Baarle is a village that extends over two municipalities: the
Belgian Baarle-Hertog and the Dutch Baarle-Nassau. The Belgian part
consists of 22 exclaves (the boundaries were definitively
established in 1995 and a former neutral grassland became the 22nd
exclave). The exclaves in turn enclose seven pieces of Dutch
territory; Belgium itself enclaves an eighth piece close to
Ginhoven. There are three quadripoints.
Because the national
borders have divided some parcels, some buildings are right on it.
This is the case, for example, for a Zeeman branch. The "front door
rule" applies to these buildings: their address is in the country in
which their front door is located. An exception to this is a house
in the street Loveren with a Belgian (# 2) and Dutch (# 19) front
door. For convenience, all house numbers were given a flag (see
photos).
The name Baarle (in old sources Barle or Barlo) is
explained in different ways. The last part certainly comes from loo,
which means forest on sandy ground, close to a settlement. The first
part comes from
bar: a bare, flat or undeveloped land.
barza: Primordial German word for coniferous wood.
Baro or Bera,
an old personal name.
The suffixes Hertog and Nassau refer to the
duke of Brabant, respectively the Huis Nassau, which owned the
barony of Breda.
The name of the hamlet of Tommel comes from
the Latin word tumulus, which means burial mound. Several
prehistoric burial mounds are known at Tommel. Urns have also been
found that indicate that the area around Tommel was already
inhabited in the Bronze Age.
The
Sint-Remigius Church, from 1640, in late Campine Gothic.
Villa at
Pastoor de Katerstraat 3, from 1900, in neo-renaissance style.
Smugglers' monument, on the Prins Hendrik I square, from 1992. It
was made by Constant Grooten on the occasion of the 1000th
anniversary of Baarle. In 1996 it was inaugurated by Sjaak Mulders
and Mon van Casteren, both retired smugglers, but very active during
the period when butter smuggling was still lucrative. They still
drove armored cars and scattered crow's feet.
The Franciscan
Monastery, in a mansion at Kerkstraat 7, founded in 1879 by the
Franciscan Sisters of Sint-Jozefsdal in Herentals, renovated in
1930.
The Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van Bijstand
church from 1879, enlarged in 1932 and 1958.
The former
Baarle-Nassau station, from 1869.
Some service houses in
Baarle-Nassau Grens, from 1905
The hard stone village pump, from
1809, on the Singel. Here are also four grazing posts.
A former
tannery, at Chaamseweg 9A. It is a traditional tannery from the last
quarter of the 19th century.
House at Singel 13, from 1639, a
Kempen storey house.
Farmhouse at Boschoven 8, from 1636, with
details on the facades that are swung in and out.
The
Sint-Salvator Chapel in the hamlet of Nijhoven
Baarle's Museum at Kerkplein 3 in Baarle-Hertog, shows carved
candles.
Museum Vergane Glorie, at Turnhoutseweg 10A in
Baarle-Hertog, shows old crafts
By train
Closest train station in Belgium is Turnhout. From there
we continue by bus.
Until 7 October 1934 there were two railway
stations in Baarle (Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Grens; both Dutch) on the
railway line from Tilburg in the Netherlands to Turnhout in Belgium.
Until 1973 the route was still used by freight trains. From 1974 to 1982
a tourist steam train ran from Tilburg to the border.
This
railway line has now been replaced by the 31km long cycle path "Het Bels
Lijntje" which connects the two cities. A few years ago, the route was
discussed again as a possible route for the TGV Amsterdam - Brussels.
In the street
The village of Baarle is easily accessible by car
via the two Dutch provincial roads N260 and N639 and the Belgian
provincial road N119. The A58 motorway in the Netherlands and the E34 in
Belgium are also close to the village.
By bus
Belgian bus no.
460 (De Lijn) runs from Turnhout train station to Baarle.
The
Dutch Veolia runs line 132 from Tilburg to Breda via Baarle.
Due to legislation, the erotic video store is located in Baarle-Nassau and the fireworks shops are located in Baarle-Hertog and are open all year round. In Baarle every week is a shopping Sunday. The reason is that in Belgium shops are allowed to be open every Sunday and Baarle-Nassau can claim its status as a tourist attraction.
The village of Baarle has 20 restaurants (including 1 Italian and 2
Asian, 1 pancake house, 4 ice cream parlors and bistros, and 1
steakhouse). The regional cuisine is hearty but thoroughly refined and
the proximity to Belgium is evident in the rich selection of beers.
Two worlds also meet in culinary terms, for example there is the
Baarler pancake (Baarloe Pannekoek): one half is topped with cheese and
ham, the other with cherries and powdered sugar.
De
Pannekoekenbakker, Singel 16, 5111 CD Baarle-Nassau. Tel.: +31 13 50 79
27 2, email: baarle-nassau@pannekoekenbakker.nl. There are all kinds of
pancakes, in spring also the Baarler pancake, no poffertjes, cozy
atmosphere. Open: April to October: Mon 12pm – 8pm, Tue – Sun 10am –
8pm; November to March: Mon 12 noon – 8 p.m., Tue, Sat, Sun 10 a.m. – 8
p.m., Wed, Thu, Fri 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. Price: 2.40 - 13.70 euros.
The demands on the nightlife should not be set too high. Don't forget: Baarle is a village. However, with at least 7 pubs and generally the people of Brabant, whether from Belgium or the Netherlands, know how to party.
VVV (Tourist Information Office) Nieuwstraat 16, 5111 CW
Baarle-Nassau, The Netherlands Telephone: 0031 13 5079921, Fax: 0031 13
5073108) Email: info@vvvbaarle-nassau.nl
Opening hours: Tuesday
to Friday: 11 am - 3 pm, Saturday: 10 am - 3 pm, closed on Sundays and
Mondays
Cheap
Brasserie-Hotel Den Bonten Os, Pastoor de
Katerstraat 23-25, 2387 Baarle-Hertog. Tel.: +32 1469 90 16, e-mail:
denbontenos@skynet.be.
Bed & Breakfast "Effe Rust", Veldbraak 13,
5111 HH Baarle-Nassau. Phone: +31-13 507 7475.
Middle
Sporthotel "Bruurs", Sportlaan 22, 5111 BX Baarle-Nassau.
Hotel "Den
Engel", Singel 3, 5111 CD Baarle-Nassau.
Hotel "Het Kasteeltje",
Pastoor de Katerstraat 3, 2387 Baarle-Hertog. Tel: +32 14 699297.
Logement "De Hertog van Baerle", Zondereigen 1b, 2387 Baarle-Hertog
(Zondereigen). Phone: +32 14 82 88 83.
Campsites
There are 5
campsites and 3 mini-campsites in and around Baarle.
Of course there are two post offices. The Dutch Koninklijke TNT Post
has its building at 5111 CA Baarle-Nassau at St.Annaplein 15, the
Belgian De Post - La Poste is at 2387 Baarle-Hertog at
Uitbreidingsstraat 7. And twice a day (except Sunday) the postman comes,
once that of the Dutch Post, once that of the Belgian Post.
For
the most part, the telephone network exists twice: both from KPN Telecom
and from Belgacom. However, there is a special link that allows calls
between Baarle-Hertog and Baarle-Nassau at local rates. All mobile phone
providers in the Netherlands and Belgium can also be reached.
There are numerous signposted and described cycle routes in and
around Baarle. In addition, the village is in the middle of the
knooppunten networks of West Brabant and Antwerp. This makes it possible
for everyone to make their own cycle routes from one connection point to
the other. The map is available from the VVV or can be downloaded from
this link: baarledigitaal.org.
A brochure is also available from
the VVV with walks in and around Baarle, including an 'enclave path'
that leads along various border experiences in the village. An overview
is available at this link: baarledigitalaal.org.
Tourism Baarle-Hertog-Nassau, Singel 1, 5111 CC Baarle-Nassau, ☎ +31 13 507 99 21, e-mail: info@toerismebaarle.com. Mon 12:00-16:00, Tue-Sat 10:00-16:00, Sun 11:00-15:00.
The origin of these complicated relationships lies in the 12th
century.[3] While Baarle has been inhabited since primeval times, there
are first documentary references (albeit with dubious authenticity) from
the year 992 and (certified) 1141. A power struggle between several
feuding nobles in the area resulted in two agreements in 1198. An
agreement between Godfried II van Schoten, Lord of Breda, and Duke Henry
I of Brabant provided that Godfried accepted Henry as his liege lord.
The second agreement was that Heinrich Godfried not only returned the
land he had originally acquired as a fief, but also transferred other
lands to him. However, Henry insisted on keeping individual vassals
under his control. Over 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: Baarle-onder-den-Hertog (Hertog = "duke"),
originally populated and claimed by Heinrich, and
Baarle-onder-den-Hertog (Hertog = "Duke"), which was only very sparsely
populated and 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 ceded 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 Baarle was formally split into two parts
in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648: Baarle-Nassau went to the Dutch
Republic, Baarle-Hertog to the Spanish Netherlands. This started the
formal division of the village into different countries.
Several
attempts to resolve the confused demarcation were rejected, not decided
upon or simply not pursued in the wake of other dramatic events such as
the French Revolution. With the founding of the state 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 survey for the years 1836 to
1841. The course of the border has remained virtually unchanged since
that time.
The border conflict flared up again after World War
II. In February 1953 the Belgian Gerard van den Eijnde (1908-1989)
acquired some buildings which were registered in both Baarle-Nassaus and
Baarle-Hertog's cadastre and had been claimed by Belgium and the
Netherlands since 1922 respectively. 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 obtained in Belgium were higher at the time) and
applied for assignment to Belgium. The decision went as far as the
International Court of Justice, which ruled on June 20, 1959 (by a vote
of 10 to 4) that the buildings belonged to Belgium. As a result of this
court decision, the two countries once again precisely defined the
course of the border in a treaty ratified in 1974 (corresponding to the
agreement of 1842). In 1995, the borders were remeasured with centimeter
precision.
The state affiliation within the community is recognizable by the
house number: the house numbers on Belgian territory have a small
Belgian flag on the top left, the Dutch house numbers have red and blue
stripes on the left and right side, which symbolize the local national
colors.
The church square belongs to Baarle-Hertog, but the front
of houses on its northern edge forms the border with the Netherlands.
Where the border leaves the front of the house, it is marked with a
metal strip, and the coats of arms of the regions are also applied to
the other side of the street. West of the church square, the border runs
in the middle of the street. The right side of the street 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 from the church square to the right, you are back in the
Netherlands.
Since the border was drawn, former smaller enclaved
fields have long since been cultivated, so the border also runs through
the middle of houses. In such cases, the location of the front door
determines nationality. The southern Dutch sub-enclave N5 consists of
just a few houses - its northern border runs right through the beverage
shop De Biergrens ("The Beer Frontier"), which has a Dutch and a Belgian
telephone number and two different addresses.
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 mainland Belgium. The center of Baarle-Hertog is about 6 km
north of the continuous border line between Belgium and the Netherlands.
Baarle-Nassau belongs to the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant; the
municipality 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 community
centers, two mayors, two municipal councils, two churches, two post
offices, two police stations, two fire brigades (until 2008), two
electricity networks, two telephone networks, two football clubs, two
tennis clubs and so on. Since 2008 there has been a joint fire brigade
consisting of Dutch and Belgian firefighters housed in a joint fire
station.
The inhabitants of Baarle always knew how to profit from
this special political position and the special ambience of their place.
Baarle has become a thriving community, particularly thanks to tourists
and day-trippers, which thrives on the cultural characteristics of both
countries.
Before Dutch shop opening hours were liberalised,
shopping in Belgium was also preferred in the evenings and at weekends,
when Dutch shops had long since closed. Since then, every week in the
Dutch part of Baarle is koopzondag (Sunday open for shopping), which
attracts many potential buyers. Cosmetics, perfumes and other drugstore
items, for example, are significantly cheaper in Belgium due to
country-specific tax laws.
The vast municipalities of Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hertog are mainly
agricultural in character, although there is some industrial activity.
The complicated situation used to mean that smuggling was also a
significant source of income. The middle class also benefits from the
exceptional situation. There is an extensive and busy store base. There
are also numerous bungalow parks in the vicinity.
The population
of Baarle is expected to show a downward trend during the first decades
of the 21st century.
In addition to extensive agricultural lands, Baarle also has a number of nature reserves. The Merkske in the south is a beautiful stream valley, and the Hollandse Bossen in the west forms an estate. The Bels Lijntje, a former railway route, has become a tourist cycle path that can be followed from Tilburg to Turnhout.
The electricity network is duplicated.
In Baarle-Hertog and
Zondereigen, the electricity is supplied by Fluvius from Belgium.
In
Baarle-Nassau and Ulicoten, the electricity is supplied by Enexis from
the Netherlands. In the village of Castelré, electricity was supplied by
Fluvius from Belgium until autumn 2018, after which from the
Netherlands. Fluvius will be responsible for maintenance for another ten
years (until 2028).
Until August 26, 2012, the Flemish Telenet broadcast the analogue signal of both Dutch and Flemish commercial television in Baarle. Since August 26, 2012, Telenet is no longer allowed to offer products to the Dutch part of Baarle, because the cable, which belongs to Fluvius, has been taken over by the Dutch company Reggefiber. The latter has cut off cable distribution from the Dutch network and offers fiber optics. This means that the Dutch part of Baarle can now purchase Dutch services (such as KPN, Tele2 and T-Mobile Netherlands), but can no longer use Flemish services (such as receiving Flemish commercial channels, in particular VTM). Little will change in the Belgian part of Baarle. Telenet will continue to offer services there, has removed the Dutch commercial channels (RTL 4, RTL 5, RTL 7, RTL 8, SBS6, Net5, Veronica and Omroep Brabant) from the analogue cable and only offers these channels via digital reception. These are only available via cable (and therefore via Telenet); other Belgian providers of radio, TV and internet do this via ADSL. They have no Dutch commercial channels in their package.
The telephone network is largely duplicated by KPN and Proximus, but with a special link: calls between Baarle-Hertog (014) and Baarle-Nassau (013) are possible at a local rate.
In Baarle-Hertog, Baarle-Nassau and Castelré, the natural gas is
supplied by Enexis from the Netherlands. Belgian homes can still be
connected to the gas network, unlike new-build homes in the Netherlands.
In Zondereigen and Ulicoten, the natural gas is supplied by Fluvius from
Belgium.
In Baarle-Hertog, Baarle-Nassau, Ulicoten and Castelré, the water is
supplied by Brabant Water (from the Netherlands).
In Zondereigen, the
water is supplied by Pidpa (from Belgium).
All streets in the municipality of Baarle-Nassau and in the municipality of Baarle-Hertog are visited once a week by a garbage truck from the Belgian IOK. The recycling center on Smederijstraat can be used by all residents of the municipalities of Baarle-Nassau and -Hertog.
The municipalities of Baarle-Hertog and Nassau will proceed in phases when spreading. In the first phase, the gritting team tackles the most important municipal traffic axes. At the same time, the provincial main axes are spread by the province of North Brabant. In phase two, the main roads of the residential areas will be gritted. This is usually done following phase 1 in case of persistent frost or snowfall. In the event of black ice, after rainfall on a frozen surface and days of snowfall, the municipalities proceed to phase 3 of the spreading plan. Residential streets with little traffic, such as subdivisions, zone 30 streets (except for the school environment, which is in phase 1) and parking lots, are sprinkled.
The mail is delivered by PostNL in the Dutch part and bpost in the Belgian part.
In Baarle it is shopping Sunday every week, both in the Belgian and the Dutch part.
In the municipality of Baarle-Hertog, the police services of
Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hertog have jointly moved into one office on
Parallelweg in Baarle-Hertog and are thus housed in one building. The
local police officer of Baarle is sometimes called the 'dirco' of
Baarle.
The fire brigades of Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hertog
merged on 1 January 2010 into one corps. The corps is formed by Dutch
and Belgian volunteers and the barracks are located at the C.A.
Bodestraat 2 in Baarle-Nassau.
The village of Baarle can be reached by car via the two Dutch
provincial roads N260, N639 and Belgian regional roads N119 and N135.
The A58 motorways in the Netherlands, the E19 and the E34 in Belgium are
also close to the village. From 2017 to 2019, the province of North
Brabant built a ring road around Baarle. This ring road was taken into
use at the end of 2019.
buses
Line of The Line:
Line 460
(Turnhout - Baarle)
Lines of Arriva:
Line 132 (Tilburg -
Breda)
Line 637 (Baarle → Tilburg)
Train
Until October 7,
1934, Baarle had two train stations, located on the railway line Tilburg
- Turnhout. This railway line has now been replaced by a 31 km long
cycle path called "Het Bels Lijntje".
Baarle has a thriving club life. Some associations occur in both a
Belgian and a Dutch variant. An example of this are the football clubs
Gloria-UC (Dutch) and KVV Dosko (Belgian). Other associations occur only
once in Baarle. Some examples are:
Music Society Sint Remi
Baarle Youth Work Foundation
Local History Circle Amalia van Solms
The Baarlese Sculpture Club
Carnival association De Grenszuukers
Website
Both municipalities had a common website until 2012, which
can be reached via both baarle-nassau.nl and baarle-hertog.be. With the
help of a European subsidy for cross-border projects, the first joint
website was opened on 30 March 2002. The website was taken off the air
in 2004 after a Dutch opinion poll showed that
baarle-nassau.nl/baarle-hertog.be was one of the worst municipal
websites. On July 8, 2005, the new, also joint, website was opened.
However, since 2012, the two Baarles have different websites.
Radio and television
The village of Baarle has its own local
broadcaster, Local Broadcasting Baarle, also known as the Silent
Enjoyer. This is a Dutch broadcaster with a license for Baarle-Nassau in
the Netherlands, to be received on FM 87.8 MHz. In addition, a number of
regional broadcasters can be received in Baarle, Omroep Brabant (can be
received in Baarle-Hertog if you have digital TV via Telenet) and RTV
(can only be received in the Belgian part). Baarle-Hertog has its own
Flemish local radio broadcaster BaHeNa, which can be received there via
FM 106.7 MHz.
Daily and weekly newspapers
The regional
newspapers in Baarle are BN DeStem, Brabants Dagblad and Gazet van
Antwerpen. Then Baarle has another weekly magazine, Ons Weekblad.
The building that currently houses a Zeeman branch on the corner of
Nieuwstraat and Stationstraat used to be the café 't Hoekske. The café
was on the Nieuwstraat, the main road from Baarle to Chaam and was
divided in two by the national border. The innkeeper had placed a
billiard table on top of the border. When real estate in both countries
was sold, the notarial deed was signed in this café because of its
location. A table was placed on the border and so every notary in their
own country could sign the deeds. Border confrontations between a Dutch
and a Belgian accused, each detained in his own country and therefore
not extraditable, also happened in Baarle: the Belgian investigating
judge came with the Belgian Gendarmerie and the Belgian accused along
the neutral route, the Dutch judge, the Dutch Rijksmarechaussee and
Dutch accused came across the border, and everyone could sit on one side
of the table in the café in their own country. Next to the café was the
Dutch customs office where goods could be officially cleared. Smugglers
were also searched in this customs office.
In the center of Baarle
there is a border marker in the Belgian part. This boundary marker is a
symbolic boundary marker and is not exactly on the boundary. The pole is
on the Kerkplein in front of the Sint-Remigiuskerk in Baarle-Hertog. The
boundary marker is a copy of the original boundary markers. The border
marker was unveiled on April 4, 1976 by the two mayors of Baarle.
In
addition to Baarle, the hamlet of Tommel south of Baarle is also partly
Dutch and partly Belgian.
National holidays are a challenge in the
village. The Dutch celebrate King's Day on April 27 and the Belgians
Labor Day on May 1. Dutch and Belgian companies are therefore closed on
other days.
Interesting situations arose during the corona pandemic. In
Baarle-Nassau people had to comply with the Dutch measures and in
Baarle-Hertog with the Belgian ones. The Zeeman branch has its front
door in the Netherlands and the back part of the store in Belgium. When
the non-essential stores were closed in Belgium and not yet in the
Netherlands, the Belgian half of Zeeman was closed and customers could
not enter part of the store. Another store had the front door in Belgium
but the back door in the Netherlands and more or less turned its store
around so that the back door could continue as an entrance.
When
the curfew later also entered into force in the Netherlands and not in
Belgium, the Belgians were allowed to cross Dutch territory between
21:00 and 04:30, as long as the starting point and the final destination
were in Belgium. It also had to be an essential trip. The Dutch had to
stay indoors.
Although the Dutch/Belgian border was closed for a
while, this did not apply in Baarle. Because in some places there is
only a few meters of space between the national borders, it was
impossible to close them all.