Route of Commemoration No. 10: The Weywertz Viaduct

The railway named Vennbahn was opened on December 1st, 1885. It crosses the Warche valley over a triple-arched viaduct between the stations of SOurbrodt and Weywertz.
This railway track connected the coal mining areas in Aachen and the iron-ore area in Luxemburg and also served for military purposes at the boarder of Germany. As of 1895 it was used for transport tot he Elsenborn proving ground in Belgium. During World War one, it was used for transporting supplies tot he German troops in Belgium.
On the night of May 10th, 1940, a Belgian command blew up the Weywertz viaduct in order to prevent a repetition of such transports.
German troops immediately erected an emergency bridge, an impressive wood construction, which was replaced by a dam with a tunnel fort he river Warche before the war ended.
In the sixties, transport of passengers was stopped and in the eighties also military and goods transports were stopped. The track has been used for touristic purposes since 1990, an on 01.01.2007 it became fully inoperative. Within the framework of the Belgian RAVeL-program, this track is now used as cycle route and hiking trail.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Hans Tasma