And this was a last minute trip. We were based south of Trier and road warrior trips in western Germany when we saw a beer wine festival in the town we were staying Oberemmel and the drink par excellence was the beer of Bitburg! So as curious as we are saw a map and realised was not far from us so we went for a visit. A nice ride pleasant anecdotes and not bad at all beer. This older post I am updating as an introduction to the town in my black and white series, no pictures. There is more of it in my blog. Hope you enjoy it as I.
Let me tell you about our escapades to the neighboring country of Germany, and specifically, Bitburg. My sons interest in heavy metal music and German groups finally convince me to go. Of course, been there on business trips several times, but never on a personal trip until then. The boys love it of course, and we came to like it too, learning very well the full scope of opportunities for travel in compact Europe. And we went to Bitburg from our base just south of Trier. Bitburg is the capital of the district Bitburg-Prüm in Rhineland-Palatinate State, 30 km (about 18 mi) north of Trier in the southern part of the Eifel. The traditional talk is a local variation of Luxembourgish language.
A bit of history I like
Bitburg was founded about 2000 years ago as a crossing point on the road between Lyon and Cologne by Metz and Trier. Its first name was Vicus Beda. In the middle of the 10C, the town was acquired by the County of Luxembourg (later Duchy), then in 1443 by the Duchy of Burgundy. Since 1506 the city has successively belonged to the Spanish Netherlands, then to the Austrian Netherlands from 1714. The city fell into the hands of the French in 1794 (during the French revolution) and became in 1798 the seat of a the department of the Forests (fôrets). According to the agreements of the Congress of Vienna, the city was entrusted in 1815 to the Kingdom of Prussia, where it was successively city-arrondissement of the Grand Duchy of Bas-Rhin, then of the province of Rhineland-Prussian
Towards the end of WWII, Bitburg was devastated at 85% of its surface by bombardment and declared “Dead City” by the Americans. Although located in the French zone of occupation, the forces that stationed in the city after the war were made up of Luxembourg troops, replaced in 1955 by French forces stationed in Germany. In 1965, an American-controlled NATO support base was added. At the end of the 1980’s, the French withdrew their last men and NATO took over the former French barracks. After the Gulf War successively settled the 525e tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS) “Bulldogs”, the 53rd TFS “Tigers” (after moved to Spangdahlem), the 22nd TFS “Stingers” and finally in 1994 Bitburg Airport was occupied by the 36th TFW. The US present ended in 1994. Currently, only a few parts of the Bitburg barracks are still governed by NATO. Needs to see which ones….not sure.
Transports in and around Bitburg. The B51 is an important link between the north and the south. Like the Roman road between Trier and Cologne, it joins the region of Trier and Luxembourg with the north. And this was the road we took always there. In recent years, the A60 Liège-Wittlich has been passing close to the city; but as a beltway preferred the B51. The rest not try at all just for information; there is a train station of Bitburg-Erdorf frequented by the Eifelbahn of the line Gerolstein-Trier and the Eifel-Mosel-Express (RE 12) of the line Cologne – Euskirchen – Gerolstein – Trier. The DB Regio Südwest Eifel-Mosel-Express also passes through Bitburg-Erdorf.
Things to see
In the buildings of the old School of Agriculture of 1882 today is the Museum of the region Bitburg-Prüm. The latter proposes, through many objects, a good retrospective on the 2 000 years of history of Bitburg and the Eifel. There is a nice Church of Our Lady in city center with quaint restos and architecture around it, Nice bells outside the Church.
And the main reason we came is for the brewery lol! Bitburg bier, one of the best. A German blonde beer of low fermentation (pils) brewed at Bitburg since 1817. Their famous slogan is “Bitte ein bit “. Not fluent in German took it from the web as meaning Please, a Bit,” or “A Bit, please” . Johann Peter Wallenborn founded the brewery in Bitburg in 1817 at the age of 33. The beer was featured in the 2011 film, X-Men : First Class. The only lags is the tour is only given in German on most days, English is by appointment. So we took it in German anyway, the main thing was the beer lol! It is a must to visit in town indeed.
Some webpages to help you plan your trip here are:
The Bitburg area tourist office in English: https://www.eifel-direkt.de/en
The city of Bitburg on its history in English: https://www.bitburg.de/cgi-bin/cms?_SID=fake&_sprache=en&_bereich=artikel&_aktion=detail&idrubrik=1002&idartikel=100052
The German Luxembourg area tourist office on Bitburg in English: https://www.lux-trier.info/en/explore/city-diversity/bitburg-2
And the Bitburg brewery in German: https://www.bitburger-international.com/bitburger/
There you go another dot on the world map for us and hopefully for you too. Enjoy Bitburg, at least the beer is good lol!! By the way ,now we can get it in my breton lands this beer! And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 