TRIJUNCTION
The location seems imprecated, situated off the beaten path and marked by silence: the so-called ‘trijunction’. Three historic countries, the county Ravensberg and the bishoprics of Münster and Osnabrück, met at this point during the Middle Ages and separated the neighbouring communities of Versmold, Laer and Füchtorf. After the reformation, in which Versmold became Protestant - while the neighbours remained Catholic - the triangle transformed even more into the enchanted place. Nameless groups, and under peasant groups of people settled in the surrounding wooden environment. Smugglers and gangs of thieves - the so-called ‘Unkemänner’ - found quiet refuge. Especially salt smuggling flourished and throughout the region, adjoining the Bishopric of Osnabrück and the later Kingdom of Hanover. Specifically, the salt from Rothenfelde, which was smuggled across Bockhorst – was highly coveted. Salt from Laer mostly found its way to Versmold passing the ‘trijunction’. Soon, the border was closely guarded, and smuggling was denied using force. During the recent decades, the native people of the three communities freshly discovered the ‘trijunction’. Every year they celebrate a festival of encounters here, and the once separated history has long been overcome.
Shield No. 8
Zum Dreiländereck
33775 Versmold
52.063485°N 8.11662°E
