Dutch/Belgian border at Baarle-Nassau

The famous café lying on the border.

Ever seen those famous pictures of a nice café lying just right to the Belgian-Dutch border, noted by a row of crosses? Well this place is no hoax and is located in the Dutch province of North Brabant but is a bit more complicated than simply the "Dutch-Belgian border".



The map-red is NL, yellow is BE-

So inside the Netherlands there are a few pieces of land that are actually Belgium (exclaves). Most of them are located some 5km from the Belgian border but a few are further inside. They belong to the Belgian Baarle-Hertog municipality bordering with the Dutch Baarle-Nassau municipality. But it gets even more complicated. The Baarle-Hertog is not a single piece of land but more than 30 of them scattered all over the North Brabant province! There are a few Dutch pieces of land completely surrounded by Belgian and all located in the Netherlands. In the picture to the left, the yellow parts are Belgium, the red Netherlands and everything around them, Netherlands.




The complicated border line

Tobacco store

 What looks like a mess, is apparently the result of land exchanges and treaties that go way back to the middle ages. The borders as they are today were defined by the treaty of Maastricht of 1834. There have been several attempts throughout the centuries to simply swap pieces of land between the two countries but all have failed.

Today I am pretty sure that no-one is trying anymore as the town is a tourist attraction and created many jobs. On my walk to the Belgian territory I couldn't help noticing the many Tobacco shops (apparently tobacco is cheaper in Belgium) and the many shops selling fireworks (!). I guess its not legal to sell that stuff in the Netherlands.


The easiest way to reach Baarle-Nassau in the Netherlands, is by car. By public transportation, take a train to the city of Breda and then bus 132. It is more than 2hr from Amsterdam.

Apart from walking around in the town in and out of Belgium and Netherlands, the place is full of nice cafes and restaurants. Depending on which side you come from, you can find products to buy at cheaper prices.



Crossing the border

Fun facts

- Few years ago Netherlands and Belgium had different opening hours for restaurants and bars. So places that lied in both countries simply closed the part belonging to the country closing earlier and moved customers to the other that stayed open

- One of the commodities illegally smuggled between the regions was butter, which women put in their dresses. In order to cope with that, the authorities made the border checks next to …furnaces!
- When in 1996 the border was slightly redrawn, one house changed countries. Because the owner did not like that, simply moved his front door to the country of his preference (apparently each house belongs to the country where your front door is located)
- A similar situation with complicated exclaves can be found in the India-Bangladesh border, at the district of Cooch-Behar
 

Some pictures



Borders

Dutch house numbering




Built in two countries

Store in two countries

Sources:
http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/baarle.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baarle-Nassau
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baarle-Hertog
google maps