Croix de fiancée

La Creu dels Proposats is less than 2 kilometers from Baraque Michel. Border post 151 can be seen in the background.

The Cross tells the dramatic story of two young men lost in a snowstorm in the swamp .

It was the time of the Franco-Prussian War. On January 18, 1871, the German king was crowned emperor in Versailles.
The story is about Marie Solheid, a maid on the Niezette farm in picturesque Haloux near Limburg. He was born in Xhoffraix on October 10, 1846. And also by François Reiff, worker on the Gileppe dam, born in Bastogne in 1829. Francois lived in a shack near where he worked in Béthane. They met at the Jalhay Faire and soon fell in love. They got engaged and decided to get married.

On the winter Saturday of January 21, 1871 , Marie and her fiancé François went to Xhoffraix , where Marie was originally from. They had to gather the necessary documents for their planned marriage. They started their 20-kilometer trek at around 9 a.m.

They could also have taken the train to Francochamps via Pepinster and from there continued by stagecoach to Malmedy. They say he got here at 3.30pm and from there they could have easily walked to Xhoffraix in two hours. But young and in love as they were, they decided to walk.

Along the way , they stopped at the Mixhe Cafe in Jalhay before starting the 12-kilometer journey through the desert they were familiar with . The landlord and Marie's brother, who also worked in the café, tried to dissuade her from leaving. But in vain. Marie said that as a real swamp girl, she would handle this situation. They left Jalhay around noon.

Overwhelmed by a blizzard and fog , they got lost and Francois was forced to leave the exhausted Marie near border 151 of the Belgian-Prussian border. On the dress, Marie had a note written in pencil that read 'Marie vient de mourir et moi je vais le faire' . That means: Marie just died and so did I. He wanted to get help, but didn't get it.

Marie's brother began searching for the two from Jalhay on January 23 because Marie still hadn't returned. Her parents were less concerned at first, knowing of the couple's arrival, but figured they wouldn't come because of the bad weather. They were only alarmed by a letter that reached them on January 25th. On that very day, a severe period of frost began in the Hohe Pfannen, accompanied by snowfalls that covered the bodies of François and Marie. Search attempts in the following weeks were unsuccessful due to the thick snow cover.

His body was found in early March after the first snows melted in the Bioletes peat near Solwaster. On March 16, 1871, the Verviers newspaper Le Nouvelliste reported: “Last Monday, about 5 p.m., the body of an unknown man was found in the High Pans, a mile from Solwaster, Parish of Sart. The description says: height about 1.60 m, round build, high forehead, gray eyes, medium nose, small mouth, round chin, blond hair and blond mustache. He wore a linen jacket, a flat felt cap, and black satin pants. he also wore a fine linen shirt, a blue and white striped cotton undercoat, and thin, almost new lace-up shoes. and exhaustion has set in . No traces of violence were found. The time of death is probably after six. weeks ago."

The very next day, the same newspaper reported: “Two months ago, on the eve of his wedding, the young man left with his fiancee to obtain the necessary documents for the marriage. From that moment on, neither of them,” he says. she comes from Prussia. The judiciary is busy solving this mysterious incident.”
A week later , on March 22, 1871, a Prussian border guard at the border post found Marie's body at the foot of boundary stone 151 , probably for the first time since the snow had melted. This place, Sart Lerho, is about two kilometers from where they found François had . The letter written by François was found in her dress. The next day she was buried by Pastor Joseph Heinen in Xhoffraix.

A cross now stands where Marie was found. The first cross was erected by Marie's father in the summer of 1871 on the old Xhoffraix street where Marie had passed out. This road was then (at least until 1877) still very busy. So not near boundary stone 151, because at that time there was no real road along the boundary line. The peasants also erect a cross on the spot where Francois was found. This cross soon fell into disrepair, just like the one Marie's father had set up.

To replace both crosses, a new cross was erected near boundary 151 in 1893, also bearing the year 1893. This quickly led to confusion and many people believed that the events took place that year. The cross was replaced in 1906 and placed in the Verviers Museum in 1931. In 1931 the Touring Club put a new cross on it. Today, however, there is a new cross.

A few more thoughts on the death of the two fiancés :
François , not a Moor, was apparently dressed in his Sunday clothes, which were not at all suited to the High Pans at that time of year. He had no sturdy shoes, no handkerchief, no gloves. Nor is there any mention of an extra store of provisions, or a bag in which they might have been carried, which was sorely needed on such a difficult journey . Marie, who should have known the swamps much better, probably did not die immediately, but passed out first . François did not know the Fens at all, but felt he had to keep his promise and wandered around hoping to find help . He tried to go back the way they had travelled. However, he got lost in an unfamiliar wasteland and was killed.
Marie probably regained consciousness after fainting and attempted to reach Baraque Michel, 1800 meters away . He saw the border marked 151 and knew he had to cross it on his way to the inn. She stumbled toward it through the deep snow, but the cold and exhaustion hit her so hard she couldn't go any further. She still had the strength to take off her skirt and hang it like a marker on a bush . Then he sat down at the border post with his face out of the wind . There he fell asleep, never to wake up again.

Willem Vandenameele