Kœnigsmacker at the Confluence of the Canner and Moselle

Kœnigsmacker lies at the confluence of the Canner and Moselle. If you’re planning a hotel stay in Kœnigsmacker, you can choose what to focus on based on two different interests: river routes and cycling paths, or the town’s historical traces. Churches, a wayside cross and a Maginot shelter illustrate different chapters in the town’s history. The routes, in turn, differ in their riverbank paths, their course and—where there is a loop—the stated distance.

Churches, a Wayside Cross and Maginot Heritage

The Chapelle Saint-Roch combines a specific building history with a distinctive object. Pierre Klop and his wife Anne Fensch, from Distroff, rebuilt the chapel in 1625 after surviving the plague; they did so out of gratitude. The chapel houses the statue “Christ aux liens dit bon-Dieu de Pitié,” which is classified as a protected historic object. The building history and the statue offer two different points of interest if you’re interested in the town’s religious and historical heritage.

The Église paroissiale Saint-Martin can also be understood through its various building phases: the present-day church was renovated around 1625 and rebuilt in 1740 as a single-nave hall church. The term describes a church with one nave and a continuous hall space. Another detail can be found in the east wall, where the head of a Gallo-Roman deity is embedded. The same church thus brings together the building’s history and an object of Gallo-Roman origin.

Another historical landmark is the Croix de chemin on the R.D. 2 in Kœnigsmacker. This wayside cross was erected in 1853 for Nicolas Charet and Suzanne Kon. The Abri du Bichel-Sud, an intermediate Maginot Line shelter, is also located in the Kœnigsmacker forest. It was built in 1939/1940 to provide shelter for around 40 members of the 167e régiment d’infanterie de forteresse. The wayside cross and the shelter differ significantly in date and function: one is a testament to the 19th century, while the other belongs to the history of the Maginot Line.

Routes along the Moselle and Canner

Distance and riverbank location are useful points of reference when choosing a route. The Itinéraire cyclable de la Moselle rive gauche is a 46 km loop that follows both banks of the Moselle. Kœnigsmacker lies at the northern end of the loop, and Guénange at the southern end. At the same time, along the left bank of the Moselle, this Itinéraire runs parallel to the Véloroute La Voie Bleue Moselle Saône à Vélo. In Kœnigsmacker, the Véloroute La Voie Bleue continues along the right bank; its route follows greenways closed to cars. This allows you to distinguish a loop along both banks of the Moselle from the information on which riverbanks the two routes follow.

If you’d like to plan your route around a different river, the Itinéraire cyclable de la Canner follows the Canner from Kédange-sur-Canner to Kœnigsmacker. It passes through a green valley to the Voie Bleue and the banks of the Moselle. The routes described therefore focus on different rivers: the Moselle, with its loop and riverbank paths, and the Canner, with a route from Kédange-sur-Canner to Kœnigsmacker.

As a family-friendly alternative from Thionville, the Chemin de la Moselle follows the right bank to the Kœnigsmacker lock. This destination differs from the route details for the Moselle loop: here, the starting point of Thionville, the right bank and the lock are the key points of reference. When planning, you can therefore choose between a route along the Canner, a loop along both banks of the Moselle, and a route to the lock.

Discover more destinations: Reyersviller, Arry, Sturzelbronn, Scy-Chazelles, Illange, Freyming-Merlebach, Roussy-Le-Village, Zetting.

For the broader travel overview: Moselle.