Text by Erwin Eichholz, Perl
Every six months, during the flood-free period, a white buoy is displayed below the Apach weir, symbolically marking the point where Germany, France and Luxembourg meet.
In reality, geographically speaking, the border situation is somewhat more complicated and at the same time unique. The Moselle runs from the mouth of the Sauer to the German town of Perl, the French town of Apach and the Luxembourg town of Schengen over a distance of around 36.5 kilometres as the joint territory of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The border between the two states is therefore not formed by the river axis, as is usually the case.
The effects of the border construction described here on the geographical border triangle are explained below.
Common territory: Who owns the Moselle?
As a result of the reorganisation of Europe, the Vienna Final Act of 9 June 1815 made Luxembourg, which had now been elevated to the status of Grand Duchy, a member of the German Confederation and created a personal union with the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Kingdom of Prussia bordered Luxembourg to the east.
On 26 June 1816, the border treaty between the kings of the two states was signed in Aachen. The wording of Article 27 reads: "Wherever streams, rivers and rivulets form borders, they shall belong to both states jointly..."
This has not changed to this day, so that where the Moselle, the Sauer and the Our form the border between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the rivers are the common territory of both states, i.e. a condominium.
Where does the German-Luxembourg border run?
The 1984 Treaty on the Course of the Common State Border supplements the Treaty on the Navigability of the Moselle of 27 October 1956 and provides information on this. "The lateral boundary of the common territory is the intersection of the water surface with the land surface, which is free-flowing at mean water level and is formed by the hydrodynamic water level in reservoir areas".
The Moselle as a waterway and the facilities such as ship locks, boat locks, weirs and fish ladders therefore belong jointly to both countries, as in the area described above.
Effects on the border triangle
Based on these descriptions, the graphic on the right illustrates the border situation most clearly.
We should understand the "Dreiländereck buoy" as a strong symbol of the friendly relations between the people in the border region and not just as a geographical point.
