Petrisberg Lookout

On the Petrisberg, with the vines at your feet, you have a spectacular view of the entire Trier Moselle valley and a horizon that stretches as far as Luxembourg on a good day.

The broader your horizon, the better you can deal with challenges. For the Romans, the challenges of 30 BC stood on two legs and went by the name of Treveri. Even around 20 years after the Gallic War, the Celtic tribe could not really come to terms with the fact that they were now part of the Roman Empire and, in view of the civil war between Octavian (who was to found the city of Trier under his later name of Augustus in 17 BC) and Marc Antony, sensed a breath of fresh air.

But Octavian knew how to keep the Treveri down. Here on the Petrisberg, with its spectacular view of the entire Trier Moselle valley, he set up a 50-hectare military camp with room for over 10,000 soldiers. After just a few months, the uprising was history and the Romans largely dismantled the camp. However, the slope and altitude of the site naturally remained attractive. Wine was cultivated on the slopes of Kürenz and Olewig as early as the Middle Ages - just as it is today. Almost 2,000 years after the Romans stationed their soldiers on the Petrisberg, the German Wehrmacht followed suit and in 1936 also set up a military area and a prisoner of war camp on the mountain, where the French writer Jean-Paul Sartre, among others, was interned. Today, there are no reminders of this dark time. Many military buildings have been demolished, while others have been converted into office and residential buildings.

And the view? That has remained. And can be enjoyed particularly well today, with the vines at your feet and a horizon that stretches as far as Luxembourg on a good day.