The Aachener Landgraben is the name for the fortifications along the almost 70 km long course of the former Aachen empire. Individual sections can be documented for the 14th and 15th centuries, but it was not until the beginning of the 17th century that the construction of the Landwehr was completed and on April 11, 1611 by Albrecht VII von Habsburg, the incumbent regent of the Spanish Netherlands in Brussels, contractually legitimized with the lay judges and the city council in Aachen.
In the area of the Aachen City Forest, the Landgraben was created as a double safety line, on the one hand on the southern edge of the forest along the official border course and on the other hand through the inner or small Landgraben on the northern and city-facing side of the City Forest. In addition, a total of 138 boundary stones were inserted along the outer wall, at places where the moat was broken by roads, paths or paths, of which around 20 can still be found. They are engraved with the coat of arms of the city of Aachen, the eagle, and are therefore called "eagle stones".
The outer moat has mostly remained visible only in the course of the German-Belgian border and the inner one only in sections. Due to their historical importance, these sections were included in the list of ground monuments in Aachen in 1988 and from 2008 onwards were restored as part of the "Green Route" of the EuRegionale 2008 according to historical models, as were the old patrol trails as part of the "border routes" as hiking trails for the Population made accessible.
[Source: Wikipedia]