Hike through the red sandstone rocks of the Rureifel

R Ni3 Around the Hummerich 9 km - medium

In the winter of 1944/45, the Second World War raged in the area around Schmidt. Acts of violence and cruelty brought endless suffering to soldiers and civilians. When the killing came to an end in February 1945, what remained were ... Shattered forests, devastated settlements, war scrap and corpses. The seemingly apocalyptic scale of the destruction is no longer really imaginable today. And yet fragments of the horror remain, be it gloomy bunkers or gradually fading traces of deadly battles. Remnants of war material still come to light or skeletal remains of dead soldiers are recovered. Memorials and crosses try to keep the memory of unspeakable suffering alive so that future generations can learn their lessons from a time of terror and violence. With the "Way of the Cross of Peace", the parish of St. Hubertus would like to remind us how fragile peace and freedom are. May the insight mature that readiness for reconciliation is the only right path to lasting peace; at all times and everywhere in the world. (TEXT: Bert van London,Konrad Schöller)

The former NS-Ordensburg Vogelsang in today's Eifel National Park is one of the largest buildings of National Socialism and was a place of human contempt at that time. Today Vogelsang “Internationaler Platz” is a place that stands for tolerance, diversity and peaceful coexistence. But it is also a place of remembrance culture. The permanent exhibition “Purpose: Master Man. NS-Ordensburgen between fascination and crime ”gives an insight into the life at the NS-Ordensburg at that time.

Circular hike through the idyllic Kellbach valley and along rustic forest paths