If you think you can’t be in two places at once, get a load of this!
What if you could stand in two different villages, in two different counties but at the same time and in the exact same location? almost like stepping into a bizarre town
Baarle-Nassau which belongs to the Netherlands and Baarle-Hertog which belongs to Belgium is literally one step away from each other. So, you can enjoy the benefits of two countries in one village.
This is because each collection of Belgian and Dutch pockets of land is actually an enclave which is a country lying entirely within the boundaries of another country. However, the Baarles is not just one enclave, it is twenty-two Belgian enclaves, one Dutch enclave and seven Dutch enclaves within Belgian enclaves.
“Step foot in Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hertog, and you’ll find yourself straddling the line between two countries”
Are you confused yet?
Let’s go back in time…
The main story surrounding this confusing geographical mess is an agreement between two dukes to get land from each other. One thing led to another and they ended up with pieces of land around the bar of the region and then over time it evolved. In a way that one part became Belgium and one part became the Netherlands.
This whole mess of confusion dates back to the Middle Ages when pockets of land were divided among different local aristocratic families. Baarle-Hertog once belonged to the Duke of Brabant, while Baarle-Nassau was the property of the medieval House of Nassau. Finally, when Belgian declared independence from the Netherlands, the two countries were left with an international geographical anomaly.
Mind-blowing facts
- At one point you will be standing in the Netherlands, surrounded by Belgium and then surrounded again by the Netherlands.
- The border between the two countries is marked by white crosses on the pavement. These white zigzag lines around the block have seemingly no logic whatsoever.
- These borderlines are so bizarre and illogical that even entire houses get cut in half by them.
- The law states that wherever your front door is, that is which country your house is in. This strange law plays a funny role when it comes to paying your taxes.
- If the door of the house or shop is split in half by the borderline, then the building is technically owned by both countries.
- Sometimes a front entrance cafe will be a grocery store market at the back door.
- Both the Dutch-Baarle and the Belgian Baarle have their own churches, police stations and town councils.
- The two governments cooperate on things like electricity, roads, water and gas.
- It gets even crazier, in Belgium you can drink at 17 but in the Netherlands, you can’t, so if you are 17 and feeling like having a drink, all you have to do is simply cross the road and head to the other side.
It is absolutely bizarre how these two villages coexist with each other. However, Baarle isn’t just about coexisting, but also about people cooperating even when messy borders and different languages separate them.
