| Vaals: The southernmost town of the Netherlands lies in a valley surrounded by hills and forests. Add the non-Holland architecture and you wonder why Vaals is Dutch territory in the first place. Visitors from Amsterdam or Rotterdam sure do feel as strangers here. On the German side (Aachen) is the starting point of National Road "B1" (Vaalser Strasse), which goes via Hannover and Berlin to the Polish border, but once led to what is part of Russia today. |
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Vaals (NL): The Dutch National Road N278 100 yards before it ends at the borderline: on the right a supermarket of the Dutch chain "C1000", The living-house behind the C1000 is in Aachen (German territory) already. |
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Vaals (NL): Same spot, but even closer to the borderline. (since the Schengen treaty there is no border patrol or customs anymore) |
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Vaals (NL): View accross the main street: the building with the German "DAS" advertising lies in Germany, the GWK bank next to it still in Holland. (Maastrichterlaan) |
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Vaals (NL): the smallest museum of the Netherlands is just 5 feet from the border. Akenerstraat |
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Vaals (NL): The smallest museum seen from the other (=from the Dutch) side. Akenerstraat |
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Aachen (D)
: A few more yards and we are entering the Netherlands. Vaalser Strasse |
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Vaals (NL) and Aachen (DE) share the same architecture and landscape, you hardly notice that you pass one from country into another and cross a State Boundary. |
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German 'Bundesstrasse '1' direction of Vaals/Holland, one mile from the borderline. The church tower in the background is in Vaals (NL) already. |
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Gateway somewhere in Vaals (NL), although Vaals is entirely Dutch speaking (like the rest of Holland), bilingual signs and bords often appear. |
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View towards east: the first yards of the German Federal Road "1" - follow it and you end up in Berlin. |
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German street signs determining the city boundary of Aachen and State Boundary at the same time. |
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Vaals-Dreiländereck
- Drielandenpunt - Trois Bornes: Aerial view of the 'tripoint' 2 miles south of Vaals-town, where the Dutch, German and Belgian (Wallonian) border meet. |
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The Drielandenpunt (= literally 'three country point') where three borders (both State frontier and linguistic border) encounter. |
BK translation November 2000
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