Gileppe Dam

A 77 m high observation tower with a restaurant, a climbing course, information boards at the dam, a huge stone lion as the dam's landmark and a café at the dam - what more could you ask for. Recommended for a family outing.

The dam was developed for tourism. A cafe offers a nice place for a break with a playground for the kids. There is a climbing garden or you can rent bicycles or electric scooters, etc. There really is something for everyone here.

Already in the period when the region was under French occupation from 1795 to 1815, initial investigations were carried out to build a dam in the upper reaches of the Weser and the Hill, which was primarily intended to ensure a consistent water supply for the then flourishing local cloth industry in the towns of Eupen, Dolhain, Verviers and Ensival, which had settled along the river.
Work on the dam began in 1867 and on July 28, 1878, King Leopold II was able to inaugurate the new dam.
The original dam was Europe's oldest concrete dam. The water intake capacity of the reservoir was initially 13 million m³, and the area was 86 hectares.
Between 1951 and 1953, a 2.5 km long tunnel was dug to feed the water of the Soor, which naturally flows into the Hill near Eupen, to the dam. From 1967 to 1971, the reservoir height was increased by more than 15 m (from 51.76 m to 68 m) and was no longer constructed as a gravity dam, but as a rockfill dam. Since then, its capacity has been 26.5 million m³ with an area of 130 ha. It is part of a drinking water network with the Weser Dam in Eupen. Source: Wikipedia