How Germany Gave Belgium Its Highest Mountain (And Then Tried To Get It Back) 

Another dangerous mountain climbing expedition, Tim? You narrowly survived that climb in the Netherlands.

Wow. As a German, that German you where speaking was incredible! Is crazy how you are able to learn languages so effortlessly.

I cannot overstate how much I love this channel. It's everything I ever dreamt youtube could be back in circa 2005, when we were sick of the lowest common denominator shows on television. A shame more of youtube isn't content like yours. Please upload more.

The highest point in Belgium. They made a 6m thing to get up to 700m. Yes, the officialy highest point in Belgium. Ignore the 20m tall Tower in the Background.

Your mountain expeditions are nonstop. How do you manage these grueling outings? The risk of paper cuts from the bus tickets alone is staggering. Travel safe!

As a Belgian, I love how the video's about Belgium are always the most confusing :)

I lived near that place in a town named Bütgenbach, although I speak French as well as German, when going shopping, I never knew which language to speak, some place they only spoke French and other stores only German. A very strange place indeed!

You can't hide baba yetu from me in the background, I have way to many hours in Civilization

6:30 The highest mountain in Belgium is so incredibly flat that it gives me a general sense of unease. It's _too flat._ Sincerely A Norwegian who is used to the omnipresent comfort of a looming mountain.

You left out the most interesting question: If you needed to ask bus driver for an unplanned stop to get off... how did you manage to go BACK?

I always enjoy the piano music, especially this edition's Baba Yetu (Civ 4) at 3:58. Nice adaptation and nice reference!

I'm disappointed in the Belgians. Missing an obvious chance for even more bureaucratic complexity. They could have divided Eupen between Wallonia and Flamland... And had French German speaking Belgians and Dutch German speaking Belgians.

This guy is a legend. Perfect French and perfect German in a casual discussion with a bus driver. Big props. And by the way, if you want to visit other low highest mountains, the German Bundesland of Schleswig-Holstein could be for you! Our highest mountain is lower than Denmarks highest mountain. It even has a ski lift!

Surprised to hear Baba Yetu in this! 😍

7:39 you can find a skiing slope (actually even 3 of them) just a few miles down the road in the ski resort of Ovifat, which itself is a pretty interesting spot to visit as it is the only place (that I know) on earth which operates ski lifts made of wood.

I love Belgium-Germany border shenanigans

Belgium is a goldmine for this channel, it's no coincidence that surrealism has such a prominent role in Belgian culture.

+1 bonus point for the Baba yetu piano cover !

It's part of the Hohes Venn (High Venn), which is swampland (that's why it's generally so flat). The border to Belgium goes through and in some places you can still see the signs that tell you that you will be shot when crossing beyond that point. Before and after WWII the German locals used to go through there to smuggle coffee and tobacco, which at first you couldn't get in Germany and later was three times as expensive as in Belgium. You could make quite a lot of money that way (the rebuilding of a church in the town of Schmidt after WWII was actually paid for by the smugglers, because they donated part of their earnings), but it was also pretty dangerous, because both the border patrols and the smugglers were armed. Near the town of Konzen the Roderkreuz reminds of a smuggler who was shot dead by a border patrol, for example.

Malmedy was only french between 1795 and 1815. Before it was the principauté de Stavelot-Malmedy, who was a independant Principality of the Holy Roman Empire (like the principauté de Liège).

I am in awe that you made that ascent without water, oxygen or food, Tim.

Malmedy is also fairly notorious among those Americans who remember anything about World War II in Europe besides the Normandy landings (there are still a few of us, I promise) as the site where the SS massacred 84 captured American soldiers alongside nobody really knows _how_ many Belgian civilians during the Battle of the Bulge.

Makes my day seeing Tim post

Don't mind me, just vibing to that Baba Yetu cover in the background

A great video made even greater by a Baba Yetu instrumental - the piano is always underrated!

2:22 Nice piano cover of Baba Yetu!

As a Belgian, it's lovely to have my vague areas of knowledge filled in by a UK citizen living in France :) Love the Orff btw, it was very fitting!

"The roadworks should be done by August" Ahahahaha. Good one! Is this your first time in Belgium? Lol Lovely video as always. Keep it up

Loves the piano renderation of Baba Yetu during the map sequence. Brilliant stuff.

Tim has again managed to ascend to the highest peak without dying or even getting frostbite. Truly the ultimate adventurer!

Had farmer friends in St Vith in younger days, and they spoke Platdeutsch among each other and French to their livestock. Lovely times there

Talk about confused. I left the UK in 2008 to move to Belgium, not far from Malmedy near a small town called Trois Ponts. My wife had a Fiat Panda, and I needed a spare part. The nearest Fiat dealer was in Malmedy. So I brushed up my best French and went to the Fiat parts centre and asked "Avez-vous un capteur d'arbre à cames pour une Fiat Panda 2005 ?" only to hear the lady on the front desk ask the parts manager "Hans, haben wir einen Nockenwellensensor für einen Fiat Panda 2005?"....

In case someone wants to know: The "controversial" referendum took place under a de facto belgian military occupation. It is described by some people as an almost colonial regime - the Belgians had some experience with colonial rule from their Congo colony [insert "Heart of Darkness" here]. For the "referendum", people had to go to a public office and write their name and "Yes" or "No" very visibly on a list. It was understood that everyone who was voting against remaining with Belgium would not receive any more food stamps. Unsurprisingly, the result was 33,726 votes for and 271 votes against the annexation...

Love the video, always a pleasure seeing your videos pop up on my notifications. Eupen! As luck would have it, I married a Belgian, and my mother in law is from Eupen! Can't wait to crack out some knowledge at the next sunday lunch! Well done, keep it up!

7:18 Ah, Verviers! I haven't heard the name of that Wallonian town since my childhood (for, um, at least 20 years). My parents and I used to visit it almost every summer because my aunt and grandma lived there. Why we never got to not so distant Eupen, that highest peak or any German-speaking part of Belgium (I live in Germany) is a mystery to me even today. Gosh, I miss that delicious "tarte au riz" (rice pudding cake) so much!

Ive always been told the highest point in Belgium was the Baraque Friture at 652 meters. I cant believe Ive been lied to all this time.

Merci und danke aus Eupen! Tim, tes vidéos sind immer ein Vergnügen à regarder!! 🙏🙏🙏❤️

At last! You've finally completed the trilogy of climing mountains in the Benelux!

The vast expanse of the parking space tells you how big deal this place really is. Hopefully visitors don't mind the appearance of higher hills in the distance.

Hey, I'm Belgian and from Molenbeek in Brussels, I love your videos and today I learned something again.

Malmedy was a part of France, yes. When the French republic annexed it, together with the Austrian Netherlands, the duchy of Bouillon and Prince-Bishopric of Liège, in 1795. Before that it was called the "Princely Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy". A small, independent "country" around the abbey's of Malmedy and Stavelot.

Getting distracted by the piano cover of Baba Yetu.

This is the best introduction to a belgian holiday: Roads under construction.

Hello from Florida, Thanks for the content!

Who says Belgium is boring? What is possibly the world’s flattest mountain is there and you can get a bus to the top, roadworks notwithstanding. Magnificent.

I've never thought the bus driver would speak regular, clear high german with barely any accent (compared to other "german-speaking" regions in- and outside of germany)

Mais oui! Ich lerne etwa neuses mit elke nieuwe video!

Brilliant video, Lad. Eupen-Malmedy sounds as if it changed nationalities almost as much as Alsace-Lorraine region of France. The affected citizens had to have been in a state if confusion with changing nationalities overnight.

It always amuses me that so many countries have a lower "highest point" than the flat desert valley I live in. I'm at 2700ft/823m, and there are mountains 40-60 miles away that look large on the horizon, and those aren't even the big ones.

Hey Tim, I saw your video friday evening when I came home from work and actually went to the Signal de Botrange yesterday afternoon (after a long train/bus ride from Bremen, Germany) ! By the way bus drivers were really helpful but also really confused how to get there because of the street which is under construction. They also told me to the rather visit Baraque Michel because the scenery is much more beautiful so I did that too 😄 I am just about to arrive at home as I am writing this. Keep on doing this stuff, it's really inspiring 👏

Is that Baba Yetu at 3:59? Excellent choice of music, sir!

I must say that this video does underrepresent the area around Signal de Botrange though. The Hautes Fagnes are really very beautiful and unique to hike around in. It's rather that the Signal is disappointing than the Fagnes.

Perfectly cleared up, I'm sure.

I always look forward to your fun, quirky, and informative videos. Thanks for taking us on another adventure, hello (et bonjour!) from Canada!

Nice to hear baba yetu playing in the background around half way in!

Tim is Timeless!

I've been there a couple of times it's a nice place to go for a walk. I always found it funny that you're standing right next to an even higher tower when you're standing at the 700m mark 🤣

Oh you were so close! I wish I could have met you and thanked you in person for all your videos. I hope you at least saw the Moresnet Viaduct. Hills, trains and bridges is something of your speciality. And I really do hope you fully utilize the 9 Euro ticket of Germany in the meantime. Cheers!

I remember going there as a kid and being heavily disappointed. We're supposed to be the flat country and all the other countries to the south have high mountains... but we didn't have to hike or climb... we didn't even have to leave the car.

Tim your musical tributes trigger very deep-rooted memories in my brain. Playdays particularly this time. Kudos.

Thanks for making this great video. I kind of suspected this topic might come one day. I am a German and this place means quite a lot to me. The Belgian - German history is quite interesting, and I like that its the only area where i can order BELGIAN FRIES in German (Mitraillette, is crazy, try it if you havent yet). But its important to me on a personal level because I met my Belgian girlfriend here on Signal de Botrange.

"I hope I've cleared it all up" No, Tim! I'm more confused. If it never was a part of Belgium to begin with, how did they claim it after World War I?

You never fail to bring just a wee bit of quirky joy into your viewer's lives with these videos, and for that I am truly grateful.

Thanks Mr Tim. Your videos really helped during the lockdowns and I really look forward to each one. Thank you again.

"Sudden Belgium syndrome" 😂

You've passed the stadium of the only German speaking football club in the first division, KAS Eupen, without mentioning it (at 0:27). I'm a bit confused.

Thanks for another wonderful video, Tim.

Always great video! Thanks!

I'm beginning to suspect that anything in Europe involving borders and... Belgium... takes a while to explain

Around 500 people have climbed the 7 summits (the highest mountain on each of the 7 continents). But how many people have climbed the 7 highest summits of the Low Countries? I seriously doubt that anybody has bothered to try. This could be a world first.

Tim, I love your channel. Thank you for taking the time and effort to make these. Never too old to learn !!

Hallo from Germany! Your Videos are always a pleasure - Edutainment at it's best!

There is something of a beautiful culture mix going on with that tower. The Low Countries have a lot of experience in expanding against the elements (as Tim has made videos on before and as the popular saying goes about the Dutch), but you need that unique German spirit (and stereotype) to decide to go conquer the sky just to have an even number.

Nice little Belgium tour you're on, great video as always.

Tim, your little tour videos are a soothing balm.

The bus driver speaks better German than 80% of bavarians

Yay Thank you Tim 🙂

I love how often i see places i frequently visit on your channel and still learn new stuff.

Wie cool, Tim, du sprichst französisch, englisch, spanisch und dann noch deutsch! Cheers, mate!

Why did you use Baba Yetu as music for this? I mean, I'm not complaining, it just seems like a strange choice for this video.

Content idea: While I like the highest mountain videos, you could do a similar series about the lowest point in each country, assuming it's below sea level.

Have only recently discovered your channel Tim, but love the varied content. Thanks.

When i read the title i was like "What? Germany gave Belgium the Zugspitze? When did this happen?". And then i realized that you are talking about the highest mountain of Belgium and not the highest mountain of Germany xD

Your German is very good! The bits you said were pronounced pretty much perfectly!

1:08 A great illustration of the lowlands mountain range

Stellar content as always!

The Signal de Botrange is a lovely climb if you’re out on a road bike! I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the video pop up in my subscriptions, since I cycle up the Botrange around once a fortnight. Liked the video, got to admit I was half-expecting you to say something about the dull name (‘Signal’ refers to the large radio mast at the summit). If you’re still in the area and interested in making more videos, feel free to let me know! I like the channel and would love to help out.

Unfortunately you didn't see much of the Hohe Venn, which is very unique and exciting. The straight ways are extremely boring, but for example there is a path leading from Baraque Michel in some hours back to Eupen along the Hill. In general the Venn can be dangerous and every year people get lost there...

I love that it’s possible to drive to the summit. Until the mid 1970s that was also the case for the highest point on the Australia mainland, Mt Kosciuszko (2,228m).

This channel is just a joy. One does actually learn something trivial about Europe in every episode and yes, as others have pointed out already, your French and German pronunciation is on point!

Bizarre, Belgium has produced some of the best mountain climbers in the Tour De France.

Wow, I'm impressed by your german.

1:32 You did the Playbus theme! Haha Thanks so much Tim!!

Another fantastic video, Mr T. traveller!

Unexpected Baba yetu inside piano score.

6:40 I love how each nation gets its national anthem and then nazi Germany gets O Fortuna. Fitting

Your videos are always brilliant, but this had me even more in stitches than usual.

⭐️⭐️Great video!! Very entertaining as well as informative! Brings a smile to my face - thank you!❤️🙏

Tim, there's another possible topic for you: In Carinthia (Austria) there's a dispute going on since the end of WW1 if (and if so, which) town name signs need to be bilingual. Apart from vandalism, signs going missing or getting magically replaced during the night, this dispute had some hilarious lawsuits. For example: A lawyer refused to pay a speeding ticket because a town sign was not bilingual, the speed limit is tied to the proper town signs. But because the sign was not bilingual as required by the Austrian constitution, the sign was invalid, therefore the speed limit was not in effect, therefore the speeding ticket is not valid. So if the town wants to enforce the speed limit (and other restrictions required by law within town limits), the town must put up bilingual signs. From what i dimly remember, the proper signage was then put up, and promptly stolen or vandalized by people who refuse to accept bilingual signs. This all ties in with promises made by politicians in the 1920 Carinthian plebiscite, which created as much problems as it solved. To be fair, those were new, exciting problems, designed to be NOT solved by the next few dozen generations. If you think that a spanish town ending on the wrong side of the border is petty, those spaniards have nothing, NOTHING on us carinthians. We all agree that the towns ended (mostly) on the correct side, we just can't agree on what the town names actually are. www.google.de/search?q=carinthia+bilingual+sign+dispute There's also a somewhat lengthy german-language Wikipedia article: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ortstafelstreit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920_Carinthian_plebiscite

Now you have done daring expeditions to the highest points of the Benelux, I feel it's time for you to mount a climb to the highest point of Denmark.