21 Bergstraße

21 Bergstraße

Hill Street

This old road, built by the Romans as a trade route to the Rhineland centre of industry and commerce in Cologne, climbed up „Bergstraße“ to the Kermeter Forest.

The steep ascent was only possible for fully-laden wagons with the help of an additional team of horses, which were specially hired out to cope with this very strenuous work. Up to the middle of the nineteenth century, the road was impassable in winter.

After 1815, the Prussian government established regular post routes in the Eifel. On the left of the picture is an important coaching inn, where horses could be changed, and travellers find accommodation in one of the best hotels in the Eifel.