church, a church in the district of Wolfert from the 18th century.
  
• In the western part of the national park the visitor can get into Simmerath, a town with 15,404 inhabitants. Here there are are some Winkelhof houses (traditional type of house for farmhouses or farms) and Simmerath-Rurberg Soviet War Cemetery with 2,322 Soviet citizens buried in communal graves (most of them were prisoners of war or forced laborers during WW2).
  
• Monschau (Montjoie in French, Mondjoye in Walloon): 

  

  The Altstadt of Monschau

  11,726 inhabitants small resort town located by Roer river, in the border with Belgium. Walking along it provides the visitor a great experience and it's considered one of the most beautiful towns in whole North Rhine-Westphalia. The Altstadt is located around Kirchstraße and at Laufenstraße there are some observation decks of Monschau's Alstadt.
  
  • Monschau Castle: 13th century Burg built by Engelbert I of Cologne. In the middle of the 14th century it was expanded into a fortress for the Counts of Jülich in the 14th century and in 1543, troops of Emperor Charles V besieged the complex (capturing it and looting it and the city of Monschau). At the beginning of the 19th century, the French administration sold it (the individuals who owned it removed the roofs to exempt from building tax)

    

    Monschau Castle
    

    and it fell into ruins, until the administration of the Rhine Province of Prussia secured and repaired it. The caslte was restored in the 20th century and currently works like a youth hostel.
  • St. Mariä Geburt Catholic Church: 17th century parish church that was the first in town. It consisted on an unadorned building made of rough stone masonry till the church was benefited from the economic prosperity of Monschau and acquired furnishings from other churches. It's considered to be the most beautiful building of the peasant baroque in the northern Eifel.
  • Monschau Lutheran Church (11-17 from Apr to Oct): church whose construction began in 1787 by the then extraordinarily wealthy Lutheran cloth makers.

    

    Monschau Lutheran Church
    and the Rotes Haus
    

    
    

    
    

    The richly executed interior forms a clear contrast to the rather simple exterior. It is equipped with precious stucco work, furnishings and design in Louis XVI style.
    
  • Foundation Scheibler-Museum Rotes Haus (10-12 and 14-16 Tue-Sun from Apr to Nov; 5€/ 3€/ free  adults/ students/ people under 18): house built in 1760 for the cloth dealer Johann Heinrich Scheibler, used as house and storage. Its decoration shows 18th and 19th bourgeois taste. 
  • Troistorff House: half-timbered building built in 1783 with a noble façade in Louis-Seize style that was also built for one of the fine cloth makers in the 18th century.

    

    Troistorff House
    

    Inside it has a nice main staircase and today it houses the wedding room of the registry office of Monschau.
  • Lenort Nature Museum (11-17 Mon-Thu and Sat-Sun; 4.50€/ 2.50€  adults/ kids): small museum with an exhibition close to nature with well over 1000 specimens. Very interesting for kids.
  • Ruins of Haller Fortress: remnants of an old fortification structure from the 13th century. From the second half of the 17th century it served as a powder store and then a guard house. The final decline of the tower was in the 18th century, remaining in its present form. From there there are nice views of Monchau.

    

    Eifeldom
    

    
    
  • Mustard Mill of Monschau: mill located by Laufenbach (tributary of river Rur) that has been making mustard since 1882. Today the mill includes a mustard shop, a restaurant and a wine cellar.
    
  • Within the municipality of Monschau, in the village of Imgenbroich, it can be found a nice viewpoint, Belgenbachtal. Another village with interesting sightseeing points is Kalterherberg and its St. Lambertus Catholic Church (sometimes refered as Eifeldom) a nice 19th century church built in Neo-Romanesque style with a double tower façade that was extensively renovate in the 1950s. One of its highlights is a 17th century statue by Stephan Horrichem of the former Reichenstein Monastery. 

• 

  Wildernis Trail

  Along the National Park there's a route that crosses it from the south to the north, Wildernis Trail, providing an insight into the full range of landscapes in the National Park. The 1st section (24.7 km) that goes from Höfen to Einruhr, the 2nd section (20.5 km) from Einruhr to Gemünd, the 3rd section (22.4 km) goes from Gemünd to Heimbach and the 4th one (17.7 km) from Heimbach to Zerkall. It's a great idea to know the national park and its cultural heritage. The most spectacular section is the second one. In the first section, Höfen-Einruhr, the visitor can take a smaller trail, Schöpfungspfad (5.6 km), that is good for all skill levels and usually has beautiful wild flowers.
  

Kommern Open Air Museum-
Rhenish State Museum for Folk Art

Next to the national park there are also many interesting places to visit. One of them is Mechernich (Meischernisch in Kölsch), a former mining town with 27,714 inhabitants that is thought to be one of the most beautiful cityscapes in the North Eifel with many half-timbered houses. The main landmark here is the museum Kommern Open Air Museum-Rhenish State Museum for Folk Art (9-19 from Apr to Oct; 10-17 from Nov to Mar; 6.50€/ 2.50€  adults/ people under 18), one of the largest open air museums in Europe. It consists of around 67 buildings (including farmyards, wind mills, workshops, village community buildings like schools, bakehouses, dancing halls and chapels), that portray everyday life from the 15th century. It also has a museum of everyday culture of life in the 20th century and exhibitions about the history of the Rhineland and the life of Rhinelanders from the time of the French occupation (1794) to the start of the economic miracle after 1950. Other things to do here are visiting St. Johannes Baptist Catholic Church, a Gothic church with a Romanesque tower bell and valuable frescoes; Bruder-Klaus Field Chapel (11-16 Tue-Sun), tower-like, open-top concrete building built in 2007; or Kartstein Cliffs and Kakus Cave, one of the largest open caves in the Eifel that has races of Stone Age settlement (Homo erectus, Neanderthals, but also Neolithic and Celts).

Roman Thermal Baths-
Bath Culture Museum

Next to Mechernich it can be visited Zülpich (20,332 inhabitants), a town between Aachen and Bonn with an almost completely preserved city wall and four preserved city gates. Zülpich Castle, in the old town, is the landmark of the town and the former Electoral Cologne Sovereign Castle, built in the late 14th century. It was razed by French troops at the end of the 17th century and a local manufacturing family of Sieger opened a schnaps distillery in the ruins castle until 1870 that operated until the 1980s. To understand more the context of spas and baths it's a good idea to go to the Roman Thermal Baths-Bath Culture Museum (11-17 Tue-Sun; 5€/ free  adults/ people under 18), a museum that has the ruins of what is said to be the best preserved Roman thermal baths north of the Alps. It's a good idea to visiti Zülpich Lake Park (9-19 from Apr to Sep; 10-16 in Oct and Mar; 6€/ 4.50€/ 3.50€   adults/ reduced/ people under 18) too, a leisure park by Lake Zülpich. There's a combined ticket for the Roman Thermal Baths and Zülpich Lake Park (9€).

Effelsberg 100-m Radio Telescope

Outside the National Park, not far from the city of Euskirche, it can be found the beautiful historical spa town of Bad Münstereifel with 17,299 inhabitants. Its Altstadt is quite well preserved and its worth a walk along it, discovering places such as St. Chrysanthus und Daria Catholic Church, a Romanesque church that was part of a former Benedictine abbey with thre naves and whose western massif is like St. Pantaleon Church in Cologne, or Münstereifel Castle, ruins of a Burg built in the 13th and 14th centuries that was the residence of the lords of Bergheim (then part of the Duchy of Jülich). Today it's privately owned and hosts a restaurant in the castle and luxury apartments.. One of its most characteristic buildings is the town hall where there's Bad Münstereifel Pharmacy Museum (14:30-17 Tue-Fri, 11-16 Sat-Sun), a museum with functioning pharmacy materials from the 19th and 20th centuries (like a laboratory, material chamber, herb cabinet, herb garden, etc...). In this municipality is located Stockert Radio Telescope, Germany's first telescope for radio astronomy (inaugurated in 1956), and Effelsberg 100-m Radio Telescope, another radio telescope that was during 30 years the largest fully steerable radio telescope on Earth.

Where can I eat in Eifel National Park ?

This National Park doesn't have a quite important culinary offer so it's a good idea to bring food from outside the park.

Posted in: Europe,Germany,National Park,North Rhine-Westphalia