Route of Commemoration No. 3: The Vennbahn during World War I and II

The Vennbahn mainly served economic reasons. This changed with the German assault on its neighbouring countries in the west in 1914. On August 1st the Vennbahn was put under military surveillance and was only used for military transports for weeks. Even for quite a time to come public transportation suffered from major restrictions. In 1918 the train tracks were once again under military control. This time fort he retreat of German troops and the return of war prisoners interned in Germany.
Military transports started rolling again with the beginning of the "Westfeldzug" in 1940. The Belgium military was not able te prevent this even though they bombed several viaducts shortly before the invasion of the German Armed Forces. It only succeeded to interfere with the reinforcements.
When the Allies approached mid September 1944, German soldiers bombed several bridges and viaducts; amongst them the viaduct Reichenstein. But shortly thereafter, American engineer units were able to repair the track with a single-track makeshift bridge.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Hans Tasma