BEDELU (2018)

I have visited this tripoint/triline twice, once in 2011 and once in 2018 as part of the IBRG BELEX trip. This report is from the 2018 visit Details of my earlier visit are here. The Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg tripoint is complex because it technically is not a single point but actually 3. This is because the river Our south of the point where the borders meets is jointly owned and administered by Germany and Luxembourg. This means that in effect there are 3 points of interest as outlined on the map below.

The Belgian Geo portal indicates the position of the border markers and the boundary between the 3 countries but does not indicate the condominium. The German geo portal map above does indicate how the river Our is shared between Germany and Luxembourg.

This is in contrast to the Luxembourg map below which shows its ownership of the river but not Germany’s.

The Germany-Luxembourg border separates the German states of Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The demarcation follows watercourses in its entirety: the Moselle in its southern part, the Sauer in the middle, and the Our in the North. The border begins in the South near Schengen and ends at Ouren.

The boundary treaty of 1984 deals with matters of detail concerning the demarcation of the border. In essence the treaty is based on the 1816 treaty between Luxembourg and Prussia which established joint sovereignty over the rivers. Bridges are jointly owned and maintained.

As indicated in the German map above BEDELU is in the center of the river, with 2 technical tripoints on either side. A indicates BEDELULU on the western bank of the Our, whilst B indicates BEDEDELU on the eastern bank. South of the triline the condominium jointly exists between Germany and Luxembourg. North of the triline the Belgium – Germany border follows the Thalweg. The confluence is between the Ribbach and the Our.

This notice board is technically incorrect because of the condominium.

Europa Park, Ouren

Straddling the border between the Belgium and Luxembourg there is a pleasant park. This Europa Monument was established in 1977 by Georg Wagner (the bridge is named after him). Twenty years after the Treaty of Rome was signed, Luxembourg politician Georg Wagner wanted to commemorate the birth of a united Europe. The President of the Luxembourg Parliament was a strong believer in the European ideal. Five boulders from the three participating countries bear the names of deserving Europeans including Konrad Adenauer. The memorial stones come from the respective countries of origin of the named founding fathers. Gneiss boulder from the Lüneburg Heath for Adenauer, a sandstone block from the Müllerthal-Waldbillig for Bech, blue slate stone from the Hohen Venn for Spaak and a slate block from the Vosges for Schuman. The fifth stone represents the Treaties of Rome and the signatories from the six participating countries.