[60] Smuggler’s Path

The path gets its name from the post-war period when coffee smuggling from Belgium was one of the main sources of income for the people of Schmidt. Schmidt was over 90% destroyed at the end of World War II, including the parish church of St. Hubertus. With the profits from smuggling coffee across the nearby border, the people of Schmidt supported their families and rebuilt their destroyed houses. This did not go unnoticed by the then priest Josef Beyer. The rebuilding of the church initially progressed somewhat slowly. In a sermon, he said: „I know you get headaches from all the money. For me, it’s the opposite, because I don’t know where to find the money for rebuilding the church.“ From then on, the smugglers sacrificed part of their profits from the coffee trade for the church’s reconstruction. Therefore, it is popularly known as St. Mokka.