  The W49 region hosts two bright radio sources: the star forming region W49A
and the supernova remnant W49B. The 10^6 M_odot Giant Molecular Cloud W49A is
one of the most luminous giant radio HII regions in our Galaxy and hosts
several active, high-mass star formation sites. The mixed-morphology supernova
remnant W49B has one of the highest surface brightness in radio of all the SNRs
of this class in our Galaxy and is one of the brightest ejecta-dominated SNRs
in X-rays. Infrared observations evidenced that W49B is interacting with
molecular clouds and Fermi recently reported the detection of a coincident
bright, high-energy gamma-ray source. Observations by the H.E.S.S. telescope
array resulted in the significant detection of VHE gamma-ray emission from the
W49 region, compatible with VHE emission from the SNR W49B. The results, the
morphology and the origin of the VHE emission are presented in the
multi-wavelength context and the implications on the origin of the signal are
discussed.
