Mini-Camper trifft Mega-Bunker: Zwei Nächte, zwei Extreme, ein Campingversuch | ARD Reisen

Ein ungewöhnliches Abenteuer für Moderator Arndt Reisenbichler. Ein Campingtest auf engstem Raum. Sein Minicamper hat nur knapp zwei Quadratmeter Wohnraum und dennoch soll hier alles Platz finden, was man zum Leben braucht. Passend dazu besucht er auch besondere Übernachtungsangebote mit nur wenigen Stellplätzen. Abenteuer Minicamper auf dem Land und in der Stadt: So findet er zum Beispiel einen ehemals geheimen Natobunker. Die riesige Anlage ist in Privatbesitz und der Zugang befindet sich im Garten des Besitzers. Dann gibt es noch ein Highlight: Einen Besuch in Luxemburg, mit einem Streifzug durch diese wunderschöne Stadt.

Die nächste Expedition in die Heimat beginnt in der ARD Mediathek:
https://1.ard.de/reisen-expedition-heimat-saarkanal?yt=d

00:00 Intro
01:28 Im Hochdachkombi von Mainz nach Niedermohr
02:58 Alpaka-Camping im Garten
06:00 Lost Place – Ein NATO-Geheimbunker in Kindsbach
12:01 Den eigenen Mini-Camper entdecken
13:34 Campinginsel Sonnenwerth bei Hatzenport an der Mosel
17:56 Tipps & Tricks von Campmobil-Profis
20:57 Campen geht auch im Fiat 500
27:24 Rast an der Dasburg in der Eifel
29:52 Ländliche Idylle in Eschfeld
32:34 Zum Sightseeing nach Luxemburg
35:18 In die Kasematten – Burgmauern & Wiege der Stadt
41:25 Künstlerische Inspiration im Mesa Verde
44:08 Outro

Gefällt Dir unser Kanal? Hier kannst Du ihn abonnieren: https://bit.ly/2LK9bB0
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Weitere Infos:
► ARD Mediathek: https://www.ardmediathek.de/reisen
► Wunderschön: https://wunderschoen.wdr.de
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
#ardreisen #deutschland #expeditionindieheimat #rheinlandpfalz

“Abenteuer Minicamper” ist ein Film von Tom Güntner. Redaktion: Dorothee Eisinger.
Dieser Film wurde 2025 im Auftrag des SWR produziert. Alle Aussagen und Fakten entsprechen dem damaligen Stand und wurden seitdem nicht aktualisiert.

(Dreamy music, birdsong) Having 50 centimeters more in a camper is… – luxury. … luxury. (Dreamy music) (Conversations in the background) We’re going camping together, and you can do it very luxuriously or extremely minimalistically. And in the next few days we’re testing out a so-called mini camper. I’ve never seen one myself, so we’ll go and take a look. (Traffic noises) (Laughs quietly:) Okay… That’s it? I imagined it would be bigger. Will I even be able to fit all my luggage in there? That looks interesting. After lots of tables… pull-outs, drawers. Do you think the mattress will be enough? Okay, this will definitely be an exciting adventure. (Relaxing sounds) The mini camper adventure awaits me. It starts with this high-roof station wagon at my home in Mainz. The first stop is in Niedermohr, in the garden of a very nice family. Via an old, abandoned NATO bunker —a real lost place— I head to the camping island in Hatzenport, where I meet other mini-campers. At Dasburg, I have a brilliant idea for my last stop. Beforehand, I’ll spend the night at a fruit winery in Eschfeld. (Relaxed sounds) The crowning finale is the beautiful city of Luxembourg. (Music ends.) Yes, the journey begins. And I’m very excited to see what the next few days bring. I’ll definitely be testing out different campsites— not the really big ones, but rather smaller, hidden ones , and insider tips. And I’ll meet other mini-campers who will show me their vehicles. There are very different models there. It’s going to be a wonderful adventure. (Relaxed whistled melody) The first destination isn’t that far away, but the pitch is something very special. Look, a small camper van. I’m excited. – Hello! Where can I park? Pick a spot. – Where do I want? (both:) Yes. – Good, see you soon. So, how long have you had this campsite? It’s not really a campsite, it’s just your garden. Exactly, a huge garden. – We started in August ’23. And you’re now with AlpacaCamping, that’s how I found you. – Yes. How did you come up with the idea of doing this? Strangely enough, I get an email. From whom? – From AlpacaCamping. So, an advertisement. And then I read up on it, and thought to myself, Alpaca? I didn’t know it. Well, and then I registered there, and then the first campers arrived shortly after. You just wanted to say, come on, let’s do this here, we have the place, people can come now. Exactly, that’s how it was. For travelers passing through or whoever. They can spend the night here. And most of them like it so much that they stay longer. Yes. – Yes. We don’t need to go on vacation, they all come to us. You keep meeting new people, it’s really great. Do you want to feed them? – Yes, of course. Did you leave anything left over? – (laughs:) Yes. I’ll get another one… (off:) It’s a really family-like atmosphere here. Look, here comes the big guy. Not as anonymous as at large campsites. Hi. – Hello, Dominik. Hi. Welcome. Servus, Stefan. – Hello, Christine. Next to my camper. Have you been here before? – I haven’t been here yet. Ah, you don’t know each other at all? – Nope. Ah, okay. So you’re officially from AlpacaCamping? Yes, that’s right. And is this your first time checking out the site? I’m taking a look at what you’re doing here. What criteria are important to you? A flat surface, grass? That ‘s usually it for now. Then it’s a bit of a return to the basics, the mentality and the idea behind it. We don’t want to replicate the classic campsite, but rather create an alternative for those looking for something different. How did you come up with the idea of doing this? There are already other portals like park4night or Landvergnügen. Why AlpacaCamping? The classic camping holiday of the last 30 years looked like this: I packed my motorhome, drove to the campsite for two weeks , and stayed there. I didn’t really see anything. And now, with these private local hosts, I can get to know the destination region in a different way. You can certainly tell cool stories about this particular region; you know it much better. And that’s a great way to strike up a conversation, and you can travel around the region selectively , driving ten kilometers to the next campsite today, 20 kilometers to the next, or even all the way along the Moselle. This turns camping into an active holiday again. Yes. – Where the scenery can change every other day. How many locations do you already have? – Roughly around 4,500… Okay. – …locations that you can visit. I’ll go further and look at the NATO bunker. All right. – Have fun, see you later! (Christine:) Bye. (off:) A really interesting concept. You can be very spontaneous and find unusual places to spend the night. I’m already looking forward to the evening by the pond. (Leisurely music) And now we’re driving to a former secret NATO bunker. It’s hidden in a residential area, so you can’t really see it. It’s a real lost place. It’s definitely going to be very exciting. This is where you go in, or what? It’s something. It’s like something from another world. (He laughs quietly.) From a dark world, huh? It looks like that. Hello. I’m happy. Yes. – That we’re having an adventure together. Well, let’s see, let’s see. (Tense, blaring music) (quietly:) Wow. The cellar… What’s that? Did you decorate it or…? Those are historical photos. This is an old Wehrmacht bunker, yes. That is, the Wehrmacht built it, and NATO took it over. The Wehrmacht built it as a fortress, and with the construction of Ramstein Air Base, the American Air Force took over the facility. At the time, it was the headquarters of the American Air Force in Europe. It was a sector operations center. About 240 people worked there. Oh, really? And then, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, actually in ’93, the facility was abandoned. Then the Federal Property Office came to my mother and said, we’re giving the site back to them. There was this bunker on the site, which they didn’t want to take with them, and they couldn’t. And we got it as a gift. So, here we have one of two emergency generators. It’s a 92-liter marine diesel engine. Wow. 600 hp. But the injection pump jammed. I’m not going to repair it anymore. It makes a lot of noise. Then we go into the back corridor C. Well, Special… Restricted Area. So, this is a manual switchboard. Ah, it’s basically a telephone… – manual telephone switchboard. Oh, look. Everyone here, right, the girl or the private from the switchboard sat here, and when someone called and said they wanted to call number 350, they pressed it. The actual telephone system comes later, though. This is the actual switchboard. Aha, okay. It’s a bit more modern, though. Yes, it’s an analog system. So, official telephone cables run out of it. They were connected to the Pentagon and the whole world. This is the technology that goes with it. Everything is analog. And here, every single conversation was transmitted via individual rotary resolvers here… You can imagine what an effort it was to produce something like that, to maintain something like that. (Waiting music) It looks like there’s a treasure chamber back there. (laughs) It lights up so beautifully. – Yes, it’s… It’s all part of the telephone system. Amazing. Do you give many tours here too? Yes, about two or three times a month. Mostly in English for the Americans. So, here we are in the old Air Operations Center. It looks like a small cinema here. Yes, that’s a projection screen. We have a three-story area, the military leadership at the top, offensive in the middle , and officers with defensive duties down here. And here in front, where this projection screen is now, there was a large glass wall, you can see it in the photo. Behind the glass wall was a mirror-writing machine. And the mirror-writing machines then entered onto this map behind the glass wall what they received reports from the radar stations facing east. And here sat the relevant officers who had to decide what was to be done. So, actually, almost the most important place in the entire bunker? No, we’ll get to the most important place later, that’s the Air Defense Operation Center. Here, on the right, we have the technology. Here we have the… (Arndt laughs.) …the air conditioning. (Tense music) That is, air conditioning… – The air conditioning. The compressors. Up there was actually a cubic meter of frigen. And here the air was washed, cleaned, and reheated. And then, at the end , pressed back into the system with a large fan . Shall we turn that on? There’s a main switch here, right? You can turn it on, nothing will happen. (They laugh.) Too bad. Someone hung a chain there, for whatever reason. Here we are in the Air Defense Operation Center. Senior officers sat here 24/7 and watched this screen. There is now… Of course they took it with them – two small ones, one large one. And here was the entire air movement up to 1,600 kilometers to the east. So it’s about 2,000 kilometers to Moscow. And if unidentified objects had approached from the east, then interceptors would have been launched from Ramstein or wherever . They could then be guided from here, depending on where they were flying to, and they could be engaged accordingly. (Off:) And then I’m allowed to wander around a bit on my own. It’s easy to get lost here with the two-and-a-half-kilometer-long corridors. (Tense music) (Music fades.) A truly remarkable place. But now back to the present. (Friendly music) So. Out of the bunker, into the camper. Now it’s time for a real exploration. I’m taking the thing completely apart. (Relaxed music) Some kind of cover. So much camping stuff. Zack. In case I need a break. Solar panel. (Scratching noises) Wow! Camping lamp. Oh… man. (Relaxed music) Awesome. Ugh! Okay… there! Ah. Ah, ah, ah. Ohhh! Look. (Relaxed music) Yeah, right… (Music ends.) …really good. (Frogs croaking) My first evening with the mini camper. (Birds chirping) (Croaking) Yeah… could be worse. And then the first night. It was very cold, but I slept quite well. The next morning we continue on to the Moselle. (Relaxed, easy-going music) (Car indicators clicking) The Sonnenwerth camping island near Hatzenport has an adventurous access road. (Music ends.) Oh, this is exciting here too. (Birds chirping) First, I meet an ambassador from Landvergnügen.de. I won’t be at one of the portal’s pitches until tomorrow, but he has time for me today. Hello, Stefan. – Hi, hello. Nice place here by the water. – Yes. Hello, hi. Yes, how often do you go to a normal campsite these days? Yes, every now and then, yes, but I’ve been traveling a lot with Landvergnügen, yes. I wasn’t really familiar with it before, Landvergnügen. How long has it been around? It’s been around for over ten years. Ah, cool. How many people are involved? We have over 2,100 hosts in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Hmm. – Yes. Actually, it’s a pretty good network for getting anywhere. Absolutely. Well, it’s really, if you… You usually travel on the next day, and you can almost always find a place somewhere. But it’s also possible to travel very spontaneously, right? That’s part of the concept: spontaneity, letting yourself go, seeing where you’ll be the next day. When we arrive at a place, we look at where we want to go the next day, where our journey will take us. Mhm. – Yes. I’ll be in Eschfeld tomorrow, in the Eifel, and it’s a fruit winery. – Ah. I’m excited to see what the products are like. – Yes, let yourself be surprised. And now I have an appointment with two mini-campers here. They have small cars too and can pack a lot in. I’m curious to see how they’ve made the most of their space. Yes, I was really looking forward to that – mini-campers. (Dreamy music) (laughs:) Hello. (both:) Hello. Small welcoming committee. (Laughter, barking) Right? Yes, sir. (They laugh.) Who are you, hey? (Barking) Hi, I’m Arndt. – Hi, Katja. Hello, Katja. – Hi, Vanessa. Arndt. And these two? Mowgli and Amy. Mowgli! (He mumbles something.) I’ll sit down with you. – Yes, of course. Come join us. Yes. – Robber. Huh? That would be the first thing I wouldn’t do next time, take that big chair with me. It’s been annoying me the whole time the last day because it’s so big. So big? Yes, but also comfortable, right? – It is comfortable, yes. But you really take up a lot of storage space. Yes. – There are lighter versions, yes. There are small ones that fold up. This one, yes. – That’s one of those, right? Since when did you say, I don’t like a big camper, I like a small camper? For me it was like that, I’ve been a camper since early childhood. I was in a caravan when I was five. It was clear to me that I definitely wanted to go camping. And then I looked for a way to do it cheaply. And then I came across high-roof campers and looked at various conversions. The ready-made conversions never really suited me. There was always something I thought I’d like to do differently. And then it turned out I’d have to build it myself. Okay. And then I came up with a concept. And since 2017, I’ve been traveling with my little Berlingo. And do you have a similar story? Yes, we’ve always camped with my parents, actually, but as permanent campers at one site. And then in 2017, we traveled through Australia with the camper. That’s when my passion was awakened, and now with the dogs, the idea was actually that I’d go away for a longer hike and stay overnight. When I see your car, I still don’t believe it will work. – It actually works. I’ve learned so much since yesterday. We can take a look, maybe you have some more tips for me. So, I’m basically quite satisfied. That I brought a bag that flattens out, right? Mhm. Because I made a big mistake. Now here’s the thing. (He laughs.) I’m curious. He’s got a suitcase with him. Is that why you laughed? – Mhm. You have a suitcase, yes. – Interesting approach. (They laugh.) So, this suitcase… is probably the most impractical thing… Yes. Absolutely. – …that you can take with you. How did you do that? So that you can get to everything once you’ve built your bed? Come on. (off:) Finally, a room tour. (on:) Okay, that’s different. Yes. – That looks tidy. I’m a bit of a neat freak. Okay, but that’s something completely different. You have your bed on the side. – Mhm. That’s what it looks like. – Now explain. Yes, here on the other side I have everything you need for travel. In other words, here’s a complete water system. It works. – Works. And you sit comfortably there? – Yes. Want to try it out? Yes, well, I actually wanted to sit like that over there too. Then you put your feet in this storage space. And then you also have a work surface, you can prepare things. Right. – Okay, and storage space everywhere. That’s necessary. But everything you have is in there, right? (Relaxed music) (Background conversation) It stays there, and I put my stuff on it. Yes. (Relaxed music) (Clicking) That’s pretty clever. Cooler, it’s 18 liters. And I keep all my groceries in there. Otherwise it wouldn’t work from the inside. Now all the cushions go on there. (Relaxed music) And now we have a 1.88 meter bed. You’re welcome to try it out. – Yes. Here you go. – With a sleeping bag, probably. Exactly, I have a sleeping bag with me, nice and warm. Wow, that’s right… yes. Especially at the back, you can let your feet hang out, and here’s your head. It’s variable. Depending on how crooked I’m standing, my head is sometimes this way, sometimes that way. Okay, that’s good. I like that. But now I’m wondering, wait a minute, how much is that? – 1.88. 88. Easily enough for me. So, Vanessa… (They laugh.) I’m really excited to see what your Cinquecento looks like now. (Laughter) I still can’t believe it. You’re more of an interior design person, right? Yes. I’ll show you everything in a minute, I’ll just quickly get my jacket. Look here. (Dreamy music) Decoration… decoration… The cup does look like decoration. Do you even drink out of it? Yeah, yeah. – Yes? Sure. Everything here already has its place. Okay, it’s all a bit homemade, right? Yes, everything homemade, yes. I’ll take the curtain… Ah, that’s the water tank, okay. The fresh water tank, next to it the wastewater. And there on the right is coffee and cutlery. Cool, I just discovered that too, look over there. The trash can… with a magnet. – Yeah. You always carry those with you now, right? They come along, yes. They were actually the reason for the conversion. So, now show me your kingdom. – Yeah. Two rooms, kitchen, bathroom. – Something like that. So, here’s the bedroom. The seat had to go, otherwise there’s no room. I also need some storage space there because I want to have a chair. I want a table. Okay, build a bed. – I’ll build a bed. How fast can it go? One minute. – One minute? Time’s ticking. (Leisurely waltz melody, birdsong) Then the mattress goes over there. Like this. Pillows. And blanket. And that’s it. Okay, half a minute, and the bed’s up. Yes. – Like this… Do you want to try lying down? I’ll take my shoes off before I go into the living room. And into your bedroom. (Easy-going music) And anyway. – And anyway. Okay. Eeeeee. So… actually not bad, right? It looks really cozy. The fabric is good too. Yes. – Did you sew them yourself? I made them myself, yes. Now I have to… On your stomach, there are feet in the glove compartment. What? When you lie on your stomach, your feet are in the glove compartment. Really? You put your feet in the glove compartment? Yes. Okay, fine, then I’ll put my feet in the glove compartment like this. Like this? – Exactly. (He groans.) And then, if you’re shorter than 1.70 meters, you can lie stretched out. (They laugh.) It’s, well… I wouldn’t have thought so, but it’s almost comfortable for me. Right? – Yes. Yes. Beautiful, the starry sky. – Yes. Now I’ll take a look, can I look into the compartments? You can look inside. The camping stove and an oven. – What? (Clattering) That’s the camping stove. You can open it up, two burners, because… you also want a warm fried egg with your warm coffee. And you put that on your back shelf. Yes, or on the extra table, yes. – Yes, because of the clothes? Clothes are under the bed right now. Ahh. Here like this? – In the front footwell. Here, there at the front? – Yes. Bathroom? – The support for the slatted frame. Bathroom and kitchen again, pantry. And where do your dogs sleep? One in the driver’s seat, the other in the footwell of the seat. They probably come to cuddle with you. Yes, the one on top comes crawling over every now and then. I think the smallest camper I’ve seen so far— I wouldn’t have thought it would work. And probably only with the trick of putting your feet in the glove compartment. Yes. The best tip I’ve ever heard. (Relaxing music) Now you have to put everything back together, I’m sorry. (off:) And that shouldn’t be missed. Is there anything nicer than sitting by the fire on a warm summer night? No, actually nothing. That’s part of camping. But your mini campers are a philosophy in themselves. I think so. You really have to want it. You have to be willing to get by with little, and especially with little space. Really, this reduction to the essentials. It’s really such a lifestyle that you want that, this minimalistic approach with little going on. You don’t really need much for camping. Is there a community where we can exchange ideas? I’m not really in it myself, but I have a lot of contact because I share my own website and my conversion experiences, so I have a lot of contact with people who also want to do their own conversion. Where do you go? All within a two- or three-hour drive. Mostly it’s a mishmash of campsites and pitch associations like Alpaca and Landvergnügen. You can find things like that abroad too. I basically said straight away that I’d leave the camping toilet I have with me at home. That’s probably not the case for you. No, it’s absolutely essential. In the mornings you can get really stressed, and then it’s nice to have it there. Or during the day when you’re out and about and can’t find anything. So, I couldn’t do without it. Yes. You? For me it’s a question of space. I simply don’t have the room to put them. And I plan everything so that I’m either staying at pitches or have these quick RV sites that have toilets included. I can see that it’s exciting. Mini Camper Adventure. – (both:) Yes. That’s right, isn’t it? – It really is an adventure, yes. And with every new trip. And I’ve learned a lot, and not just about hard-shell suitcases. (Relaxing music) (Fire crackling.) The second night in the mini camper feels pretty good. (Cracking) The next morning: a traditional camper breakfast. (Conversation in the background, birds chirping) There are only a lot of large campers here… and almost no mini campers. I want to move on. Yes… well, that was a lot of fun with you. Thank you for being there. – Likewise, thank you very much. I learned a lot. I know exactly what I need and what I don’t. That’s good. Have lots of fun camping and with further expansion. Thank you very much. – Thank you very much. Safe journey. – Bye. You too, bye. (Leisurely music) My tour takes me to the southwest of the Eifel region. Another camping portal on my list is Landvergnügen. Let’s see what awaits me there. (Relaxed, easy-going music) (Music ends.) And then something else comes up. That looks nice. I could actually make another detour right away. Dasburg Castle. And I’m hungry. (Birds chirping) (Loud, contented sigh) Luxembourg! (off:) Yes, that’s quite a view. (Easy-going guitar music) (Quiet bubbling) Yay! (Cup clinking.) ♪ Da-da. (He sighs contentedly.) (Easy-going guitar music) So, my plan is: This evening I’m going to Eschfeld. And there I’m going to try out the Landvergnügen (country pleasure), or rather Landvergnügen.de. And I’m going to stay overnight on a farm. I don’t have any plans for tomorrow yet, but when I look over there now, that’s Luxembourg right there. I think I’ll take the chance and just make a little detour. I haven’t been to Luxembourg in 20 years. (Relaxed guitar music) (Music ends.) (Birds chirping) Total idyll and in the middle of nowhere. (Muffled voices) Hello! – Hello. Hello, Mechthild. – Good day. I’m here, I wanted to say. – Yes. I parked my car upstairs, my mini camper. Yes. Did you arrive safely? – Yes. Yes , wonderful. What’s the concept behind your treat? I see you don’t have to pay anything. No, you don’t have to pay anything. The concept is that people can buy something from the farm shop. – Mhm. (Off:) Yes, you don’t have to, but I want to. Uh, I’ll definitely take a sparkling wine. Plum liqueur, I think, that’s definitely delicious too. Yes, I also wanted the apple-quince juice. “No additives, naturally cloudy.” Enjoying camping and tasty things in your luggage. Looks good. Yes, tomorrow I’m going to the city of Luxembourg, so today I’m enjoying the idyllic nature again. And maybe a few animals will come by too. It’s going to be beautiful, no matter what. Now I’m going to watch a bit more on the ARD media library. And this is television, and that’s what private life is like. (Birds chirping) My third night, and I have to say, for a few days, it really is fine in a mini camper. Yes, that’s it for me with camping for now. I’ve tried out three concepts: Alpaca Camping, a regular campsite , and now Landvergnügen. I actually think that’s pretty cool, too: not paying anything for the pitch but then shopping and taking home regional products, all while enjoying the beautiful natural surroundings here. I’m also impressed by the concept. Now I’m moving on from Landvergnügen to Luxembourg-Güst. (Leisurely music) (Music stops.) Only about 70 kilometers separate me from Luxembourg city. (Relaxed whistled melody) It’s so beautiful here. We’re in the city of Luxembourg. And it’s quite practical here with a mini camper, you can get around really well and you’ll probably find a parking space anywhere. My plan is this: I’ve spent three nights at the campsite, back here in my little car. I’m going to treat myself now, I’m in Luxembourg, I want to go to a hotel with a proper shower. I’ll just park the car in the underground garage and then explore the city on foot. So… (off:) Luxembourg, a cosmopolitan, European place of longing. (Friendly music) (Music fades away.) The famous casemates of Luxembourg begin here. You can cross-country ski outside, above and below. It’s supposed to be very spectacular. And I have a meeting inside right afterward, in the dark. That will be very exciting, too. (Birds chirping) Wow, it really is beautiful here. Like, really spectacular. I think it’s cool here. (Calm music, birdsong) I’ll take another look at these lanterns later. But first, I’m heading to the lower town. I took the elevator straight down to the banks of the Alzette. (Calm music, birdsong) A dreamy place. And now I have an appointment with Pit from the tourist office, who offers entertaining tours here. Here we are. So, this is a very mystical workplace you have there. Yes, you get used to it, to be honest, but yes. Yes, yes. – This is, so to speak, the cradle of the city. (Conversations of other visitors in the background) Wow, okay. It’s really thick here, thick walls. What was this like before? So, here we are now, in the remains of the castle. In the 1960s, they did an excavation, rediscovered the remains of the castle, and then they created this crypt here. And if we go down one floor back there, we’ll come to the keep and also to the actual casemates. (Expectant drum music) (off:) That’s where I wanted to go. The famous defenses of Luxembourg. (Music ends.) So, those are the casemates now, that used to be… Exactly, those are the casemates. Now we’re standing in the casemates, looking out. What you see there now is Neumünster Abbey. It was a prison until the 1980s. And now it’s a cultural center. – Yes. There’s a tunnel here now, you can go out to the right and left. What were these casemates for? The casemates are actually a system of tunnels that was dug under the fortress. Yes. – To defend the fortress in case of war. They built it all into the rock, right? Exactly, yeah. So the rock is Swiss cheese. (laughs:) Yes. But it’s not just here, it’s also across the street, under the courthouse. Um… yes. 23 kilometers in total. That’s also a bit of a city fortification, city protection. Exactly. – To protect the city as well. You couldn’t lock it up, so to speak, right? So, it was sealed off. The fortress was sealed off; in winter there was a curfew between nine and six , and in summer between eleven and four. The fortress was completely sealed off for two reasons. The first reason is so the enemy couldn’t sneak in. And the other reason is so the soldiers couldn’t desert, because the mood in the fortress was bad. Yes? And there was some desertion too. There are probably a lot of stories about this fortress. The most famous is, of course, that of Count Siegfried and Melusina. He had something with her, or what? – Yes, he had something. Aha. – A bit of sex, crime, rock ‘n’ roll. Ahh. – Yes, but the Middle Ages. So, lute. – Lute. Lute and heavenly singing. – Yes. So heavenly that when Count Siegfried heard the voice, he immediately fell in love and immediately asked Melusina to marry him. Melusina agreed, but under two conditions. The first: Count Siegfried must build her a castle here. The second: that he let her bathe alone in her chambers in the evenings. But Count Siegfried, as men are, became increasingly nervous. – He became curious. At first, he posted guards, but that wasn’t good enough anymore. Then he posted maids. He kept wondering, what were they doing? And then he looked through the keyhole, then their eyes met, and in shock, she took her legs out of the tub, but of course they weren’t legs, they were a fish tail. And Melusina felt so betrayed that she jumped out the window and into the Alzette. And she was never seen again. Okay. But legend has it that Melusina comes up every seven years to get some air. And every seven years she makes a stitch on a golden shroud. When the shroud is large enough to cover the castle rock, then Luxembourg will sink. (He takes a breath.) That’s dramatic. Yeah, yeah. (Mysterious music) (Distant voices) (Laughter) Come with me through the bunker door. Is that a bunker door? – That was a bunker door. I’ll show you something here. – Yes. Do you see this one? – Ah, crazy, okay. These are traces of how the casemates were built. You mean, drilled in or something? – Exactly. So, they drilled here, put black powder in… (He imitates an explosion.) And then you had to clean up all that… explosion, clean up… – Exactly, clean up. And then you have the casemate. And yes, that was one way. It’s also strenuous, but less strenuous than the other method with the pickaxe. Oh God, yes. – Yes. (Impressive music) (Groaning) Come on, let’s climb up… towards daylight. Looks new, right? That’s… relative. Well, the bridge actually dates from 1735. Uh… And yes, but here is… We can still take photos here. This is one of the Insta hotspots. Really? – Do you want to take an Insta pic? Yes. – Cell phone. An Insta hotspot. Out here or what? No, no, no. Turn the camera around. Like this… like this. There. – Come in. Ah, okay. Now. That’s what it looks like. Cool. Selfie in your pocket. Now let’s take one more there. Yes, please. – That’s the way out again. That’s the easy way out. We’re in the middle of the bridge now. We can also go down 40 meters, under the bridge and up 40 meters again. Oh my gosh, I think it’s quite nice here. I do this every day. Then come on. (Impressive music) So, back to the beginning. That was a really cool tour, it was fun. Very historical, exciting. Good guide. Thank you. – Thank you. Have a safe trip home. Yes. – Ciao, ciao. (Birds chirping) (Dreamy music) Back in the upper town. There were these beautiful lanterns here. (French accordion waltz) They belong to a very special restaurant. The Mesa Verde. The right place for my sundowner. (Dreamy music) Ah, hello. – Lucien, morning. Hello. – Thank you very much. Ah, howdy. Sit down. – Yes. Sit down in your own restaurant. I’ll do it, I’ll do it. Cheers, man, cheers. Cheers. This is a very special restaurant. It breathes art. How do you come up with the ideas you implement here? It’s a lot of the people with me… We’re a collective. We meet, and then we inspire each other. And we have a place where we can do it. But you’re also unique. Just like your restaurant. Yes, it’s my life. – Yes? Yes, it’s my… – Have you had it long? It’s 35 years old. – Oh yes. Are you the type who goes camping sometimes? I love camping. – Yes? I have a VW bus. I’ve only driven VW buses since I was 18. Oh, really! What’s in your bus? Uh, this one, the last one, I always had California models. I had this one converted in Holland. I got a long bike so I have 50 centimeters more. And having 50 centimeters more in a camper, that’s, that’s… – Luxury. … Luxury. – Yes. I could live in the camper. – Yes. Yes. Yes, yes, I could live in it. The name of this restaurant came from my… from a camping road movie I made. Getting from San Francisco to Colorado with Mesa Verde to the National Park. And my car suddenly broke down in the middle of the desert on the Navajo Indian reservation … wouldn’t run anymore. And then suddenly, like a cliché, a large American sedan stopped, and inside sat three people with long, black hair, Indians from the reservation. They got out and looked. “We can fix it.” They tinkered with it for ten minutes, hum, hum, and on. And then I said, someday, when we open a new restaurant, that was after Brussels, I’ll have Mesa Verde because I was on my way to Mesa Verde. That’s a story. – That’s camping. (They laugh.) That’s the idea. – Yeah, yeah. Really good. Lucien… – Cheers. It was a lot of fun. – Let’s go camping. Yes, let’s go camping. And so we ended up camping again. Building a camping module into an everyday vehicle is clever. It turns a normal station wagon into a camper in just a few seconds. My trip with the mini camper ends here. And I had a lot of fun. Next time, I would definitely leave some of the camping equipment at home. But otherwise, I have to say, these pitches at Alpaca and Landvergnügen are really good. It’s idyllic, close to nature, more personal than other campsites, the regular ones, and even cheaper. I really liked it. Beautiful peace and quiet in nature. If you’re looking for something like that, this is the place. I also really enjoyed this detour to Luxembourg. It’s a great city, I highly recommend it. Have fun on your next expedition. (Dreamy accordion waltz) SWR 2025