SCHENGEN: THE TOWN BEHIND THE VISA
The Schengen Agreement was originally signed by Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in 1985
As a young adult, whenever I would crisscross around Europe, no visas were needed for entry to the continent. As the years passed, however, I have personally witnessed each European country, one by one, required such documentation to visit its territories. Eventually, all European states followed suit with this endorsement.
But a game changer was in the works and, in time, forever shaped the traveler’s landscape, Filipinos included. The Schengen Visa allowed seamless entry and exit through various European nations with just one record.
In a van on our way to board a river cruise ship, as fate would have it, we unexpectedly caught a sign that said Schengen — that’s right, the same town as the hard-prayed-over answers to Filipino wayfarers’ solicited litanies. “Let’s please take a detour!” chorused our travel buddies.
Although small in size — 31 square kilometers inhabited by some 4,000 citizens — its impact on the entire continent is understated, as it influenced
26 member states with 4.3 million square kilometers of area and a combined population of 420 million.
We owe this authority to the Schengen Agreement, originally signed by Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in 1985. Eventually, the initial list extended to 26 nations to include Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Due to this all-important treaty, the Schengen Visa basically nullified the need for multiple papers for individuals and goods to freely travel between borders.
In this quaint hamlet, we visited the Colonnes des Nations,
a structure composed of three iconic pillars. Nine meters tall, these towers contained 26 stars to represent each signatory state with free spaces for other countries which may possibly wish to join in the future. These steles bore commemorative plaques which highlighted the best-known destinations in each nation. Beside these slabs likewise lay bronze name plates, along with their national flags, proudly waving with the wind.
We then hopped on over to the adjacent Schengen Europe Museum. This humble showroom provided us with
the essential behind-the-scenes information on the European Union, the maintenance of a free-to-travel-within Europe and the crowning glory itself, the copy of the Schengen Agreement.
We decided to pay a call to the 1390s Schengen Castle. Given a facelift in the 19th century, the fortress boasted a medieval central tower whose circular dome pierces the admittedly low — yet still breathtaking — skyline of the town. Its most famous visitor was the French novelist, poet and dramatist Victor Hugo of Les Miserables fame.
We set aside some time to breeze through a couple of surrounding top wineries which regularly produce sought-after Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Riesling, making a mental note to search for their products at the wine depots back home.
We made a detour to the Haff Réimech Nature Reserve, where we sighted never-seen-before birds, which we guessed called the space their home, or otherwise were just visiting during their migration period. Though realizing it was inhabited by more wildlife species, sadly, we abandoned the plan for we were informed the property was all of 300 hectares.
Much to our surprise, the day had quickly winded down. We had to quickly dash to our river boat for our Moselle and Rhine River Cruise with AmaWaterways, with ports of call such as Riquewihr, France’s prettiest town; Trier, an old Roman city in Germany; Rüdesheim, with the amazing mechanical music museum; Bernkastel, with its Landshut Castle hike; Cochem and its half-timbered houses; and Strasbourg’s renowned cathedral.
But that’s for another story, another time.