The Islek (Aquilania) is a part of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Eifel region (

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

), in the

Bitburg-Prüm The Eifelkreis Bitburg-Prüm ( lb, Äifelkrees Béibreg-Prüm) is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) Luxembourg, Belgium and the districts of Euskirchen, Vulkaneifel, Bernkastel-Wittlich a ...

district next to the

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

and

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

border. In Luxembourg the area extends further known as Éislèck or Ösling-Gau, in Belgium locals call it Aquilaine (then reaching up to Aachen) or even

Schneifel The Schneifel is a range of low mountains, up to , in the western part of the Eifel in Germany, near the Belgian border. It runs from Brandscheid near Prüm in a northeasterly direction to Ormont. The name Schneifel has nothing to do with the G ...

. The Islek or Aquilaine region is known for its dark pine woods, said to house the notorious Macralles (witches), wonderful rivers like the Our and the Sûre (Sauer), and numerous gastronomic delicatessen like Bitburger Beer,

Gerolsteiner Gerolsteiner Brunnen GmbH & Co. KG (Gerolsteiner) is a leading German mineral water firm with its seat in Gerolstein in the Eifel mountains. The firm is well known for its Gerolsteiner Sprudel brand, a bottled, naturally carbonated mineral wat ...

mineral water, Spelz pastries and freshly fished trout. Its history dates back to the Roman period when the Aquilanium was part of

Belgica prima Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul") was a province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul, in what is today primarily northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, along with parts of the Netherlands and Germany. In 50 BC, af ...

, the home of the Celtic Trevirii. In the 20th century the region would broadcast to the world from radio stations like

Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...

, AQLN Radio, Radioropa and Starsat. Today the region houses numerous wind energy projects and is a tourist area with ancient cities like

Clervaux Clervaux (; lb, Clierf or (locally) ; german: Clerf) is a commune and town in northern Luxembourg, administrative capital of the canton of Clervaux. The town's arms, granted in 1896, show three blackbirds on a gold ground in the chief of a red ...

, Prüm, Burg-Reuland and

Vianden Vianden ( lb, Veianen or (locally) ) is a commune with town status in the Oesling, north-eastern Luxembourg, with over 1,800 inhabitants. It is the capital of the canton of Vianden, which is part of the district of Diekirch. Vianden lies on t ...

. The region can be accessed by car from the UK via the E40 from Calais, Zeebrugge or Oostende to Liège and then the E25 to Bastogne (exit Gouvy) or the E42 to Trier (Trèves) (exits Sankt-Vith, Reuland/Luxembourg, Winterspelt or Prüm) Great discoveries are the picturesque little town of Ouren, and the 'High Moors' (Hohes Venn - Hautes Fagnes) north of the Islek.

Sources

*Winkler Prins

External links

*http://www.eifel.de *http://www.islek.de *http://www.eastbelgium.be *http://www.cornelyshof.lu{{dead link, date=January 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes Regions of the Eifel Ardennes Landscapes of Rhineland-Palatinate Regions of Luxembourg Regions of Wallonia Areas of Belgium German-speaking Community of Belgium Geography of Liège Province de:Islek