Memories of the old villages
Over the past centuries, the people of the Jülich region frequently suffered from war, hardship, crop failures and epidemics. They found hope and comfort in their faith. For example, they would pray during processions through the fields – known as ‘Bitt’ and ‘Hagel’ processions – for protection and blessings for a good harvest and, consequently, a life free from hunger. Wayside crosses, wayside shrines and chapels are expressions of this piety. At the same time, they are historical artefacts and structures of high artistic quality, created by skilled craftsmen.
In Inden/Altdorf, there are a number of such relics from the former villages of Altdorf, Inden and Pier. The people who lost their homes due to lignite mining and built new lives here brought these items with them as mementoes or rebuilt them using rubble.
At this spot, you are standing in front of the ‘Aldenhovener Kreuz’ dating from 1710. This processional and hail-protection cross once stood on the K19 district road from Altdorf to Pattern.
A wayside shrine from the Schlehental valley in Altdorf adorns a street corner in ‘Im Schlehental’.
At the lime-tree roundabout by the Catholic church stands the processional cross from 1708, which used to stand against the church wall in Altdorf.
The four grave crosses on the wall of the Catholic parish church also once stood by the church in Inden. The oldest dates from 1686.
The ‘Stone Cross’ from Inden, dating from 1730, can be found on the street ‘Am Wehebach’. It once stood as a hail cross on the B56 from Inden to Pattern.
On the corner of Indener Straße and Friedensstraße, the 19th-century high cross from the old cemetery at Inden Church has found a new home. Stop ‘S08: In Memory of Inden’.
On the corner of Indener Straße and Pumpengasse stands a mission cross. It formerly stood at the edge of the village on the L241 country road from Altdorf to Inden.
The mission cross, which once stood on the L241 country road from Altdorf towards Kirchberg, has been erected on the footpath below the old tip.
The ‘Bonsdorf Cross’ at stop ‘S04 Bonsdorf-Pesch-Pommenich-Verken and Vilvenich’ at the end of Bonsdorfer Straße comes from the former Bonsdorf cemetery in Pier.
The tower cross at the old tip near station ‘S03 In Memory of Pier’ commemorates the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Pier.
A bell from the church in Pier, located on Pierer Straße near station ‘S05 Resettlement Pier”, commemorates the church in Pier.
In addition, there is the chapel on Uferstraße, built on private initiative using demolition materials from Inden and Altdorf, and the memorial chapel at the Geuenich memorial site, also constructed from demolition materials, at stop ‘S06 Geuenich’.
The Geuenich Memorial and the monument to the fallen footballers – originally from Altdorf and now re-erected near the sports ground on Merödgener Straße – commemorate the victims of the two world wars.
The old village pump from Brockengasse in Altdorf stands in Pumpengasse.
The pavement mosaic in front of the Catholic church on Hauptstraße shows the former sites of Inden and Altdorf.