Baarle Hertog enclave structure - Baarle Hertog, Belgium
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T-Team!
N 51° 26.566 E 004° 55.865
31U E 634203 N 5700833
This is the border for the NL and Belgium. It is a special place as it is part of the enclaves at Baarle Nassau (NL) & Baarle Hertog (BE). The Baarle Hertog (Belgian territory) are completely surrounded by The Netherlands.
Waymark Code: WM15NJ0
Location: Antwerpen, Belgium
Date Posted: 01/28/2022
Views: 9
About the enclave structure:
"Baarle-Hertog has four residential areas: Baarle, Baarle-Grens, Zondereigen and Ginhoven. It is remarkable that Baarle and Baarle-Grens are shared with the Dutch Baarle-Nassau. The national borders run through streets and buildings in a very complex manner.
This division gives Baarle-Hertog its complicated structure: Baarle-Nassau divides it into 26 parts. Baarle-Hertog is not the only Belgian municipality that consists of separate parts; this is also the case for Ixelles, Messines and Saint-Gilles.
Of all 26 pieces, 22 are completely enclosed by Baarle-Nassau and thus form Belgian exclaves. The other four are connected to other Belgian municipalities. These stretches are from west to east: the Baalbrugse Bemden, a strip of land along the Merkske, Zondereigen-Ginhoven and an area near Weelde-Station. There are some small Dutch enclaves that are completely enclosed by Belgian territory."
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(Picture of the map the enclave structure added as a photo)
History of the enclaves:
"At the end of the 12th century a border dispute arose between Duke Hendrik I of Brabant and Count Dirk VII of Holland. The latter wanted to extend his influence southwards, while Henry I preferred a buffer between his duchy and the expansive county of Holland. Thus the duke made an alliance with the Lord of Breda, Godfried II van Schoten. He eventually became vassal of the duke in 1198, but in return was able to add to his property a large tract of land, which contained a number of enclaves belonging to Thorn Abbey or the duke. Such a pattern was not uncommon at the time. In the vicinity of Baarle, however, the border was never corrected, not even when the border between the Spanish and the Dutch territories was established in 1648, nor when Belgium broke away from the Netherlands in 1830."
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