Schmuggler-Pfad

This circular hiking trail derives its name "Smugglers' Trail" from the history of the former borderland it crosses. But history is not the only thing on the eventful hiking agenda. There are also magnificent views over pretty villages and rolling hills as far as the distant horizon.The "Smugglers' Trail" crosses the described borders several times and for a considerable distance, silent witnesses to those eventful times line the path, weathered, torn and battered - border stones as monuments, engraved with the "S" for Saargebiet and "D" for Deutsches Reich.

Old high court borders from the early Middle Ages separated the country, now invisible and long forgotten. The historical border between the Duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken and the powerful Archbishopric and Electorate of Trier (16th to the end of the 18th century) divided the population into Protestants and Catholics.

The "Congress of Vienna" (1814) brought about the curious border between the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg in our latitudes.

Smuggling across borders flourished at all times. There were many reasons for this. Shortages of certain goods on one side, supply on the other, high customs duties and different legislation by territorial rulers, prohibitions and penalties encouraged the clandestine, illegal crossing of borders.

After the First World War, during the last heyday of smuggling on the border between the "Saar region" and the "German Reich" (1920 - 1935), the main reason was the strong French franc on the Saar and the inflationary Reichsmark in the "Reich". Even today, contemporary witnesses report a lively smuggling trade and the sound of gunfire at night.</p