--- In BoundaryPoint@y..., michael donner <m@d...> wrote:
> still working in the dark for lack of an 1815 treaty of vienna text
> & still clueless also about any later international agreements that
could
> have affected the river condo or condos originally created then
>
> but a lucky catch at
> http://www.luxembourg.co.uk/fish_border.html
> makes the delu river condo on the moselle at schengen aka defrlu
> which several members have already pointed out with pix & maps
> seem likely to continue northward
> first all the way down the moselle to wasserbillig
> & from there all the way up the tributary river sauer to wallendorf
> & finally all the way up its tributary river the our to bedelu
> except in this last case for a very short stretch around vianden
where the
> delu boundary leaves the river our
>
> this single detour breaks the possible river condo territory into
two
> separate pieces
> & may produce a pair of riparian condo tripoints in the process
> one just southeast & the other just north of vianden
It looks like you're right. I have a 1:20k map here of the Vianden
area, and the points where the border leaves the river Our are at
boundary marker 47 (north of Vianden) and boundary marker 19 (south of
Vianden). These boundary markers are likely to be pairs, one on each
bank. Moreover, because of the large width of the river north of
Vianden (it is the Bassin Inferieur lake formed by the river dam at
Vianden), the boundaries are clearly depicted as following both banks,
thus leaving the condominium in the middle. I find it strange
(although understandable) that the border obviously changed, because
the lake certainly wasn't there in 1815, and the borders are following
the lake shore lines. This is unlike the US example (I believe it was
in Tennessee) mentioned in this group a couple of days ago. Normally,
a boundary stays the same, even if a river changes its course, unless
a new boundary is negotiated. Perhaps that's what has been happening
in Vianden.
The border situation is all the more obvious, since south of bdy
marker 47 a municipal sectional border continues southwards through
the middle of the lake, and across the dam.
I found another nice piece of evidence of the special status of the
delu boundary rivers. According to
http://webplaza.pt.lu/public/rleick/BrueckeSchengen.html , on the
river ferries a right of asylum once existed. When someone that was
persecuted could reach a ferryboat, he could stay there for six weeks
and three days, without fear of being arrested. If he succeeded, after
this time, to make three steps on dry ground, the asylum was renewed
for six weeks.
When a persecuted person wanted to go to the other side, the ferryman
would bring him over, return, and only then take the persecutors on
board!
It looks like this is some old law, preceding the condominium of 1815.
Possibly the condominium solution even so much as succeded the old,
already existing legal practises at the border rivers.
Peter S.