The Lousberg is a wooded hill rising above the northern edge of the old town, the highest point within Aachen city limits and a popular escape for residents. The park at the summit has wide views across the city toward the Belgian and Dutch borders — on a clear day the tower of Maastricht Cathedral is visible. The spiral path up through the beech forest is pleasant in any season; the summit cafe is open in summer.
The hill has a dark footnote: it was the site of a Bronze Age burial mound, and during the Second World War the area around it saw some of the heaviest urban fighting in Germany when Aachen became the first German city captured by American forces in October 1944.