Shortly after the start at the main train station, the Burtscheid Kurpark marks the green beginning. The baroque abbey church of St. Johann, designed by Aachen architect Johann Joseph Couven, is enthroned high above and is a reminder of the centuries-old independent territory of the former Burtscheid Abbey, which dates back to the year 999. The church treasure is well worth seeing and tells a few stories. The old town hall at the park exit, gleaming white with classicist gold decorations, is a proud reminder that Burtscheid was a free town until it was incorporated in 1892.

Then it's time to immerse yourself in the greenery in the middle of the settlement. Our route follows the Gillesbach, one of Aachen's many small streams that originate in the heights of the Aachen Forest and cross the Aachen basin, all the way into the forest. Here in the south of the city, they are often still visible before they disappear into the canalized underground.

At the edge of the forest, wide pastures, orchards and the Waldhausen estate create a rural atmosphere, and at the Milchstübchen we can tap milk and stock up on regional products. Benches and a playground at the Kupferbach reservoir invite you to take a break. Like its counterpart in Diepenbenden, the dam was built in 1923 to ensure the steady, silt-free flow of the canalized streams. It was also a source of pleasure: in 1928, thousands of boat trips were recorded on the pond.

The route then climbs gently but steadily, with a few meters of Aachen Forest to climb before reaching the Köpfchen border crossing. The Elleterweg leads as a hollow path along the mountain of the same name. The rampart of the old moat with its stately beech trees, which date back to the former protective hedge, can be seen parallel to it. From the 15th century, it marked the border between the Aachen Empire and the territory of Burtscheid Abbey, which began east of the path, reached as far as the Beverbach stream and extended north to the center of Burtscheid and Frankenberg Castle.

On the way to the Köpfchen border crossing - today a lively cultural center and café - we can once again encounter the bizarre beech trees and the rampart, which separated the Aachen Empire from the Duchy of Limburg and later, until 1611, the "Spanish border" from the Dutch-Spanish Habsburg Empire. We can take a break at the imposing spherical Cyclopean stones, which have been carved out of the Aachen sandstone over millions of years, and in the cafés at the border crossing before taking the bus back to the starting point.

Highlights along the route:

1 Burtscheid, Kurpark, St. Johann, St. Michael

2 Gillesbach valley

3 Kupferbach dam, playground

4 Pionierquelle, playground

5 Landgraben

6 Cyclopean stones

7 Köpfchen border crossing