One correction: the start of the Schengen Area in 1995 was not when the borders between the Netherlands and Belgium were removed. In fact, that apparently happened as early as the late 1940s with the introduction of the Benelux agreement between the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg! Thank you to the commenters who pointed this one out to us. ❤
And before that the exclave borders were not national borders, the Netherlands respected the areas to be Belgium, but within the Netherlands, and their town hall was in Belgian town Zondereigen. Only from the mid 1980's the areas are completely Belgian, and the border markings were made.
The border controls were actually removed in 1960. The 1944 Benelux-agreement was a customs union, by the 1960s is was pretty much a mini-version of what the EU is today.
No, you were correct initially. Shengen started in 1995. Before that, there was border control albeit nothing like you have between the US, Mexico and Canada. These were occasional IC spot checks, and customs checking your car booth. And contrary to what some are writing here you could get fined. First hand experience with bringing in wine from Luxembourg, lots of it. :D
I still remenber the days that you had to pay in one part of Baarle-Nassau/Baarle-Hertog with Belgium Franks and one street on with Dutch Guilders. Even in those days the Ice-cream was great!
The signs with numbers mentioned on the end are identifiers for pipes underground, showing which ones are close; what type (water/heating/gas/sewage), diameter and depth. There would be a water mains 4.4 meter to the left and 0.4 meter to the back with a diameter of 50. Often they also have a "BK" marking for a fire hydrant or "AS" for a shutoff valve.
During the pandemic, both countries had different measures. Which meant at some moment, the Dutch restaurants and cafes were closed and the Belgian ones were open and did good business. Also, some shops had to shield half their shop. 🙂
@@buncharted during my youth in the netherlands (grew up few km from baarle) the drinking age was 16, but its 18 for some years. been away for some years from brabant now but i believe these days belgium has a lower drinking age now (correct me if im wrong). anyway baarle was for sure the go to place for refueling my car for obvious reasons. also fun fact, the carnaval name of baarle (basicly every brabant village has a unique carnaval name) is smokkelgat (smuggle hole). because ... reasons.
You should visit the Vierlandenp...., excuse me, Drielandenpunt in Vaals. See you in (former) 'Neutraal Moresnet', now that is a place with a crazy history that not even a lot of Ducth people know about!
I visited Point Robert using a US-rental car entering the USA. There was a full border control including questions like "What are you planning to do in the USA?". Point Roberts is the Gibralter of the USA. We were the only car we've seen with a USA licence plate. All other cars had Canadian licence plates. And our USA-Garmin didn't show any of the roads in Point Roberts. Very strange... Sorry for my bad English...
I was surprised when I heard you were in Breda. I live there, we could have come across eachother :) Also I learned more about Baarle-Nassau and Hertog from you then anyone else ;) I visited it once but should come back there one day again. Enjoy your stay in The Netherlands and the rest of Europe!
there is another place in the Netherlands with about the same weird border lines as Baarle-Hertog, this place also has a more recent history, namely Dinxperloo half Dutch half German
In Dinxperloo it's "just" a border right through the village right? Baarle-Hertog has several "islands", I'd say it is quite a bit weirder. But in a way Dinxperloo is cool specifically because it follows a road, and for a long stretch one side of the road is Dutch and the other is German.
It's not te same. in Dinxperlo, and several other dutch towns, the border runs through the town, instead of in an open field or a river, or whatever. There are no enclaves.
Strange border situations? Just to name two: Pheasant Island swaps regularly between France and Spain: ruclips.net/video/dGwjtjgiivE/видео.html&pp=ygUNdGltIHRyYXZlbGxlcg%3D%3D The former Vennbahn lead to a Belgian cycle path in Germany: ruclips.net/video/KEM_cp6hVeM/видео.html&pp=ygUNdGltIHRyYXZlbGxlcg%3D%3D
Those numbers you asked about are (I believe) signs about the whereabouts from gas and or water and electricity pipes and cables. There used to be al lot of surcharge people going to Baarle to get cheaper tobacco. And of course many times on the way back customs officers would check you for having contraband!
@@buncharted Nope, you can find them all over the Netherlands, especially in the less modern area's. But most of the time if you're not looking for them they don't stand out at all. Remi Zeeland is absolutely correct.
Should you consider a visit to Den Helder (Sail 2023?) make sure to get in touch with city marketing. I'm sure Manouk would be thrilled to help you out. Greetings and kudos love your vids.
Lake Lugano is shared between Italy and Switzerland. Their is an Italian exclave, Campione d'Italia, on the lake in Switzerland. On the other side of Switzerland there is the German town of Búsingen, just east of the falls on the Rhine at Schaffhausen, surrounded by Switzerland. Other strange places: the German city state of Hamburg has an island out in the Waddenzee/Wattenmeer: Neuwerk that you can visit. Also there is the island of Helgoland, worth staying a few nights. Islands can always be fun. Still on my to do list are Ertholmene, the easternmost part of Denmark and Isole Tremiti, Italian islands in the Adriatic sea. To name but a few.
I live in Tilburg and a few times a year I bicycle to Baarle Nassau. I take the bicycle path ‘Bels lijntje’, a former railway track from Tilburg to Alphen, Baarle Nassau and Turnhout.
I love looking at maps. I remember the first time I really looked at the border between the Netherlands and Belgium. I was like "holy crap what is this?"
@@buncharted I do hope to visit the Netherlands some day. I'm an intermediate Dutch language learner and watch a LOT of Dutch TV shows and movies. But I've never been there. I'm glad I found your channel.
The borderline has been simplified enormously when the two countries separated. Many small areas have been exchanged to get a more clear line. Luiksgestel in the Netherlands was Belgian, and Moll in Belgium was Dutch. So over a stretch of only five kilometers the border would have been about forty km in absurd curves. Most problems were resolved only Baarle kept it's complexity, probably because inhabitants saw the (il)legal advantages. Only recently both countries exchanged territory on both sides of the river Maas because straightening some curves had created uninhabited exclaves. People would have parties there, out of reach from one police force and the other facing a border line. Seemed funny but could be abused if situation had continued.
My grandpa was smuggling butter in the day. The English translation of the lunchroom was better than the Dutch name. About Schengen, I’m from Zundert about 20Km from Baarle-Nassau, we had already a treaty in the Benelux for free travel for citizens. The reason is just showing how strange a enclave is, and good marketing.
You can go to Vennbahn, a bicycle road in the German part of Belgium. A part of it near Roetgen is a small Belgian part in Germany. It's only a few meters wide. But the nature in that area is very beatiful.
A great theme for a vlog. Most tourists from America would not come here, as they would concentrate on the large cities and probably would not even know about this history. So this should be of interest to those tourist who plan a visit to the Netherlands or Belgium. But I enjoyed it as well, even though I am Dutch and know this you managed to bring me some new knowledge, like the front door border rule😊 Keep them coming ❤
@@buncharted what you might want to research a bit for next trips: de waddeneilanden, Valkenburg, Bourtange, Giethoorn to name some interesting parts of the Netherlands
Drielandenpunt near Vaals comes to my mind to visit, you will probably will be interested, as already suggested here by others. However. then do not forget there used to be a 'Vierlandenpunt'. From 1816 till the invasion in 1914 by the Germans there used to be a neutral state, 'Moresnet' (Belgium now). After the defeat of Napoleon, the Germans and Dutch (Belgium did not exist) could not agree on a small part on how to divide the land. That is because there was a very important Zinc-mine everybody wanted to have. So a Neutral (mini) State was introduced that existed for a hundred years or so. At least you can see a number of border poles from this former country, for the rest I think there is not so much living history to be seen. There are a few documentaries about this you can find, but I think they will be only in Dutch.
When I was there last time, back in 1987, I never had to show my ID or passport and I was able to go wherever I wanted. We were on vacation in Chaam (a village halfway between Baarle Nassau/ Baarle Hertog and Breda, and we would regularly take a bicycle to go to Baarle Nassau/ Baarle Hertog. Those were the days alright.
Another thing you could do (as a "new dutchies") is to hire a caravan on a camping. Caravans are typical dutch. Maybe a bit boring for the two of you or maybe not??? And you can use your bikes to explore the area around the camping. Campings are found in a lot of places. So you can combine it with a city!
I never knew that the Fanta in Belgium was that different, and I live near the border! (Bergen op Zoom) Also never noticed a difference in taste either.
Groceries are cheaper in the Netherlands than in Belgium, that's why you will find almost no Belgian grocery stores near the Dutch border if there are Dutch grocery stores nearby because everyone would shop in the Netherlands to save money.
Very interesting story about Moresnet. The country that wss put between Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands for a hundred years. and was finally given to Belgium after de First World War. It had the biggest sink mine in the world and was a paradise for smugglers!
I live in Tilburg when i was young i am now 60 years old,the shops in Belgium where open on sunday so a lot of dutch people went on sunday to the border for tobacco petrol and belgium chocolade and Belgium frieten( chips) but now a days it's less,but petrol and tobacco are still cheaper in Belgium but in the Netherlands the shops are also open on sunda4 that was the big attraction
Belgische frieten zijn, "Fries", chips are made by Lay's and Croky mainly for the Dutch and Belgian market, it's a totally different product, also in The US Lay's makes chips the same as our chips they don't give it another name since out word chips is a loanword from the Americans, but different flavors and ingredients. Of course there are other chips brands as well before you start complaining about it that we got others besides Lay's and Croky. I've never seen Americans, calling "friet" chips at all, since our word chips means the exact same thing as in the US
Love these nerdy video's🤓 Maybe i'll pay Baarle-Nassau-Hertog a visit someday. For an interesting, not so little exclave that you'll probably never be able to visit: Kaliningrad 🧐However, you can visit the Curonian Spit in Lithuania and get quite close. Never been there but it's sure interesting 😅
The last question...they are signs for designating various connection/presence and details for utility items, like a sewer, fire hose connection, water or gas lines etc. This is for the authorities to quickly determine location and specifics about the object they are looking for. T is location of the board, top is unique ID, number directly in the T on the left or the right is the meter distance left or right from center of the board, and the bottom number is the amount of meters 90degrees away from the facade.
I think in the past some official actually had borderline and made a game out or it by placing tiles everywhere. I heard some homes pay taxes in two countries(upon looking later up in the video i see you have seen those houses as well), i mean that is borderline for sure 😀. That restaurant story it just insane, but the front door move takes the cake.
Pointing plates ', that's the official name. They are intended to quickly find hydrants, sewers and appliances in water, gas and district heating networks. Each sign has a unique identification number, the diameter of the pipe and its location relative to the sign.good and interesting video about baarle nassau/hertog next time try vlaamse frieten hihi
If you nerdy enough for Baarle you love the Tripoint in Vaals. The road that leads to it is called the viergrenzenweg (4 boarders way) only that is a great story on its one. And as a American you should combine it with a visit to the US cemetery in Margraten and find out about the adoption of the graves
odd enclaves and or exclaves in Europe: Former Berlin; the half border between Moldavia and Transnistrie that is only recognized by Transnistrie, Gibraltar, Ireland as part of the EU and Northern Ireland and also their historiy, Kaliningrad that used to belong to Germany, Guernsey and Jersey,
The border lines on the street indicate on whose territory you are, Belgium or the Netherlands, important for example the law, police and taxes, if you step over the line you are officially in another country.
The general border between Belgium (originally the southern netherlands) and The Netherlands (northern netherlands) dates back to the 15hundreds. The re-uniting of both countries early 19th-century under a Dutch king (willem l of orange-nassau) lasted no longer than 30 years. After the (second) split-off the original border was installed again. So that's why Belgium differs so much from The Netherlands. Education of Belgian childern always was (still is?) Belgian, so the difference between both the - nassau's really does exist....
All of Baarle has dutch gas and water. The electrical grid is seperated so is the TV/Internet service. But this is just since 10 yrs or so in the case of TV. Before that the entire town had belgian tv and internet. Baarle was even the only town that could watch both the dutch (rtl,sbs) and the belgian (2be, vtm) commercial networks.
You talk about fireworks.. Try to visit a nice old town like Kampen on new year's eve.. There's a thing called carbidschieten. Look it up.. it's really an experience. And of course it's not only in Kampen.
Have you been to Vaals? triple border betweet Belgium The Netherlands and Germany but it usrd to be a quatrippel bordr with a small country added by the name of Moresnet.
@@buncharted For the longest time there hasn't been any border control between the Netherlands and Belgium. I was born in 1971 and I don't remember acually border control going to Belgium. I think there were guards in the border posts, but cars could just drive freely across the border without being stopped. I do remember border control going to Germany, usually just a guard standing there and waving cars to pass. Occasionally stopping a car. Schengen was expanded gradually over the decades to include more and more countries. I can imagine friendly countries had no-border-control agreements prior to Schengen, such as Norway and Sweden.
@@BobWitlox I'm slightly older and in the late sixties travelling to Baarle meant have a passport ready. Even later in the late seventies you better buy your fireworks somewhere else in Belgium and transport away from Baarle. You were likely to get caught. My route normally was through Poppel or Luyksgestel.
@@eddys.3524 I guess it's a matter of definition. The Schengen Agreement between Benelux, Germany and France stems from 1985. The Schengen Area dates back to 1995.
we did not - just transferred between the train and the bus. we'll have to vlog in breda soon though! we haven't really seen all that much of it yet...
There is already the Benelux. The countries Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg are working together since the 70s. It was a a sort of pilot for the EU. These 3 countries have a deeply shared history so it was not that complicated to overcome nationality
Benelux started during WWII and was implemented around 1950 to grow more and more together and resolve differences. Tobacco tax, alcohol tax, fuel tax, taxing each others products, rules and regulations, should harmonize so borders could be fully opened.
Somewhere since the seventies there wer no border cheks between Belgie en Nederland. I am crossing the border since 1977 at least every year and never saw any. It should have been a comnsequence of the customs union the Benelux. ALthough, that does not comply with the butter smuggle till 1968.
Before Schengen Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands where part of the BeNeLux. It was a borer free zone. There where no border controlls between the tree country's.
Have you tried to become a smuggler of Fanta in that region? You both could be very succesful I think. Theres a huge demand, but you need an official bag for that. And to make it profitable you got to take some bricks of cocaine back to Belgium the next time. Good luck! I am in the MIlka business. Filling my bag in Austria with a superlarge version of one of their chocolate tablets, deemed unsafe here in the Netherlands maybe? I make like 80 cents a piece. That's like almost what you guys had on Kings Day, so you know what it can buy you! Cheers!
Now THIS is an odd thing... Sweden, the cold(!) country up north was at war with the mini-state of San Marino within the Italian boarders. Napoleon had declaired war with Sweden (then a big and slightly powerful country). However, this was before Garibaldi's unification of Italy, so in reality, it was several nations in today's nothern Italy (including the then nation state of Venice) that was at war with Sweden. However, the peace was declaired 358 years ago... although for some reason, San Marino never signed the peace treaty. Perhaps because no Swedish soldier ever put their foot on San Marino ground, or even a clerical error. In 1972, a history student at Bologna University (Italy) found that there were no signature or seal from the Duke of San Marino... so in reality: the two countries were still at war; San Marino and Sweden. Then, when the Swedish King visited Italy in 1991, he finally signed a document at the San Marino High Commission in Rome that Sweden and San Marino are FINALLY(!) at peace... I know, its hard to believe. I have even found places online that state that this was all an urban legend, but it is/was in fact true.
Until recently the Netherlands were at war with the Scilly Islands near Cornwall! Ever since the Anglo-Dutch Wars. They both decided to finally make peace. Op 17 april 1986 werd een vredesverdrag getekend, waarmee een einde kwam aan de Driehonderdvijfendertigjarige Oorlog met Nederland, die sinds 1651 duurde en waarin geen enkel schot was gelost.
There was also a (very) little island on the coast of England. The Dutch once declared war against it. I don't kno the reason. But this "war" lasted for hundreds of years.
I opt for calling that Place "Baarle Europe" That should be a proper name, being advanced in becomming one Europe. No more borders, start of Europe as a being a state/country.
The Flanders region of Belgium should re-unite with my country the Netherlands in my honest opinion and why both we speak Dutch. France may have France speaking part😊 There's also a very small part of Belgium that speaks German Germany may have that that small part. Is Belgium really a real legitimate country??? And please don't get me wrong i don't hate Belgium i love the people over there and i really love their food. Other than that a great video keep up the great work👍 En nog een prettige dag toegewenst. 4:164:16
if you thing BN/BH is special please read up on the history of Neutral Moresnet ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutral_Moresnet ). It doesn't actually exist as such any more, but the history is really an amazing story.
One correction: the start of the Schengen Area in 1995 was not when the borders between the Netherlands and Belgium were removed. In fact, that apparently happened as early as the late 1940s with the introduction of the Benelux agreement between the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg!
Thank you to the commenters who pointed this one out to us. ❤
That was sort of the start of the European Union.
There was even a Benelux Train,started in Amsterdam
And before that the exclave borders were not national borders, the Netherlands respected the areas to be Belgium, but within the Netherlands, and their town hall was in Belgian town Zondereigen. Only from the mid 1980's the areas are completely Belgian, and the border markings were made.
The border controls were actually removed in 1960. The 1944 Benelux-agreement was a customs union, by the 1960s is was pretty much a mini-version of what the EU is today.
No, you were correct initially. Shengen started in 1995. Before that, there was border control albeit nothing like you have between the US, Mexico and Canada. These were occasional IC spot checks, and customs checking your car booth. And contrary to what some are writing here you could get fined. First hand experience with bringing in wine from Luxembourg, lots of it. :D
I still remenber the days that you had to pay in one part of Baarle-Nassau/Baarle-Hertog with Belgium Franks and one street on with Dutch Guilders. Even in those days the Ice-cream was great!
I remember that you could pay with both currencies everywhere in the Baarles. I think I saw dual pricing back then.
The signs with numbers mentioned on the end are identifiers for pipes underground, showing which ones are close; what type (water/heating/gas/sewage), diameter and depth. There would be a water mains 4.4 meter to the left and 0.4 meter to the back with a diameter of 50. Often they also have a "BK" marking for a fire hydrant or "AS" for a shutoff valve.
we were hoping it was something border related 😅
@@buncharted if you look closely, these things should be found all over the Netherlands :)
During the pandemic, both countries had different measures. Which meant at some moment, the Dutch restaurants and cafes were closed and the Belgian ones were open and did good business. Also, some shops had to shield half their shop. 🙂
amazing! i think belgium and the netherlands also have minimum drinking ages. so interesting!
@@buncharted during my youth in the netherlands (grew up few km from baarle) the drinking age was 16, but its 18 for some years. been away for some years from brabant now but i believe these days belgium has a lower drinking age now (correct me if im wrong). anyway baarle was for sure the go to place for refueling my car for obvious reasons. also fun fact, the carnaval name of baarle (basicly every brabant village has a unique carnaval name) is smokkelgat (smuggle hole). because ... reasons.
Love to see this again... I grew up in Breda and used to bike to Baarle-Nassau regularly on sundays 😊
You should visit the Vierlandenp...., excuse me, Drielandenpunt in Vaals.
See you in (former) 'Neutraal Moresnet', now that is a place with a crazy history that not even a lot of Ducth people know about!
Oooo you have been in my city. Great you did a video about it. Would have be great to meet you
it’s such a beautiful city!!
@@buncharted Thank you
I visited Point Robert using a US-rental car entering the USA. There was a full border control including questions like "What are you planning to do in the USA?". Point Roberts is the Gibralter of the USA. We were the only car we've seen with a USA licence plate. All other cars had Canadian licence plates. And our USA-Garmin didn't show any of the roads in Point Roberts. Very strange... Sorry for my bad English...
we would love to visit point robert someday. such a strange little part of the US!
I once ate white asparagus with Zwezerik (Sweetbread) in Baarle-Nassau.
That's a local seasonal dish, and now it is the season.
I was surprised when I heard you were in Breda.
I live there, we could have come across eachother :)
Also I learned more about Baarle-Nassau and Hertog from you then anyone else ;)
I visited it once but should come back there one day again.
Enjoy your stay in The Netherlands and the rest of Europe!
Of course there is food in your video! 😂 nice vlog!
I'm loving the awkward humour on this video hahaha yeah nice 👍👍 😅
I watch your channel with joy. And what impressese me is your knowledege. Respect.. And i am a Dutch boy..
there is another place in the Netherlands with about the same weird border lines as Baarle-Hertog, this place also has a more recent history, namely Dinxperloo half Dutch half German
In Dinxperloo it's "just" a border right through the village right? Baarle-Hertog has several "islands", I'd say it is quite a bit weirder.
But in a way Dinxperloo is cool specifically because it follows a road, and for a long stretch one side of the road is Dutch and the other is German.
It's not te same. in Dinxperlo, and several other dutch towns, the border runs through the town, instead of in an open field or a river, or whatever. There are no enclaves.
Strange border situations? Just to name two:
Pheasant Island swaps regularly between France and Spain: ruclips.net/video/dGwjtjgiivE/видео.html&pp=ygUNdGltIHRyYXZlbGxlcg%3D%3D
The former Vennbahn lead to a Belgian cycle path in Germany: ruclips.net/video/KEM_cp6hVeM/видео.html&pp=ygUNdGltIHRyYXZlbGxlcg%3D%3D
Again great video!!
thank you!
Those numbers you asked about are (I believe) signs about the whereabouts from gas and or water and electricity pipes and cables.
There used to be al lot of surcharge people going to Baarle to get cheaper tobacco. And of course many times on the way back customs officers would check you for having contraband!
Correct. These shields come in extremely handy for firefighters in search for water when the mancovers are covered in snow.
oooooh - we thought it had something to do with the border situation! thought blue was some sort of netherlands tax code and red was belgium...
@@buncharted Nope, you can find them all over the Netherlands, especially in the less modern area's. But most of the time if you're not looking for them they don't stand out at all.
Remi Zeeland is absolutely correct.
Should you consider a visit to Den Helder (Sail 2023?) make sure to get in touch with city marketing. I'm sure Manouk would be thrilled to help you out. Greetings and kudos love your vids.
Lake Lugano is shared between Italy and Switzerland. Their is an Italian exclave, Campione d'Italia, on the lake in Switzerland.
On the other side of Switzerland there is the German town of Búsingen, just east of the falls on the Rhine at Schaffhausen, surrounded by Switzerland.
Other strange places: the German city state of Hamburg has an island out in the Waddenzee/Wattenmeer: Neuwerk that you can visit. Also there is the island of Helgoland, worth staying a few nights.
Islands can always be fun. Still on my to do list are Ertholmene, the easternmost part of Denmark and Isole Tremiti, Italian islands in the Adriatic sea. To name but a few.
Great video i am dutch and i did not know all the stories 😂 great!!
I live in Tilburg and a few times a year I bicycle to Baarle Nassau. I take the bicycle path ‘Bels lijntje’, a former railway track from Tilburg to Alphen, Baarle Nassau and Turnhout.
I love looking at maps. I remember the first time I really looked at the border between the Netherlands and Belgium. I was like "holy crap what is this?"
we saw it for the first time playing geoguessr - so excited when we realized we could actually go there!
@@buncharted I do hope to visit the Netherlands some day. I'm an intermediate Dutch language learner and watch a LOT of Dutch TV shows and movies. But I've never been there. I'm glad I found your channel.
The borderline has been simplified enormously when the two countries separated. Many small areas have been exchanged to get a more clear line. Luiksgestel in the Netherlands was Belgian, and Moll in Belgium was Dutch. So over a stretch of only five kilometers the border would have been about forty km in absurd curves. Most problems were resolved only Baarle kept it's complexity, probably because inhabitants saw the (il)legal advantages.
Only recently both countries exchanged territory on both sides of the river Maas because straightening some curves had created uninhabited exclaves. People would have parties there, out of reach from one police force and the other facing a border line. Seemed funny but could be abused if situation had continued.
My grandpa was smuggling butter in the day.
The English translation of the lunchroom was better than the Dutch name.
About Schengen, I’m from Zundert about 20Km from Baarle-Nassau, we had already a treaty in the Benelux for free travel for citizens.
The reason is just showing how strange a enclave is, and good marketing.
You can go to Vennbahn, a bicycle road in the German part of Belgium. A part of it near Roetgen is a small Belgian part in Germany. It's only a few meters wide. But the nature in that area is very beatiful.
the little signes on the wall at the end define where Utility lines are burried. ;)
A great theme for a vlog.
Most tourists from America would not come here, as they would concentrate on the large cities and probably would not even know about this history.
So this should be of interest to those tourist who plan a visit to the Netherlands or Belgium.
But I enjoyed it as well, even though I am Dutch and know this you managed to bring me some new knowledge, like the front door border rule😊
Keep them coming
❤
thank you!! we had a lot of fun visiting this one. first dutch city we’ve visited without a direct train connection!
@@buncharted what you might want to research a bit for next trips: de waddeneilanden, Valkenburg, Bourtange, Giethoorn to name some interesting parts of the Netherlands
Drielandenpunt near Vaals comes to my mind to visit, you will probably will be interested, as already suggested here by others. However. then do not forget there used to be a 'Vierlandenpunt'. From 1816 till the invasion in 1914 by the Germans there used to be a neutral state, 'Moresnet' (Belgium now). After the defeat of Napoleon, the Germans and Dutch (Belgium did not exist) could not agree on a small part on how to divide the land. That is because there was a very important Zinc-mine everybody wanted to have. So a Neutral (mini) State was introduced that existed for a hundred years or so.
At least you can see a number of border poles from this former country, for the rest I think there is not so much living history to be seen. There are a few documentaries about this you can find, but I think they will be only in Dutch.
we're looking for movies and tv shows to watch in dutch - so a documentary might be perfect! we'll look for one :)
When I was there last time, back in 1987, I never had to show my ID or passport and I was able to go wherever I wanted. We were on vacation in Chaam (a village halfway between Baarle Nassau/ Baarle Hertog and Breda, and we would regularly take a bicycle to go to Baarle Nassau/ Baarle Hertog. Those were the days alright.
we passed chaam on the bus going to baarle - very nice little town!
Please say hello! I love your videos! I follow your channel. 👍
thank you! ❤️❤️❤️
Another thing you could do (as a "new dutchies") is to hire a caravan on a camping. Caravans are typical dutch. Maybe a bit boring for the two of you or maybe not??? And you can use your bikes to explore the area around the camping. Campings are found in a lot of places. So you can combine it with a city!
I think the drielandenpunt is interesting to you guys as well🤔
I never knew that the Fanta in Belgium was that different, and I live near the border! (Bergen op Zoom)
Also never noticed a difference in taste either.
Groceries are cheaper in the Netherlands than in Belgium, that's why you will find almost no Belgian grocery stores near the Dutch border if there are Dutch grocery stores nearby because everyone would shop in the Netherlands to save money.
Very interesting story about Moresnet. The country that wss put between Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands for a hundred years. and was finally given to Belgium after de First World War. It had the biggest sink mine in the world and was a paradise for smugglers!
And Vaals had a four country point! Where NL BE DE and NM would meet.
And Moresnet had a lot of café's because they did not tax the beer.
Check Ceuta, which is a Spanish enclave on Morrocan soil. A very interesting gateway to Morroco
we’d love to visit ceuta someday!
I live in Tilburg when i was young i am now 60 years old,the shops in Belgium where open on sunday so a lot of dutch people went on sunday to the border for tobacco petrol and belgium chocolade and Belgium frieten( chips) but now a days it's less,but petrol and tobacco are still cheaper in Belgium but in the Netherlands the shops are also open on sunda4 that was the big attraction
Belgische frieten zijn, "Fries", chips are made by Lay's and Croky mainly for the Dutch and Belgian market, it's a totally different product, also in The US Lay's makes chips the same as our chips they don't give it another name since out word chips is a loanword from the Americans, but different flavors and ingredients. Of course there are other chips brands as well before you start complaining about it that we got others besides Lay's and Croky.
I've never seen Americans, calling "friet" chips at all, since our word chips means the exact same thing as in the US
@@dutchgamer842 Chips is the British English word for fries. And what we call chips, they call crisps.
@@Wintertalent Well if you're from mainland Europe, it's fries for fries and chips is only the snack produced by Lay's and competing brands.
Love these nerdy video's🤓 Maybe i'll pay Baarle-Nassau-Hertog a visit someday. For an interesting, not so little exclave that you'll probably never be able to visit: Kaliningrad 🧐However, you can visit the Curonian Spit in Lithuania and get quite close. Never been there but it's sure interesting 😅
we would love to visit kaliningrad someday!
Three countries point,went there when was a kid❤
The last question...they are signs for designating various connection/presence and details for utility items, like a sewer, fire hose connection, water or gas lines etc. This is for the authorities to quickly determine location and specifics about the object they are looking for. T is location of the board, top is unique ID, number directly in the T on the left or the right is the meter distance left or right from center of the board, and the bottom number is the amount of meters 90degrees away from the facade.
thank you!
I think in the past some official actually had borderline and made a game out or it by placing tiles everywhere. I heard some homes pay taxes in two countries(upon looking later up in the video i see you have seen those houses as well), i mean that is borderline for sure 😀. That restaurant story it just insane, but the front door move takes the cake.
haha “that’s borderline”. well done :)
Pointing plates ', that's the official name. They are intended to quickly find hydrants, sewers and appliances in water, gas and district heating networks. Each sign has a unique identification number, the diameter of the pipe and its location relative to the sign.good and interesting video about baarle nassau/hertog next time try vlaamse frieten hihi
thank you!
Next place to go het drie landenpunt in vaals Limburg where the netherlands belgium and germany meet
If you nerdy enough for Baarle you love the Tripoint in Vaals. The road that leads to it is called the viergrenzenweg (4 boarders way) only that is a great story on its one. And as a American you should combine it with a visit to the US cemetery in Margraten and find out about the adoption of the graves
Might as well include some history on Moresnet while there.
@@spoenk7448 I was hinting on that 😉
odd enclaves and or exclaves in Europe: Former Berlin; the half border between Moldavia and Transnistrie that is only recognized by Transnistrie, Gibraltar, Ireland as part of the EU and Northern Ireland and also their historiy, Kaliningrad that used to belong to Germany, Guernsey and Jersey,
There’s another town in the netherlands whitch is split but with Germany called : Dinxperlo!
The border lines on the street indicate on whose territory you are, Belgium or the Netherlands, important for example the law, police and taxes, if you step over the line you are officially in another country.
During the first few decades..? From 1815 to 1830!
The general border between Belgium (originally the southern netherlands) and The Netherlands (northern netherlands) dates back to the 15hundreds.
The re-uniting of both countries early 19th-century under a Dutch king (willem l of orange-nassau) lasted no longer than 30 years. After the (second) split-off the original border was installed again.
So that's why Belgium differs so much from The Netherlands.
Education of Belgian childern always was (still is?) Belgian, so the difference between both the - nassau's really does exist....
You are wrong. Schengen might be 1995, Benelux earlier.
yes, you're right - we didn't realize border control was removed in benelux prior to the schengen area!
All of Baarle has dutch gas and water. The electrical grid is seperated so is the TV/Internet service. But this is just since 10 yrs or so in the case of TV. Before that the entire town had belgian tv and internet. Baarle was even the only town that could watch both the dutch (rtl,sbs) and the belgian (2be, vtm) commercial networks.
i read that the belgian internet is limited to DSL and dutch internet is fiber!
@@buncharted thats true. Baarle-Nassau was really early with fiber. One of the reasons possibly was the missed income for the dutch providers.
I'll hope they get sewerage soon.
@@DenUitvreter dont know. dont give a sh*t about where my sh*t goes
RTL is legally Luxembourg, not Dutch
You talk about fireworks..
Try to visit a nice old town like Kampen on new year's eve..
There's a thing called carbidschieten.
Look it up.. it's really an experience.
And of course it's not only in Kampen.
Have you been to Vaals? triple border betweet Belgium The Netherlands and Germany but it usrd to be a quatrippel bordr with a small country added by the name of Moresnet.
not yet - probably need a car for that one. but we do want to go!
Schengen started in 1985. It was just Benelux, France and Germany back then.
oh, interesting! so there was no border control between benelux, france, and germany starting in 1985? and the rest of the EU wasn't until 1995?
"Schengen started in 1985" According to Wiki it was on March 17 1995...
@@buncharted For the longest time there hasn't been any border control between the Netherlands and Belgium. I was born in 1971 and I don't remember acually border control going to Belgium. I think there were guards in the border posts, but cars could just drive freely across the border without being stopped. I do remember border control going to Germany, usually just a guard standing there and waving cars to pass. Occasionally stopping a car. Schengen was expanded gradually over the decades to include more and more countries. I can imagine friendly countries had no-border-control agreements prior to Schengen, such as Norway and Sweden.
@@BobWitlox I'm slightly older and in the late sixties travelling to Baarle meant have a passport ready. Even later in the late seventies you better buy your fireworks somewhere else in Belgium and transport away from Baarle. You were likely to get caught. My route normally was through Poppel or Luyksgestel.
@@eddys.3524 I guess it's a matter of definition. The Schengen Agreement between Benelux, Germany and France stems from 1985. The Schengen Area dates back to 1995.
the NL/B tiles are mostly for tourists.
they did bring us a lot of joy 😂
@@buncharted i guess they work then 😅. For us living in Baarle they are mostly ignored 😂
you live there?? ahh so jealous - it’s such a beautiful town!
Did you also vlog in Breda?
we did not - just transferred between the train and the bus. we'll have to vlog in breda soon though! we haven't really seen all that much of it yet...
@@buncharted Great! Looking forward to it.
Would be so excited to see you do a Breda vlog as well. Amazingly cool city.
😉😊😊
Purpose of the borderlines is to know which law you are dealing with. Which policeforce has authority.
See what happens if you kick a Dutch policeman's butt and jump into Belgium!
There is already the Benelux. The countries Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg are working together since the 70s. It was a a sort of pilot for the EU. These 3 countries have a deeply shared history so it was not that complicated to overcome nationality
Benelux started during WWII and was implemented around 1950 to grow more and more together and resolve differences. Tobacco tax, alcohol tax, fuel tax, taxing each others products, rules and regulations, should harmonize so borders could be fully opened.
Somewhere since the seventies there wer no border cheks between Belgie en Nederland. I am crossing the border since 1977 at least every year and never saw any. It should have been a comnsequence of the customs union the Benelux. ALthough, that does not comply with the butter smuggle till 1968.
that makes sense - it would be so hard to manage the border situation here!
Before Schengen Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands where part of the BeNeLux. It was a borer free zone. There where no border controlls between the tree country's.
Why all the signs? To make it easy, prevent confusion and... tourism! You guys.
we’re here for it
It is admirable that you do these things but are not you bored sometime? Think for a moment of the US town Angle Inlet surrounded by Canada
there’s also port roberts which is a little inlet in the US only accessible via canada!
why would we be bored? 😅
Have you tried to become a smuggler of Fanta in that region? You both could be very succesful I think. Theres a huge demand, but you need an official bag for that. And to make it profitable you got to take some bricks of cocaine back to Belgium the next time. Good luck! I am in the MIlka business. Filling my bag in Austria with a superlarge version of one of their chocolate tablets, deemed unsafe here in the Netherlands maybe? I make like 80 cents a piece. That's like almost what you guys had on Kings Day, so you know what it can buy you! Cheers!
we love milka. thank you for your service 😂
Now THIS is an odd thing... Sweden, the cold(!) country up north was at war with the mini-state of San Marino within the Italian boarders. Napoleon had declaired war with Sweden (then a big and slightly powerful country). However, this was before Garibaldi's unification of Italy, so in reality, it was several nations in today's nothern Italy (including the then nation state of Venice) that was at war with Sweden. However, the peace was declaired 358 years ago... although for some reason, San Marino never signed the peace treaty. Perhaps because no Swedish soldier ever put their foot on San Marino ground, or even a clerical error. In 1972, a history student at Bologna University (Italy) found that there were no signature or seal from the Duke of San Marino... so in reality: the two countries were still at war; San Marino and Sweden. Then, when the Swedish King visited Italy in 1991, he finally signed a document at the San Marino High Commission in Rome that Sweden and San Marino are FINALLY(!) at peace... I know, its hard to believe. I have even found places online that state that this was all an urban legend, but it is/was in fact true.
Fantastic story. Never knew about this gem 😂
Until recently the Netherlands were at war with the Scilly Islands near Cornwall! Ever since the Anglo-Dutch Wars. They both decided to finally make peace.
Op 17 april 1986 werd een vredesverdrag getekend, waarmee een einde kwam aan de Driehonderdvijfendertigjarige Oorlog met Nederland, die sinds 1651 duurde en waarin geen enkel schot was gelost.
There was also a (very) little island on the coast of England. The Dutch once declared war against it. I don't kno the reason. But this "war" lasted for hundreds of years.
I opt for calling that Place "Baarle Europe" That should be a proper name, being advanced in becomming one Europe. No more borders, start of Europe as a being a state/country.
Netherlands should still own Antwerpen 😂the rest they can keep
send belgium an email about that 😉
@@buncharted well,that really happened by a Dutch political member😁
More of the same stuff...just a different town. Other subjects (then eating) and more in-depth would be nice.
The Flanders region of Belgium should re-unite with my country the Netherlands in my honest opinion and why both we speak Dutch.
France may have France speaking part😊
There's also a very small part of Belgium that speaks German Germany may have that that small part.
Is Belgium really a real legitimate country???
And please don't get me wrong i don't hate Belgium i love the people over there and i really love their food.
Other than that a great video keep up the great work👍
En nog een prettige dag toegewenst. 4:16 4:16
This is really just Lord politics, here have some land can you please send some troops?
if you thing BN/BH is special please read up on the history of Neutral Moresnet ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutral_Moresnet ). It doesn't actually exist as such any more, but the history is really an amazing story.