Baarle
| Baarle | |
|---|---|
| Basic data | |
| Country |
 Belgium Netherlands
|
| province |
 Antwerp province of North Brabant
|
| local community |
 Baarle-Hertog Baarle-Nassau
|
| surface | 83.8 km² |
| Residents | 9504 (Jan 1, 2018) |
| density | 113.5 Ew. / km² |
| Post Code | 2387 (Belgium), 5111 (Netherlands) |
| Telephone code | +32 14 (Belgium), + 31 13 (Netherlands) |
Baarle ( Baol in Brabant ) is a place on the border between the Netherlands and Belgium with more than 9,000 inhabitants. It is located about 15 km south of Tilburg in the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant and consists of the Dutch municipality of Baarle-Nassau and the municipality of Baarle-Hertog, which belongs to the Belgian province of Antwerp . Baarle is known for the complicated border between the Netherlands and Belgium. A large part of the Belgian municipality of Baarle-Hertog is surrounded by Dutch territory as an exclave in direct connection with the Dutch municipality of Baarle-Nassau and together with it forms the place Baarle. Baarle-Hertog again does not represent a coherent exclave: The community consists of 22 parts, 16 of which are in Baarle itself and 6 in the vicinity of Baarle. In 2 of the exclaves belonging to Baarle-Hertog there are again a total of 7 Dutch exclaves from Baarle-Nassau.
history
The origin of this complicated situation lies in the 12th century. While Baarle has been populated since prehistoric times, there are first documentary evidence (albeit with dubious authenticity) from the year 992 and (guaranteed) 1141. A power struggle between several warring nobles in the area resulted in two agreements in 1198. An agreement between Godfried II. Van Schoten , Lord of Breda , and Duke Heinrich I of Brabant provided that Godfried accepted Heinrich as his liege lord. The second agreement was that Heinrich Godfried not only returned the originally acquired land as a fief, but also transferred other lands. However, Heinrich insisted on keeping individual vassals under his control. In the course of time this right turned into a right to control certain lands. In this way, the village of Baarle and its surroundings were split into two parts: the originally populated Baarle-onder-den-Hertog ( Hertog = "Duke"), which was originally populated and claimed by Heinrich, and the very sparsely populated area of Baarle-onder, which was assigned to Godfried. Breda (later Baarle-Nassau).
In the 16th century, both areas were assigned to the Spanish Netherlands , so the village of Baarle was not actually divided. However, with the rise of Protestantism in the region, Spanish rule began to crumble. In the Netherlands, the associated revolts are known as the Eighty Years War (beginning in 1568). Baarle-Nassau belonged to William the Silent of Nassau and thus became part of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands . Baarle-Hertog belonged to the Spanish Netherlands and was given to Archduke Albrecht VII of Austria by Philip II of Spain in 1598 . The enmity between the United Provinces and the Austrians flared up again and again until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 formally split Baarle into two parts: Baarle-Nassau went to the Dutch Republic , Baarle-Hertog to the Spanish Netherlands. With this began the formal division of the village into different countries.
Several attempts to resolve the confused demarcation were rejected, not resolved, or simply not pursued further in the wake of other, dramatic events such as the French Revolution . With the founding of Belgium and recognition by the Netherlands in 1839 , the division of the village was cemented. Since then, Baarle has belonged partly to the Netherlands and partly to Belgium.
Between 1836 and 1841 both municipalities were completely surveyed for tax reasons. The border treaty between Belgium and the Netherlands from 1842 left the exact course of the border in Baarle open and referred to the status quo . In an appendix to the contract, reference was made to the tax measurement for the years 1836 to 1841. The borderline has remained virtually unchanged since then.
The border conflict flared up again after the Second World War. In February 1953, the Belgian Gerard van den Eijnde (1908-1989) acquired some buildings that were registered in both Baarle-Nassaus and Baarle-Hertog's cadastre and had been claimed by Belgium and the Netherlands since 1922. Van den Eijnde now tried to use the situation for his own purposes (he wanted to run a casino in Baarle, and the rents that could be achieved in Belgium were higher at the time) and applied for an assignment to Belgium. The decision went up to the International Court of Justice , which ruled on June 20, 1959 (with 10 to 4 votes) that the buildings were to be assigned to Belgium. This court decision resulted in the two countries once again defining the course of the border in a treaty ratified in 1974 (in accordance with the 1842 agreement). In 1995, the borders were also re-measured with a centimeter accuracy.
Examples of the boundary line
The state affiliation within the municipality can be recognized by the house number: The house numbers in Belgian territory have a small Belgian flag at the top left , the Dutch house numbers have red and blue stripes on the left and right side, which symbolize the national colors there .
The church square belongs to Baarle-Hertog, but the house front on its northern edge forms the border with the Netherlands. Where the border leaves the house front, it is marked with a metal strip, on the other side of the street the coats of arms of the regions are also applied. The border runs in the middle of the street to the west of the church square. The right side of the road belongs to Belgium, the left to the Netherlands. This can be recognized by the respective national flags. However, if you go through a small alley that leads away to the right of the church square, you are back in the Netherlands.
Because the former smaller enclaved arable land has long been built on since the demarcation, the border also runs right through houses. In such cases, the location of the front door determines nationality. The southern Dutch sub-enclave N5 consists of only a few houses - its northern border runs through the middle of the De Biergrens ("The Beer Frontier"), which has a Dutch and a Belgian telephone number and two different addresses.
Baarle today
Baarle-Hertog is the smallest independent municipality in the Belgian province of Antwerp and consists of 22 Belgian exclaves - surrounded by the Dutch municipality of Baarle-Nassau - and the village of Zondereigen, which is not an exclave, but lies south of the continuous border in the Belgian motherland. The center of Baarle-Hertog is about 6 km north of the continuous border line between Belgium and the Netherlands. Baarle-Nassau is part of the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant ; the community includes seven Dutch sub-exclaves in the Belgian enclaves and one Dutch exclave in Belgium ⊙ .
Due to the special situation, there are not only two nationalities in Baarle, but also two meeting houses, two mayors, two municipal councils, two churches, two post offices, two police stations , two fire departments , two electricity networks, two telephone networks, two football clubs, two tennis clubs and so on .
The inhabitants of Baarle always knew how to profit from this special political position and the special ambience of their place. Tourists and day-trippers in particular made Baarle a flourishing community that thrives on the cultural characteristics of both countries.
Until the liberalization of Dutch shop opening hours, shopping in Belgian territory was preferred in the evenings and on weekends, when Dutch shops had long since closed. Since then it has been koopzondag (Sunday shopping ) every week in the Dutch part of Baarle , which attracts many buyers. Cosmetics, perfumes and other drugstore items, for example, are significantly cheaper on Belgian territory because of the country-specific tax laws.
See also
Web links
- Military map from 1962 showing the boundaries in detail. In: ontology.buffalo.edu (English)
- Maps showing the location of all exclaves. In: grenspalen.nl . (English)
- Website of the municipality of Baarle-Hertog (Dutch)
- Website of the municipality of Baarle-Nassau (Dutch)
- Information about Baarle In: ontology.buffalo.edu (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2018 In: StatLine . Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek , October 26, 2018, accessed December 20, 2018 (Dutch)
- ↑ Population by municipality on January 1, 2018 , accessed on December 20, 2018 (XLS; 480 kB)
- ^ Brendan Whyte: Listening to Ludendorff. Reveille Press, 2013, pp. 14-24.
- ↑ No title. Google Maps , accessed February 3, 2012 .
Coordinates: 51 ° 27 ' N , 4 ° 56' E