Smugglers' Bridge

DO NOT APPROACH BY CAR! THX.

Why? Area is sort-of too private to park and your car may drown in a creek. See details below. Hikers & Bikers don't worry about wet feet, there's a narrow bridge just for you!

What's special?

This is the most western spot of Aachen county and my favorite place to cross the NL-DE border, even though I am not a smuggler. It is also a nice place next to a little creek featuring a bench, tree, cross, small bridge, farm and several options for small and big kids to build a dam into the creek. Have fun!

My neighbours: Monks and Cheese

Fencey!

Look out as the area is a bit fencey (2 barbed wires) and has some nettles. The container is reachable almost without stepping off the asphalt, like 50cm off the road.

How to get there?

Public Transport: Just get off at the "Mamelis" busstop on Veolia's #50 Aachen-Maastricht service.

Easy to reach on foot or bicycle from Netherlands and Germany - hard to reach by car.

Roads on German side (Kuhlweg) are perfectly paved with asphalt, but closed for cars - unless you're the local farmer. Closest public car parking is at Bungartsweg in Orsbach, Germany or at Vijlen, Netherlands.
Bridge from Netherlands is good for bicycles and pedestrians - the trail is pretty muddy though.
Not a car drive in. Only for sportsmen - or at least taking-the-dog-for-a-walk people. In particular, please DO NOT approach this place by car from the dutch side (highway N278) unless you have a serious 4 wheel drive (or a tractor) that can go through the creek (Not sure if this is allowed, but its technically possible). There is no bridge for cars, just a ford. The only close space to park a car is the yard of Mamelis farm - which was propably never meant for hikers/ cachers etc... I just guess the Mamelis farmers would be annoyed by car traffic on their yard. Thanks.

Smuggling

First of all: Taking drugs (apart from small amounts of tobacco, coffee and alcohol) into Germany is an offense against German law which may put you into jail if you get cought. Don't do it.

The area around Aachen does have quite a smuggling "tradition". Especially around 1950 the smugglers brought huge amounts of coffee over the Aachen coffe front to save on coffee tax. (More Info) They even funded the reconstruction of St Hubertus Church aka St Mocha in Schmidt village. Dozens of people were shot in the forest.

The coffee tax became less, but buying coffee abroad never really stopped being the economic choice for Aachen's coffee drinkers. There are still shops specializing on coffee, just behind the border at Vaals, Köpfchen and Roetgen. (Not to be confused with those dutch coffee-shops not really caring about coffee.)

This chache rather deals with today's smuggling which is not so much about the coffee, but rather has something to do with those other coffee shops mentioned above. Those drugs sold there and even harder drugs make the Dutch-German border one of the few borders in the middle of europe that still remain interesting for smugglers and the police. So, actual smuggling might take place right here - who knows... but maybe smugglers are too lazy to go without a car.

Of course, they do check you on the train and bus or at airports. Around here, the B1/N278 crossing at Vaals and the A4/A76 near Bocholtz seem to be hotspots where you might get pulled over by officers looking for illegal stuff in your car, especially if you are young and have a crappy cheap car. (Have a look at Elton trying to get caught there! challenge starts at 10:10min) (@ GEMA: This appears to be an official brainpool link)

I've been around here for quite some time and I've never ever seen anybody taking care of people and goods crossing the border at places like this. I have only seen hikers, bikers and people taking their dog for a walk - not looking suspisciously like smugglers either. So, there is propably no point in putting up a checkpost.

Time is tickin'

Sad to say this, but this cache will propably be removed in January as I have to move on to new places. Feel free to contact me if you want to adopt it.