Thanks for watching! Here's more you might like: ▪ Weird Border: Is this Germany or the Netherlands? ua-cam.com/video/jATA_9A-fWE/v-deo.htmlsi=1lRGuat4Q5KHy34K ▪ Why the Netherlands have a Biking Culture: ua-cam.com/video/1JUq0vFDuTU/v-deo.htmlsi=fraqnyDgDBW_kmtw ▪ Why there is an abandoned Ghost Town in Belgium: ua-cam.com/video/UHh1nJrSTfE/v-deo.htmlsi=hNXA8gdfubNPVONe
As someone living and growing in Dinxperlo, thank you for making this video. In essence, for many people in Dinxperlo or Suderwick it is not "something" to think about when we go to the other side of the border. "Oh, just have an ice cream at Da Claudio or go to the Penny" is not strange at all, in fact, one of the most casual (the extent to which you can call shopping casual) things to do. Especially for someone who grew up here in the 2000s and who had never seen a real border crossing with passport/ID checks and such.
Now I'm wondering, with the recent changes in border controls, do the Dinxperloreans experience these border patrols and stops? - A person that has taken a selfie with the Dinxperwick sign :D!
The way you began with the quirks, and went through the history drew me in, and it was such a pleasure to listen to the two old friends, Dutch and German, from the historical society. As a Brit who never wanted to leave Europe, hearing their thoughts, and those of the Austrian lady and her Dutchman, on Brexit was fascinating. An excellent video, thank you!
@@lesleyhirst3422 I agree with you. The build-up is great. The content as well as the interviewees. When I started watching I thought: 27 minutes is a lot, so I will skip through (I actually have to get going). But I actually watched parts again and when it was finished I wanted more.
That's sad. Also the fact that the local dialect is disappearing among the youngsters. Ik spreek een beetje het nederlands maar begrijp het niet als de nederlanders vloiend spreken . Zo goed is mojn nederlands nog niet. Helaas, leef ik niet naarby. het zou makkelijker zijn om de taal te leren. Spanje is een beten ver maar de nederlanders vind je ook in mijn stadje in Valencia.
I know right. Even when living at the border and virtually in the same town they do not speak Dutch. Either there is something wrong with their mentality or their educational system.
Well if you speak the other persons language, but they don't speak yours, you have an advantage. Always looking for ways to get the best deal possible is also typical Dutch. 🙂
@@kounterfit I noticed that while visiting Amsterdam for work while looking the TV channels as there as many German channels as Dutch channels and that’s only my view.
There is a village in Baarle (I may have spelled it wrong) that is split between the Netherlands and Belgium. It even caused a story where a guy thought he lived in the Netherlands (for Context whatever country your front door is in is the country you live in for tax and other government purposes) and when they put the borders in on the ground the lines showed he actually live in Belgium and his house ran though the border so He moved his front door so he lived in the Netherlands
@@BMoney8600 As a Dutchman I've always found it weird that the US and Canada have border checks to begin with. I grew up in the 80s and 90s. Many summers when we didn't fly we'd drive to southern Europe for a three week holiday, crossing several borders without any checks. The only thing that changed back then was the local currency. In a typical drive we had to use Dutch guilders, Belgian franks, French francs and Spanish pesetas. Sometimes Luxembourgish franks too but they often also accepted Belgian francs. Now with the euro things got even easier. The US and Canada are so similar in so many ways. Both countries have a pretty open economy. You're practically twin brothers on the same continent. And much unlike Europe you even speak the same language (apart from Quebec French of course) and have mostly the same culture. Your two countries could've been an economic union for decades now. If the very different European countries can do it then so can you.
i am born 200m away from Denmark...in the late 60s we locals didnt care for the border, we always went over it without any ID checks.... while the tourists standing in the jam at the border post, we went thru without to bother the border guards! it also helped, to have speaking Danish in the Kindergarten on the German side! in the early 1970s!
Yesterday I went through these villages to a sauna in Bocholt. It was indeed confusing to see signs in both languages and I kept wondering... now I'm seeing this video poping up on my UA-cam feed! What a coincidence!!😂😅😅
There is another place where a German and a Dutch city are one. these are Kerkrade (NL) and Hertzogenrath (D). There you have the Nieuwstraat/Neustraße, also on one side the Netherlands and on the other side Germany
There is probably many of those between NE and Germany or Belgium.. As a tourist, I ve been to the three borders point in the Vaals-Gemmenich-Valserquartier area, just a stone throw away from Aachen
Yeah, I was about to say... Kerkrade & Herzogenrath. I lived there for 38 years. I remember when the borders were still closed and my dad took me to Aldi for groceries and we had to bring passports and stuff. Times have changed for the better since the borders are open there. The border there also has a tiny memorial to pay respects to 2 German customs officers that were shot there in 1978 courtesy of the Rote Armee Fraktion (November 1st, 1978) The craziest thing that used to happen at the Neustrasse/Nieuwstraat were Dutch and German hooligans facing eachother when there was soccergame between both nations. From what I understood, they even have a officebuilding built right on the center with many small firms having an office there. Border runs right through it; which helps both dutch and German mailing, because dutch firms can mail their orders from a German mailservice in the same building.
From 1966 to 1969 I studied in Aachen and I had a room in Herzogenrath-Strass. From my room I could look into the Netherlands (Kerkrade), but I was not allowed to go there. In the middle of the street, which was the border, was a low wall. Instead of walking less than 100 meters I had to drive about 5 km east or west to the next border checkpoint, and I had to show my ID card and the green insurance document.
You have such a pleasant accent to listen to - and I love the nerdy subjects you cover. I can actually hear the Dutch accent when one of the men is speaking German. G'day from Australia, mate ☺
Lol, very interesting that the historical society guy from the Dutch side has a Dutch accent when speaking German, alltough historically these villages spoke the same Westphalian dialect of Low German.
@@Carloshache About the dialect: even though the dialect spoken in the whole border region is lower saxon, there are distict local differences between the versions of lower saxon spoken in different villages.
Both "attitudes" are born in politics and how the towns people respond to politics. European countries, and I want to say the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium especially, have been calling for years to "unite", work together, live together, play together. (North) American politics has (especially the Trump years) been about closing the borders, "protecting them" against the neighbors. This inevitably reflects in how the people affected will look at those neighbors. Would the USA work WITH instead of against their neighbors, they would have US/Mexican towns and US/Canadian towns like Dinxperwick or Baarle Nassau/Hertog
@@mavadelo Oh please! I swear Europeans just love to sit here and act like this arrangement is due to them just being so "enlightened" and not due to outsiders having to come in and make you people stop shooting each other.
Stanstead, Quebec and Derby Line, Vermont lie on a border between two different countries, with crossing the border to visit someone on the other side not as simple as crossing between two countries that are in the Schengen Area and European Union.
I find this sort of thing so fascinating. I come from a country that has no land borders so European borders and the history of them is so interesting to me. I can't imagine growing up in a place that has another country across the road. The cooperation between diverse countries, sharing a continent should be an inspiration to other continents.
The world is a funny place. My elders came with the British Empire to Africa. They decided to stay. Then South Africa became a country with Afrikaans/Dutch given priority to English. We were the first ones to learn Afrikaans although we never used it as Durban was English. When I went to University I thought they were doing away with Afrikaans. A friend of mine spent a gap year in the Netherlands & told me it was difficult. Some of our comedians & older Afrikaans movies spoke with a Dutch accent so I picked up the shift. I moved to Johannesburg for work because it is the financial heart of Africa & one of the most Cosmopolitan cities in the Southern Hemisphere. In my time there I got to really learn about South Africa because Johannesburg for example was a city of immigrants. Gold was found on a stock farm 55km from the nearest town or settlement ie Pretoria. I later learned that the town/city of Potchefstroom was the original capital of De/Het Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek. When I decided to leave Johannesburg my first choice was Flanders or the Netherlands. I decided not to because of my complexion as some don't know better would think I am a terrorist 😂. I opted for New Zealand where I met Dutch, German & Flemish friends. They were quite surprised by my language skills. I have to explain to them & my Kiwi friends that in my country of birth, more especially in the Afrikaans parts I am regarded as being English. That always gets a good laugh. I just think its wonderful that we can put past bigotry etc behind us & enjoy our lives together. Its interesting to see how others envisage or see the world. Time flies, so make the best of it. Thanks for the video. I hope to visit the EU in the next few summers as I am not built for sub-zero temperatures. 😂 Greetings from New Zealand 🇳🇿
@@andyjay729 Absolutely, another secret. Natalians have a strong bond with England & a similar sentiment of the Crown. The other, English South Africans are not so. Ironically, Natal/KZN Indians will jump off a cliff if their team lost in the English Prenier League. Crazy stuff. Auckland is very much like Durban where I grew up.
Its like Baarle. Baarle Hertog is Belgium, Baarle Nassau is Dutch. Its in town in the Netherlands, within Belgian enclaves, within Dutch dutch enclaves.
It would be so nice if everyone could get along so well as the people in these 2 villages. Never mind the border they are neighbours. A very interesting documentary
Waaaw! One of the most interesting documentaries I’ve ever seen and the people commenting during the video are so kind, both from, Germany and the Netherlands, loved it!🇳🇱❤️🇩🇪
I live in the Netherlands near te german border. We have a lot of similar situations like this nearby. There is the small village of Hohenbusch that has a dutch corner in it And kerkrade/ Herzogenrath also share a street. Just a couple examples. Buildings in some locations are shared even. Ofcourse we have also have maarstricht aachen airport... We call our region de Euregio.
When I think of divided cities, towns and villages located within the same country or autonomous territory, I think of: - Lloydminster, on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border in Canada - Texarkana, divided between the US states of Texas, and Arkansas, and mentioned quite prominently in the Jerry Reed song “Eastbound and down” (via the excerpt “…and there’s beer in Texarkana”)
This is one reason why WE have to protect this Project Europe at all cost. I have coworker from all of Europe and this people are my second family... 🇩🇪🇫🇷🇱🇺🇪🇦🇷🇴
Very nice video. I visited Dinxperlo several times, and liked it a lot. One thing is remarkable: all people in the video speak German (or English), not a word in Dutch. And that's something I notice every time I visit the border region between the Netherlands and Germany. In the Netherlands border region everybody speaks Dutch and German, on the German side of the border it's German only.
I grew up close to the border and at the time (60s/70s) there were 2 Dutch tv channels and 3 German ones and German tv was on more as well, crucially on Sunday afternoons. So I learned German before I ever got it in high school, we all did. Present generations are not usually as good at German.
While there may be a larger chunk of Germans who do not speak Dutch there are still plenty Germans that do. I live near the Dutch German border as well and I practiced sports there for many years, many of the people there who attended Gymnasium have or had Dutch in their curriculum.
@@gertstraatenvander4684My mom is able to express herself well in German, e.g. in Spain during holidays, without education. She was born just after WOII. We have never been to Germany while only living 30 minutes from the border. I also encountered my mom watching German TV. Primarily in the eighties. Years later I asked her why she only watched German TV. She said there were more channels and the shows are much more fun. She occasionally recorded cartoons for my brother and I and we had no idea what to do with it. It still baffles me how she did it by just watching. Can you teach me the trick?! 😁
I always love your videos but I especially like your Baarle Hertog/Nassau and Dinxperwick episodes. They show that borders don't have to be an issue if you talk and cooperate. Something certain countries on the other side of the globe can learn something from.
Great minidoc! ❤ I can somewhat relate by growing up in a neighbouring town, family saturdays out trips to germany at 15 mins distance. When I was young we always had to stop at border patrol, they look at you then send you through, then later removed and now an open road. Also resfreshing to see this relative longformat and highly insightfull videos. Also the remark about the dutch feeling the need to speak english because of the sea travels and the germans expecting customers to speak german was eye opening.
Being Dutch, i thought only Baarle Nassau/ Baarle Hertog was the strangest border of our nation! I really like this video! It has a Tom Scott / Tim Traveller vibe!! You've got a new subscriber!
There are several such villages in Europe, villages that were split by history and nationalistic rivalries, and united again in the European Union that abolished the hard borders.
I love border towns and even more so when I can communicate somehow in the languages of either side. My Dutch is rather basic but at least I can have a conversation at a basic level being German my mother tongue. It's a show of respect to the people even though it works in English as well as a means of international communication and ,of course, lots of Dutch speak German quite fluently.
One thing I think documentaries like these always seem to leave out is the everyday practicalities, that isn't about the physical borders, but rather the technical ones. From where do you get your electricity? Your water? Is it purely tied to your address or can you be living in Germany while paying a Dutch company for your power? Your phone? How did the old landlines work? How do you deal with having your neighbour being an international phone call away? Mobile phones pre 2017? Where everyone running around with dual sim cards? And even though your data is now included all over the EU, a call to your friends might still be an international one, if you have contracts in different countries. And then we have internet. Guess it's the same thing as with the old landline phones, but here it comes down to IP address. Are you a german stuck with dutch Netflix? (and here it's time to talk about todays sponsor .....)
Old cellphones were a problem in border areas. You actively had to check if you weren't on a german cell network and pay higher fees, if you had a dutch cell provider. Now with roaming and all that, it works fine, but back then, you had to pay a bit more attention.
Not only Suderwick west was annexed by the Netherlands for several years after the war, but also Elten in the Rhine valley and Selfkant in Limburg. Afterwards only a small part of forest remained Dutch near Nijmegen, the Duivelsberg. Also the main road running north to south through Selfkant remained Dutch to create a shortcut within Limburg. There were no exits to Selfkant on this road!
I work for a (originating) German-Dutch company in Dinxperlo, we can learn much from each other and benefit from each others pluspoints. I do remember the days of Covid that my colleagues feared the hard closure of the border. Luckily that didn't happen. Vorteil: Richtig fahren auf die Autobahn in die Richtung von Arnheim 😉
Similar to Baarle Hertog and Baarle Nassau on the Belgian ‐ Netherlands bborder. The wife sleeps on one side of the bed in the Netherlands, and hubby sleeps in Belgium.
Ja, ik heb het wel gehoord - de nederlandse mennen spreken met een duidelijk duits accent.! I must pass through that place one day - l already know about Kerkrade and Herzogenrath. There, the local buses only run to and from their own territories - they don't continue across to the other side.
we have a few towns here in North America where part is in Canada and part is in the US. Broadly speaking, there isn't a problem despite very different political and societal views on either side of the town. One amusing example is a town where some houses sit on American soil, and their driveways are on Canadian soil. Generally speaking, good will conquers all.
These border issues is something many of us close to the border don't even think about, but can be so strange to people from other countries. We cross border like it is nothing. I live in the Netherlands, very close to German border, and like so many of us I like to get my fuel in Germany because of low tax rates, 10 minutes by car from my home. The entrance from the gasstation is in Germany, but the exit is in The Netherlands. The street behind the gasstation is The Netherlands, but to get home I turn left to Germany, to turn left again to The Netherlands. Just to get fuel for my car I crossed border four times. I grew up in the south of Limburg. We used to go swimming in Belgium, but get my fathers sigarettes and gass in Germany. Both a 15 minutes drive by car. And let's not even talk about my uncle and aunt who lived on the nieuwstraat in Kerkrade. Only money was an issue, but we simply had all available. Even stil know exchange rate to Dutch gulden. About 5,5 gulden for 100 francs and 1 German Mark was about 1,15 gulden. Even crazy to myself to think about it now.
When I was a boy my Parents had friends living on the border between Poland and Czechia.. 2m from my window was the border and when I went to the forest to pick up Blueberries it was in Czechia.
Or not. I think he likes the peace and quiet of being just an average guy over there. In Aalten he is just Ang-us de Jong (insert lower saxon accent), not Angus the rockstar.
In Berlin there is a former border as well on the street Potsdamer Platz the Hansa Studio Meistersaal was near the border where Bowie got the inspiration for Heroes
You may investigate Baarle Nassau in the south of the Netherlands. There you have pieces of Begium in theNetherlands and again dutch patches in a Belgian patch..... Interesting stuff.
interesting, I know a city like this too. Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hertog. it is a city mixed between the borders of Netherlands and Belgium. even has the crosses to see for it. Not just that the Belgium part is enclaves. and theres even a Dutch enclave within a Belgium Enclave
I so love things like this! I remember when I was 20, visiting the three-border point where I could stand in one country and have each hand in two other countries (Belgium, Germany and Netherlands).
There is a town on the US-Canada border that is split down the middle. Parts are in the US and parts are in Canada. The border happens to run through the middle of the public library.
This is beautiful! Thank you for making this video! This could be the perfect place for me. I've always dreamed of living in the Netherlands, but I also fell in Love with Germany when I had a chance to stay for a few months. I can't get over how friendly and humane the Germans were. I liked that very much. But, the Netherlands is my dream. So, this would be a perfect compromise 🙂
I'm surprised that I didn't know about this town, given that I live really close to it on the Dutch side. It's really cool to hear the stories from the residents about their experiences with hard borders cutting up their town in the past, and how they feel about political rhetoric that wants to bring back those divisions.
Even if we can move freely to another country, you still have to show ID when registering for a job, buying a plane ticket, and as a general rule, carry personalausweis. It's not really much difference to be honest.
Thanks for this informative video. I knew this village existed, yet I didn't know its name. Now this is already a strange situation, but I can give you a stranger one. Close to my hometown is the community of Baarle. The Dutch call it Baarle-Nassau, and the Belgians call it Baarle-Hertog. The settlement is completely surrounded by Dutch soil, yet it contains a Belgian enclave inside, and in that Belgian enclave are also Dutch enclaves. I've visited the place many many times already and I never know if the place I am is then Dutch or Belgian, quite often only the numbers at the door can tell due to a Dutch or Belgian flag. Some houses even have the border straight through it, and house being Dutch or Belgian is then decided on the country in which the front door happens to be. Some houses have had the door moved from one side of the border to the other loads of time, depending on the nationality of the family living in it at the time. Now Dinxpelo and Suderwich are basically a Dutch and German village as good as merged in once, however with the border still existent, but the situation in Baarle is by far more complicated. Of course, both Baarle and these two villages may suffer greatly when the EU ceases to be. Now I won't close my eyes for things wrong with the EU, but nExit/dExit is the other extreme. And yes, I learned something from it. And I guess you already figured out I'm Dutch myself. (And I hate it when my country is called "Holland". Fun fact, Holland borders to neither Germany nor Belgium. The Netherlands borders to both).
1:10 so a bus in that city only goes the one way and there is no bus for the return road. you understand what i mean? like trains (A to B and B to A) but in your exemple no german bus drive the dutch side of the road. and no dutch bus drive the opposite road?
Living on this Dutch German border I can see the subtle differences even if there is no actual border left. Cross border cooperation can lead to some weird stuff. I have seen German ambulances coming to the rescue on the Dutch side of the border and Dutch firetrucks dousing fires on the German side. As an added bonus both side of the border still speak the same dialect.
Hi there, really enjoyed this video. As a pro EU brit I was heartbroken by brexit and so were the vast majority of my friends. I send love and warm greetings to my friends in the eu, especially so the Netherlands and Germany. I hope we will be together in union again sometime in the future. Been enjoying the rest of your videos, super interesting. Cheers from Brighton, uk
Surprising considering the USA's very strong territorial sense, there are a few places like this on the US-Canadian border between the US state of Vermont and the Canadian province of Quebec, or rather, there were until 9/11. Since then things have been tightened up quite a bit. But at least at one time, one town had a library that was basically shared between the two countries, albeit with separate exits for each country.
the benelux and schengen country borders are surprisingly easy going here in europe :D the border customs stations are quite often unmanned/just run a drive-through policy, and let you drive striaght though over the highways too but they do random samplings from time to time, and play a bit harder around certain times they know shit is going down like a lot fo the fireworks that are illegal here in the nehterlands, are perfectly legal in belgium, here in the netherlands we have a strict policy where it's only legal to sell fireworks 2 or 3 years in the year, the last ones of the year.... in germany and belgium they sell them all year round so people smuggle them over the border, but customs knows that too, so around those december times they'll do a bit more checking for dutch people coming back from belgium to the netherlands, more so than germany, because the fireworks in belgium is allowed to be more potent so to speak, so that's where the real freaks went, the internet made it a bit less prominent though in NL you can get yourself an air rifle that could bring down a fucking deer though, which would be illegal in germany and belgium, they have a 7.5 or 15 joules limit to air rifles, sometimes 24. somehow it's perfectly legal here to get gas charged air guns that go over 500 joules and run 9mm or even 50 cal air gun "pellets" but most people in europe aren't silly enough to try to take their rifles over the border, you don't even let most people know you have them, you know you're asking for shit lol
Good idea to move there when the “exit belasting” will be in effect👍🏾 lekker inschrijven in duitsland, maar praktisch straatje oversteken en wonen in nederland
The name Suderwick (Zuiderwijk) basically states that the 'village' really is a southern neighbourhood of a bigger village, which is exactly what Suderwick is.
there's also the small town Burghausen which lies in both Germany and Austria :) You can cross a bridge and you're in the other country. I was there 2 weeks ago.
Thanks for watching! Here's more you might like:
▪ Weird Border: Is this Germany or the Netherlands? ua-cam.com/video/jATA_9A-fWE/v-deo.htmlsi=1lRGuat4Q5KHy34K
▪ Why the Netherlands have a Biking Culture: ua-cam.com/video/1JUq0vFDuTU/v-deo.htmlsi=fraqnyDgDBW_kmtw
▪ Why there is an abandoned Ghost Town in Belgium: ua-cam.com/video/UHh1nJrSTfE/v-deo.htmlsi=hNXA8gdfubNPVONe
As someone living and growing in Dinxperlo, thank you for making this video. In essence, for many people in Dinxperlo or Suderwick it is not "something" to think about when we go to the other side of the border. "Oh, just have an ice cream at Da Claudio or go to the Penny" is not strange at all, in fact, one of the most casual (the extent to which you can call shopping casual) things to do. Especially for someone who grew up here in the 2000s and who had never seen a real border crossing with passport/ID checks and such.
Thanks for the support 🙂
Spreken de Duitsers ook Nederlands ? Of zijn het meestal de Nederlanders die Duits spreken ?
When people were still paying with guldens and D-mark, before the Euro was introduced, it was probably harder.
Now I'm wondering, with the recent changes in border controls, do the Dinxperloreans experience these border patrols and stops?
- A person that has taken a selfie with the Dinxperwick sign :D!
I am Dutch, but didn't know this about Dinxperlo :) Thanks for showing us
@Tminus89 me neither!! I knew about Baarle Nassau being fragmented, some parts are Dutch, others Belgian.
@@Tminus89 hoi!😊
The way you began with the quirks, and went through the history drew me in, and it was such a pleasure to listen to the two old friends, Dutch and German, from the historical society. As a Brit who never wanted to leave Europe, hearing their thoughts, and those of the Austrian lady and her Dutchman, on Brexit was fascinating. An excellent video, thank you!
@@lesleyhirst3422 I agree with you. The build-up is great. The content as well as the interviewees. When I started watching I thought: 27 minutes is a lot, so I will skip through (I actually have to get going). But I actually watched parts again and when it was finished I wanted more.
Very interesting! The discussions with the elder folk were particularly illuminating. Also, great choice of music.
How typical the Dutchie is talking German. The other way around is very rare or nearly non existent.
That's sad. Also the fact that the local dialect is disappearing among the youngsters. Ik spreek een beetje het nederlands maar begrijp het niet als de nederlanders vloiend spreken . Zo goed is mojn nederlands nog niet. Helaas, leef ik niet naarby. het zou makkelijker zijn om de taal te leren. Spanje is een beten ver maar de nederlanders vind je ook in mijn stadje in Valencia.
@@kounterfit En dat die Hagenees nog steeds denkt in Holland te zijn...
I know right. Even when living at the border and virtually in the same town they do not speak Dutch. Either there is something wrong with their mentality or their educational system.
Well if you speak the other persons language, but they don't speak yours, you have an advantage. Always looking for ways to get the best deal possible is also typical Dutch. 🙂
@@kounterfit I noticed that while visiting Amsterdam for work while looking the TV channels as there as many German channels as Dutch channels and that’s only my view.
There is a village in Baarle (I may have spelled it wrong) that is split between the Netherlands and Belgium. It even caused a story where a guy thought he lived in the Netherlands (for Context whatever country your front door is in is the country you live in for tax and other government purposes) and when they put the borders in on the ground the lines showed he actually live in Belgium and his house ran though the border so He moved his front door so he lived in the Netherlands
As an American this is really fascinating to me. I know we sure could learn a lot from Europe in a lot of ways.
@@BMoney8600 As a Dutchman I've always found it weird that the US and Canada have border checks to begin with. I grew up in the 80s and 90s. Many summers when we didn't fly we'd drive to southern Europe for a three week holiday, crossing several borders without any checks. The only thing that changed back then was the local currency. In a typical drive we had to use Dutch guilders, Belgian franks, French francs and Spanish pesetas. Sometimes Luxembourgish franks too but they often also accepted Belgian francs. Now with the euro things got even easier.
The US and Canada are so similar in so many ways. Both countries have a pretty open economy. You're practically twin brothers on the same continent. And much unlike Europe you even speak the same language (apart from Quebec French of course) and have mostly the same culture. Your two countries could've been an economic union for decades now. If the very different European countries can do it then so can you.
i am born 200m away from Denmark...in the late 60s
we locals didnt care for the border, we always went over it without any ID checks....
while the tourists standing in the jam at the border post, we went thru without to bother the border guards!
it also helped, to have speaking Danish in the Kindergarten on the German side! in the early 1970s!
How come? Was it a Danish speaking area on the German side?
Wouldn't be the first time the Danish crossed borders without permission
Thank you Matthias for doing this in English, very much appreciated...
Yesterday I went through these villages to a sauna in Bocholt. It was indeed confusing to see signs in both languages and I kept wondering... now I'm seeing this video poping up on my UA-cam feed! What a coincidence!!😂😅😅
There is another place where a German and a Dutch city are one.
these are Kerkrade (NL) and Hertzogenrath (D).
There you have the Nieuwstraat/Neustraße, also on one side the Netherlands and on the other side Germany
I became "world champion" in Kerkrade twice. (Wereld Muziek Concours). He should definitely visit there, also a great area.
There is probably many of those between NE and Germany or Belgium..
As a tourist, I ve been to the three borders point in the Vaals-Gemmenich-Valserquartier area, just a stone throw away from Aachen
Yeah, I was about to say... Kerkrade & Herzogenrath. I lived there for 38 years. I remember when the borders were still closed and my dad took me to Aldi for groceries and we had to bring passports and stuff. Times have changed for the better since the borders are open there.
The border there also has a tiny memorial to pay respects to 2 German customs officers that were shot there in 1978 courtesy of the Rote Armee Fraktion (November 1st, 1978)
The craziest thing that used to happen at the Neustrasse/Nieuwstraat were Dutch and German hooligans facing eachother when there was soccergame between both nations.
From what I understood, they even have a officebuilding built right on the center with many small firms having an office there. Border runs right through it; which helps both dutch and German mailing, because dutch firms can mail their orders from a German mailservice in the same building.
I lived by this location🇨🇦
From 1966 to 1969 I studied in Aachen and I had a room in Herzogenrath-Strass. From my room I could look into the Netherlands (Kerkrade), but I was not allowed to go there. In the middle of the street, which was the border, was a low wall. Instead of walking less than 100 meters I had to drive about 5 km east or west to the next border checkpoint, and I had to show my ID card and the green insurance document.
You have such a pleasant accent to listen to - and I love the nerdy subjects you cover. I can actually hear the Dutch accent when one of the men is speaking German. G'day from Australia, mate ☺
This was fantastic thanks for uploading, more videos like this please
Lol, very interesting that the historical society guy from the Dutch side has a Dutch accent when speaking German, alltough historically these villages spoke the same Westphalian dialect of Low German.
I thought the same! I could tell he was Dutch the moment he started speaking!
@@Carloshache
About the dialect: even though the dialect spoken in the whole border region is lower saxon, there are distict local differences between the versions of lower saxon spoken in different villages.
Border villages in Europe have gotten more and more united, while border villages in North America have gotten more and more divided.
That's very true
Both "attitudes" are born in politics and how the towns people respond to politics.
European countries, and I want to say the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium especially, have been calling for years to "unite", work together, live together, play together. (North) American politics has (especially the Trump years) been about closing the borders, "protecting them" against the neighbors. This inevitably reflects in how the people affected will look at those neighbors. Would the USA work WITH instead of against their neighbors, they would have US/Mexican towns and US/Canadian towns like Dinxperwick or Baarle Nassau/Hertog
@@mavadelo Oh please! I swear Europeans just love to sit here and act like this arrangement is due to them just being so "enlightened" and not due to outsiders having to come in and make you people stop shooting each other.
beautifull generalization
Stanstead, Quebec and Derby Line, Vermont lie on a border between two different countries, with crossing the border to visit someone on the other side not as simple as crossing between two countries that are in the Schengen Area and European Union.
Fantastic research! Thank you!!
Fascinating. Thankyou!
Great video thanks for sharing
I find this sort of thing so fascinating. I come from a country that has no land borders so European borders and the history of them is so interesting to me. I can't imagine growing up in a place that has another country across the road. The cooperation between diverse countries, sharing a continent should be an inspiration to other continents.
Awesome, thanks for the English upload! I wanted to show this to my Dutch friend but since she can't understand German well I couldn't, now I can :)
The world is a funny place. My elders came with the British Empire to Africa. They decided to stay. Then South Africa became a country with Afrikaans/Dutch given priority to English. We were the first ones to learn Afrikaans although we never used it as Durban was English.
When I went to University I thought they were doing away with Afrikaans. A friend of mine spent a gap year in the Netherlands & told me it was difficult. Some of our comedians & older Afrikaans movies spoke with a Dutch accent so I picked up the shift.
I moved to Johannesburg for work because it is the financial heart of Africa & one of the most Cosmopolitan cities in the Southern Hemisphere. In my time there I got to really learn about South Africa because Johannesburg for example was a city of immigrants. Gold was found on a stock farm 55km from the nearest town or settlement ie Pretoria. I later learned that the town/city of Potchefstroom was the original capital of De/Het Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek. When I decided to leave Johannesburg my first choice was Flanders or the Netherlands. I decided not to because of my complexion as some don't know better would think I am a terrorist 😂.
I opted for New Zealand where I met Dutch, German & Flemish friends. They were quite surprised by my language skills. I have to explain to them & my Kiwi friends that in my country of birth, more especially in the Afrikaans parts I am regarded as being English. That always gets a good laugh.
I just think its wonderful that we can put past bigotry etc behind us & enjoy our lives together. Its interesting to see how others envisage or see the world. Time flies, so make the best of it.
Thanks for the video. I hope to visit the EU in the next few summers as I am not built for sub-zero temperatures. 😂 Greetings from New Zealand 🇳🇿
Greetings! I've heard some people say the Kiwi accent is actually more similar to the South African English accent than Australian; would you agree?
@@andyjay729 Absolutely, another secret. Natalians have a strong bond with England & a similar sentiment of the Crown. The other, English South Africans are not so. Ironically, Natal/KZN Indians will jump off a cliff if their team lost in the English Prenier League. Crazy stuff.
Auckland is very much like Durban where I grew up.
Its like Baarle. Baarle Hertog is Belgium, Baarle Nassau is Dutch.
Its in town in the Netherlands, within Belgian enclaves, within Dutch dutch enclaves.
No enclave here, just a border running straight through the village(s)
@@dasja9966 So..
Baarle is more interesting. ;)
See also Kerkrade and several other villages along the German-Dutch borders. Same with Belgium.
Great content! Always surprises the topic with something new and interesting. 🔥
This is so cute. I’ve visited that area before, but not that town. The people are so nice and positive
Fantastic video as always, whenever I see you posted a new video it's always a treat!
Very good documentary, well done!
Super leuke film! Dit is wat Europa leuk maakt!
Juist. Ik ben duitser en vind het ook leuk. In de end zijn we buren. Vaak is de locaaldialect de zelfde op de twee kanten.
It would be so nice if everyone could get along so well as the people in these 2 villages. Never mind the border they are neighbours. A very interesting documentary
You have the same situation in Kerkrade / Herzogenrath where the border runs along the middle of the Nieuwstraat / Neustraße.
Waaaw! One of the most interesting documentaries I’ve ever seen and the people commenting during the video are so kind, both from, Germany and the Netherlands, loved it!🇳🇱❤️🇩🇪
I live in the Netherlands near te german border. We have a lot of similar situations like this nearby.
There is the small village of Hohenbusch that has a dutch corner in it And kerkrade/ Herzogenrath also share a street. Just a couple examples.
Buildings in some locations are shared even. Ofcourse we have also have maarstricht aachen airport...
We call our region de Euregio.
Thank you for sharing this interesting story, very cool :)
Super recherchiert 👍 tolle Interviewpartner 👌
When I think of divided cities, towns and villages located within the same country or autonomous territory, I think of:
- Lloydminster, on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border in Canada
- Texarkana, divided between the US states of Texas, and Arkansas, and mentioned quite prominently in the Jerry Reed song “Eastbound and down” (via the excerpt “…and there’s beer in Texarkana”)
This is one reason why WE have to protect this Project Europe at all cost. I have coworker from all of Europe and this people are my second family... 🇩🇪🇫🇷🇱🇺🇪🇦🇷🇴
Hi Matthias, what an absolutely great video. Very well done bringing the perspective of the past and the situation nowadays. This is quality content.
Very nice video. I visited Dinxperlo several times, and liked it a lot. One thing is remarkable: all people in the video speak German (or English), not a word in Dutch. And that's something I notice every time I visit the border region between the Netherlands and Germany. In the Netherlands border region everybody speaks Dutch and German, on the German side of the border it's German only.
I grew up close to the border and at the time (60s/70s) there were 2 Dutch tv channels and 3 German ones and German tv was on more as well, crucially on Sunday afternoons. So I learned German before I ever got it in high school, we all did. Present generations are not usually as good at German.
While there may be a larger chunk of Germans who do not speak Dutch there are still plenty Germans that do. I live near the Dutch German border as well and I practiced sports there for many years, many of the people there who attended Gymnasium have or had Dutch in their curriculum.
The interview is in German. Probably because Matthias Schwarzer does not understand Dutch and could not talk in or subtitle it.
@@gertstraatenvander4684My mom is able to express herself well in German, e.g. in Spain during holidays, without education. She was born just after WOII. We have never been to Germany while only living 30 minutes from the border.
I also encountered my mom watching German TV. Primarily in the eighties.
Years later I asked her why she only watched German TV. She said there were more channels and the shows are much more fun.
She occasionally recorded cartoons for my brother and I and we had no idea what to do with it.
It still baffles me how she did it by just watching. Can you teach me the trick?! 😁
I love places like that - showing things are better when we work together.
We got the same here. Kerkade on the duth side, Hertzogenrath on the left. Dutch houses right germans left.
I always love your videos but I especially like your Baarle Hertog/Nassau and Dinxperwick episodes. They show that borders don't have to be an issue if you talk and cooperate. Something certain countries on the other side of the globe can learn something from.
Great minidoc! ❤ I can somewhat relate by growing up in a neighbouring town, family saturdays out trips to germany at 15 mins distance. When I was young we always had to stop at border patrol, they look at you then send you through, then later removed and now an open road. Also resfreshing to see this relative longformat and highly insightfull videos. Also the remark about the dutch feeling the need to speak english because of the sea travels and the germans expecting customers to speak german was eye opening.
Being Dutch, i thought only Baarle Nassau/ Baarle Hertog was the strangest border of our nation!
I really like this video! It has a Tom Scott / Tim Traveller vibe!!
You've got a new subscriber!
Thank you! Very interesting video!
There are several such villages in Europe, villages that were split by history and nationalistic rivalries, and united again in the European Union that abolished the hard borders.
Wow, das war ja wieder super aufwendig. Danke.
I love border towns and even more so when I can communicate somehow in the languages of either side. My Dutch is rather basic but at least I can have a conversation at a basic level being German my mother tongue. It's a show of respect to the people even though it works in English as well as a means of international communication and ,of course, lots of Dutch speak German quite fluently.
I just found your channel and I love it!
One thing I think documentaries like these always seem to leave out is the everyday practicalities, that isn't about the physical borders, but rather the technical ones. From where do you get your electricity? Your water? Is it purely tied to your address or can you be living in Germany while paying a Dutch company for your power?
Your phone? How did the old landlines work? How do you deal with having your neighbour being an international phone call away? Mobile phones pre 2017? Where everyone running around with dual sim cards? And even though your data is now included all over the EU, a call to your friends might still be an international one, if you have contracts in different countries.
And then we have internet. Guess it's the same thing as with the old landline phones, but here it comes down to IP address. Are you a german stuck with dutch Netflix? (and here it's time to talk about todays sponsor .....)
Old cellphones were a problem in border areas. You actively had to check if you weren't on a german cell network and pay higher fees, if you had a dutch cell provider. Now with roaming and all that, it works fine, but back then, you had to pay a bit more attention.
If you live at a German address you have to become customer of a German ISP and will have a German IP and a German phone number (+49).
Well, at least for the utilities, in the video they did say that it’s shared on both sides of the border within the town.
Great questions!
When I watched this video I saw that rhe Dutch-man of the two old friends just adressed that subject !
Very interesting video and really liked the stories from the locals :).
Not only Suderwick west was annexed by the Netherlands for several years after the war, but also Elten in the Rhine valley and Selfkant in Limburg. Afterwards only a small part of forest remained Dutch near Nijmegen, the Duivelsberg. Also the main road running north to south through Selfkant remained Dutch to create a shortcut within Limburg. There were no exits to Selfkant on this road!
I work for a (originating) German-Dutch company in Dinxperlo, we can learn much from each other and benefit from each others pluspoints. I do remember the days of Covid that my colleagues feared the hard closure of the border. Luckily that didn't happen. Vorteil: Richtig fahren auf die Autobahn in die Richtung von Arnheim 😉
This village looks so much more interesting than our equivalent of Valka/Valga, where most of the border follows small river
What a delight to watch… Thank you so much for making these great videos. BR, Per (Denmark)
Similar to Baarle Hertog and Baarle Nassau on the Belgian ‐ Netherlands bborder. The wife sleeps on one side of the bed in the Netherlands, and hubby sleeps in Belgium.
Ja, ik heb het wel gehoord - de nederlandse mennen spreken met een duidelijk duits accent.!
I must pass through that place one day - l already know about Kerkrade and Herzogenrath.
There, the local buses only run to and from their own territories - they don't continue across to the other side.
Very inspiring! Great life lessons from the locals
Really a great story!
There is another example with even a sometimes heated situation at the border: Kerkrade (NL) and Herzogenrath (DE).
The same for Kerkrade and Baarle Nassau.
we have a few towns here in North America where part is in Canada and part is in the US. Broadly speaking, there isn't a problem despite very different political and societal views on either side of the town. One amusing example is a town where some houses sit on American soil, and their driveways are on Canadian soil. Generally speaking, good will conquers all.
But those towns have REALLY strict border controls, despite appearances.
Could you make a video about the village called Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hertog. Those two villages are between Netherlands and Belgiun.
These border issues is something many of us close to the border don't even think about, but can be so strange to people from other countries. We cross border like it is nothing. I live in the Netherlands, very close to German border, and like so many of us I like to get my fuel in Germany because of low tax rates, 10 minutes by car from my home. The entrance from the gasstation is in Germany, but the exit is in The Netherlands. The street behind the gasstation is The Netherlands, but to get home I turn left to Germany, to turn left again to The Netherlands. Just to get fuel for my car I crossed border four times. I grew up in the south of Limburg. We used to go swimming in Belgium, but get my fathers sigarettes and gass in Germany. Both a 15 minutes drive by car. And let's not even talk about my uncle and aunt who lived on the nieuwstraat in Kerkrade. Only money was an issue, but we simply had all available. Even stil know exchange rate to Dutch gulden. About 5,5 gulden for 100 francs and 1 German Mark was about 1,15 gulden. Even crazy to myself to think about it now.
Excellent video, thank you! And yes, many of us in GB were and remain horrified, and look forward to returning to the European family
Plenty of us are very happy out of it, never to return. Here in GB it doesn't matter, we have no land border.
@@dcarbs2979 there is a land border with the EU in Ireland (and also one in the Channel Tunnel).
When I was a boy my Parents had friends living on the border between Poland and Czechia.. 2m from my window was the border and when I went to the forest to pick up Blueberries it was in Czechia.
Aalten is a boring place but you can also briefly mention that Angus Young from AC/DC has lived there with his Dutch wife for 40 years.
Or not. I think he likes the peace and quiet of being just an average guy over there.
In Aalten he is just Ang-us de Jong (insert lower saxon accent), not Angus the rockstar.
you deserver so much more subs man, Always verry intresting videos
In Berlin there is a former border as well on the street Potsdamer Platz the Hansa Studio Meistersaal was near the border where Bowie got the inspiration for Heroes
You may investigate Baarle Nassau in the south of the Netherlands. There you have pieces of Begium in theNetherlands and again dutch patches in a Belgian patch..... Interesting stuff.
Please go to South of The Netherlands where, Nederland, België and Deutschland conjunct as well in one village
interesting, I know a city like this too. Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hertog. it is a city mixed between the borders of Netherlands and Belgium. even has the crosses to see for it. Not just that the Belgium part is enclaves. and theres even a Dutch enclave within a Belgium Enclave
Hi Matthias, I am from Northern Ireland (United Kingdom) come to Northern Ireland and do Pettigo it is a village split in two by the UK/EU border
I was thinking this was going to be about Baarle in the Netherlands and Belgium
I so love things like this! I remember when I was 20, visiting the three-border point where I could stand in one country and have each hand in two other countries (Belgium, Germany and Netherlands).
There is a town on the US-Canada border that is split down the middle. Parts are in the US and parts are in Canada. The border happens to run through the middle of the public library.
If you find this interesting, look at Baarle-Hertog and Baarle Nassau.
That is even more weird 🙂
This is beautiful! Thank you for making this video! This could be the perfect place for me. I've always dreamed of living in the Netherlands, but I also fell in Love with Germany when I had a chance to stay for a few months. I can't get over how friendly and humane the Germans were. I liked that very much. But, the Netherlands is my dream. So, this would be a perfect compromise 🙂
I'm surprised that I didn't know about this town, given that I live really close to it on the Dutch side.
It's really cool to hear the stories from the residents about their experiences with hard borders cutting up their town in the past, and how they feel about political rhetoric that wants to bring back those divisions.
You can tell when you have left the Netherlands as the cycle lanes stop!
Even if we can move freely to another country, you still have to show ID when registering for a job, buying a plane ticket, and as a general rule, carry personalausweis. It's not really much difference to be honest.
There’s another one, actually split in half; Kerkrade and Herzogenrath. In Limburg. Sharing mainstreet between them: Haupstrasse and Hoofdstraat.
Thanks for this informative video.
I knew this village existed, yet I didn't know its name.
Now this is already a strange situation, but I can give you a stranger one.
Close to my hometown is the community of Baarle. The Dutch call it Baarle-Nassau, and the Belgians call it Baarle-Hertog.
The settlement is completely surrounded by Dutch soil, yet it contains a Belgian enclave inside, and in that Belgian enclave are also Dutch enclaves.
I've visited the place many many times already and I never know if the place I am is then Dutch or Belgian, quite often only the numbers at the door can tell due to a Dutch or Belgian flag.
Some houses even have the border straight through it, and house being Dutch or Belgian is then decided on the country in which the front door happens to be. Some houses have had the door moved from one side of the border to the other loads of time, depending on the nationality of the family living in it at the time.
Now Dinxpelo and Suderwich are basically a Dutch and German village as good as merged in once, however with the border still existent, but the situation in Baarle is by far more complicated.
Of course, both Baarle and these two villages may suffer greatly when the EU ceases to be.
Now I won't close my eyes for things wrong with the EU, but nExit/dExit is the other extreme.
And yes, I learned something from it. And I guess you already figured out I'm Dutch myself.
(And I hate it when my country is called "Holland". Fun fact, Holland borders to neither Germany nor Belgium. The Netherlands borders to both).
Fascinating!
There's enough places like that. Such as my home place like Kerkrade. Which is called Nieuwstraat. Which is split up between Germany and Netherlands.
1:10 so a bus in that city only goes the one way and there is no bus for the return road. you understand what i mean? like trains (A to B and B to A) but in your exemple no german bus drive the dutch side of the road. and no dutch bus drive the opposite road?
Happy new yr Mathias Schwarzer,yr new sub
Great vid :)
Living on this Dutch German border I can see the subtle differences even if there is no actual border left.
Cross border cooperation can lead to some weird stuff. I have seen German ambulances coming to the rescue on the Dutch side of the border and Dutch firetrucks dousing fires on the German side.
As an added bonus both side of the border still speak the same dialect.
Hi there, really enjoyed this video. As a pro EU brit I was heartbroken by brexit and so were the vast majority of my friends. I send love and warm greetings to my friends in the eu, especially so the Netherlands and Germany. I hope we will be together in union again sometime in the future.
Been enjoying the rest of your videos, super interesting. Cheers from Brighton, uk
Surprising considering the USA's very strong territorial sense, there are a few places like this on the US-Canadian border between the US state of Vermont and the Canadian province of Quebec, or rather, there were until 9/11. Since then things have been tightened up quite a bit. But at least at one time, one town had a library that was basically shared between the two countries, albeit with separate exits for each country.
the benelux and schengen country borders are surprisingly easy going here in europe :D
the border customs stations are quite often unmanned/just run a drive-through policy, and let you drive striaght though over the highways too
but they do random samplings from time to time, and play a bit harder around certain times they know shit is going down
like a lot fo the fireworks that are illegal here in the nehterlands, are perfectly legal in belgium,
here in the netherlands we have a strict policy where it's only legal to sell fireworks 2 or 3 years in the year, the last ones of the year.... in germany and belgium they sell them all year round
so people smuggle them over the border, but customs knows that too, so around those december times they'll do a bit more checking for dutch people coming back from belgium to the netherlands, more so than germany, because the fireworks in belgium is allowed to be more potent so to speak, so that's where the real freaks went,
the internet made it a bit less prominent though
in NL you can get yourself an air rifle that could bring down a fucking deer though, which would be illegal in germany and belgium, they have a 7.5 or 15 joules limit to air rifles,
sometimes 24.
somehow it's perfectly legal here to get gas charged air guns that go over 500 joules and run 9mm or even 50 cal air gun "pellets"
but most people in europe aren't silly enough to try to take their rifles over the border, you don't even let most people know you have them, you know you're asking for shit lol
Good idea to move there when the “exit belasting” will be in effect👍🏾 lekker inschrijven in duitsland, maar praktisch straatje oversteken en wonen in nederland
Very interesting topic. Thanks from Costa Rica.
The name Suderwick (Zuiderwijk) basically states that the 'village' really is a southern neighbourhood of a bigger village, which is exactly what Suderwick is.
We need more of this! One united Earth! @We the people!
there's also the small town Burghausen which lies in both Germany and Austria :) You can cross a bridge and you're in the other country. I was there 2 weeks ago.
There's Gorlitz/Gorzelec too and the funny bit is that each side is 99% ignorant of the foreign language over the river!
Boodschappen een groot verschil dan belasting verschil
Just as well , right hand traffic both countries 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️👍👍👍
Nice video cool topic