In WW1, when Belgium was inveded and Netherlands remained neutral,
Baarle-Duc was the only part of Belgium unoccupied by the Germans. So
the allies stuck a radio listening post there to spy on German
communications. The Dutch to maintain their neutrality stuck barbed
wire around all the Belgian bits to prove that they were not party to
the silly war their neighbours were fighting.
To ensure this didn't happen in the rematch 20 years later, the
Germans invaded BOTH nations to stop their frontier rules-lawyering!
And of course they re-annexed Eupen and Melmady, so the German
enclaves in Belgium ceased to exist for 5 years or so.
Brendan
> However, there has never been any custom enforcements
> in Baarle town itself - that would have been an almost
> impossible task anyway - since you cross the invisible
> boundary line many times just by strolling through town...
> The only indication of what country you're in are the
> metal plates on each house with the actual street-
> number, since they also display the national flag...!
> All the best - have a nice weekend..!
> Peter
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Bill Hanrahan <hanrahan@k...>
> To: <BoundaryPoint@egroups.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 4:23 AM
> Subject: [BoundaryPoint] Pre-EU customs enforcement in Baarle
>
>
> > Please excuse this if it's been discussed already...I've wondered
> > what the customs enforcement situation was like in Baarle prior
to
> > the EU. Peter or Jesper?
> >
> > Bill
> >
> >
> >
> >
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