---/000a.1
Netherlands - West Germany
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Border Crossing No.
---/000a.1 |
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| Date and time: | cWednesday 27 April 1966 |
| Crossing point: | Near Koningsbosch |
| Passport check at: | No check |
| Travelling: | from The Hague to Vaals |
| Vehicle: | Touring-car (The Hague - Vaals) |
| Ticket: | - |
| In the company of: | A group of high school students |
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On a school trip to the very south of Holland we took a road through Germany. Our geography teacher told us that after Wold War II many Dutch would have liked to annex huge parts of Germany, by preference without those evil Germans, like the Poles had done at the other side. The Western allies however did not support such plans and they shrunk towards just straightening the border. In the end a few square kilometers of the most irritating German bulges were annexed, their inhabitants included. The Dutch were especially happy to widen their narrowest part in the very south and they built a road along the new border, connecting the north with the southern coal mines. About 15 years later the Germans managed to get their bulges back. They allowed the Dutch, however, to use their road without border control. That was the road we took. In my memory hundreds of heavily armed German soldiers were guarding that road, to prevent the Dutch from entering their territory illegally. In reality we might have seen just a few border policemen from our bus windows. 25 february 2002 I saw the news that the road was given back to Germany. In 1960 only the land west of it was returned, "heim ins Reich". So apparently the road was Dutch when I took it, and this was not a border crossing. |
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Border Crossing No.
---/000a.2 |
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| Date and time: | cWednesday 27 April 1966 |
| Crossing point: | Near Schinveld |
| Passport check at: | No check |
| Travelling: | from The Hague to Vaals |
| Vehicle: | Touring-car (The Hague - Vaals) |
| Ticket: | - |
| In the company of: | A group of high school students |
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25 february 2002 I saw the news that the road was given back to Germany. In 1960 only the land west of it was returned, "heim ins Reich". So apparently the road was Dutch when I took it, and this was not a border crossing. |
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Border Crossing No.
003/000b.1 |
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| Date and time: | Thursday 28 or Friday 29 April 1966 |
| Crossing point: | near Maastricht - Kanne |
| Passport check at: | No check |
| Travelling: | from Maastricht to Kanne |
| Vehicle: | Foot (Maastricht - Kanne) |
| Ticket: | - |
| In the company of: | A group of high school students |
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Our teachers took us to a famous hill near my birthplace Maastricht, with a labyrinth of age old man made caves inside. Now a cement factory is slowly cutting the hill away. From there it was only a few minutes walk to Belgium. The border was clearly indicated, but passage was free since the Benelux-treaty shortly after World War II. Smuggling of butter was not profitable anymore. In the first shop all of us bought the most Belgian thing we could find, "Belga" cigarettes, but we were able to pay with Dutch guilders. |
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Border Crossing No.
004/000b.2 |
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| Date and time: | Thursday 28 or Friday 29 April 1966 |
| Crossing point: | near Maastricht - Kanne |
| Passport check at: | No check |
| Travelling: | from Kanne to Maastricht |
| Vehicle: | Foot (Kanne - Maastricht) |
| Ticket: | - |
| In the company of: | A group of high school students |
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story to be written |
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