The cultural landscape of the Monschau Hedge Land (german: Monschauer Heckenland) or Monschau Hedge Region includes the uplands of the

Eifel The Eifel (; lb, Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of ...

and the villages around the town of

Monschau Monschau (; french: Montjoie, ; wa, Mondjoye) is a small resort town in the Eifel region of western Germany, located in the Aachen district of North Rhine-Westphalia. Geography The town is located in the hills of the North Eifel, within the ...

in the Region of Aachen, covering an area of 94 km², in which historical

hedge A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoin ...

structures from the 17th century have survived in great numbers. They consist of individually made,

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engl ...

hedges around houses and field hedges in the open country, laid to enclose fields and protect them from grazing cattle. The best example of a Monschau "hedge village" (''Heckendorf'') is Höfen, which has twice won awards in the best kept village competition ''Unser Dorf soll schöner werden''. Other examples include Kalterherberg, Mützenich, Rohren and Imgenbroich. Also within the region are parts of the municipalities of

Simmerath Simmerath is a municipality in the district of Aachen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately 20 km south-east of Aachen, near the border to Belgium. The administrative area was expanded in 1972 and includes the fo ...

- for example, the villages of Eicherscheid and

Kesternich Kesternich testing is a common name for sulfur dioxide testing. There are several test methods available, including DIN 50018, ISO 3231, and ASTM G87, which are some of the more common methods. Industrial objects (especially metal objects subject ...

- as well as

Roetgen Roetgen () is a municipality in the district of Aachen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Roetgen is located approximately 16 km (10 mi) south-east of Aachen, near the border with Belgium. It is in the north of the High ...

Domestic hedges

The treeless uplands of the Eifel (at around 500 metres) east of the

High Fens The High Fens (german: Hohes Venn; french: Hautes Fagnes; nl, Hoge Venen), which were declared a nature reserve in 1957, are an upland area, a plateau region in Liège Province, in the east of Belgium and adjoining parts of Germany, between the ...

in Germany's border region with

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

are exposed to strong - and in winter, ice-cold - west winds; this is even reflected in the name of Kalterherberg (''kalt'' = "cold"). The

laying Laying is the act of making equipment level. It usually involves moving equipment in small motions so that spirit levels are centralised in all planes. Movement is usually done by small worm gears or other fine setting devices for accurate sma ...

of protective hedges made of

in the Monschau Land is recorded from the late 17th century. They grow to a size of 0.7 to 1 metre thick and 6 to 10 metres high and are thus higher than the houses in places; they can be over 40 metres long. The hedges are given stability by a careful interweaving of stems and branches and regularly trimming. The hedges retain their withered leaves from the preceding year until the following spring and thus provide wind protection throughout the winter; in summer by contrast they provide shade and have a cooling effect. Openings in the shape of archways give access to the houses. Many hedges also have "window openings"; there is thus a variety of shapes among the roughly 1,000 examples. In the 21st century the historic hedges also have an aesthetic significance and on contemporary houses there are many imitations of the hedges. Annually in October there are awards by an evaluation commission in the region of Aachen for the most creative hedge gardeners in the municipalities of

and Roetgen.

Field hedges

Field hedges instead of fences or barbed wire to protect fields from damage from nearby grazing cattle are widespread across the whole of the Monschau Land. They are typically made from

. At regular intervals individual stems are allowed to stand, that grow into large trees. As well as their protective enclosure function they act as windbreaks. By reducing the wind speed, soil erosion is minimised and the fields protected from drying out. The hedges also provide habitats for rodents and resting sites for migrating birds. The wood of the pleached trees is still widely used today for firewood.

Tourism

The

Eifel Club The Eifel Club (german: Eifelverein) is one of the largest rambling clubs in Germany with a membership of 28.000. Its purpose is the "maintenance of local customs, the protection and care of monuments to which it is particularly committed". The ...

, together with the German-Belgian Nature Park and the town of Monschau issues the flyer "Das Monschauer Heckenland". Around Höfen, a circular walk, the ca. 5-kilometre long Höfen Hedge Way (''Höfener Heckenweg'') has been laid out, with 10 information stations. Between the Eifelsteig trail and the village of Eicherscheid runs the so-called Hedgeland Route (''Heckenlandroute''), a premium trail that gives an insight into the hedge landscape in and around Eicherscheid.

References

Landscape fact file with map
*

WDR Fernsehen WDR Fernsehen is a German free-to-air television network owned and operated by Westdeutscher Rundfunk and serving North Rhine-Westphalia. It is one of the seven regional "third programmes" television stations that are offered within the federal ...

Reisen aktuell dated 20 September 2005 *

SWR Fernsehen SWR Fernsehen is a German regional television channel targeting the states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. It is produced by Südwestrundfunk (SWR) and is one of eight regional "third channels" broadcast by the ARD members. Hist ...

Im Grünen dated 23 September 2003

Bibliography

* Ulrike Schwieren-Höger, ''Natur- und Kulturführer Nationalpark Eifel und seine neun Städte und Gemeinden.'' Gaasterland-Verlag, Düsseldorf, 2007, * Robert Beckmann, ''Die Hausschutzhecken im Monschauer Land unter besonderer Berücksichtigung ihrer klimatischen Auswirkungen.'' Dissertation an der Fakultät für Bauwesen der Rheinisch-Westfälischen Technischen Hochschule Aachen, Aachen, 1979

External links