POSITION DETERMINED

The Grenspalenklassieker is more than a tour, it is an experience along the border between the Netherlands and Belgium with beautiful and sometimes impressive stories about the 2e world war, the death wire, smuggling routes and much more!
There are 369 boundary posts along this border and if you count the double ones on either side of the Meuse, there are as many as 401. Where exactly are they and what stories lie behind these boundary posts?

You can find the answers to these questions here! Together with the Land Registry, which has information on every CM² in the Netherlands, we have mapped all border posts. And in the run-up to each tour, we will tell you three fun border post facts, because as you already know; #elkepaalheftzijnverhaal

BOUNDARY POST FACTS

No1
THE FOUR-COUNTRY POINT

Did you know that the Drielandenpunt used to be a Four Country Point? Anyone who pays close attention to the ...

... look at street signs and see that the street name of the last kilometre in Vaals is the 'Four Border Road'. Border marker 1 was the only Four Nations point in the world around 1830. The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Moresnet shared the border here. Moresnet, an area of 344 hectares, was annexed to Belgium after World War I, creating the Three Country Point.

No35
GEALLY

'In the footsteps of the liberators'. It is 12 September 1944, 10am, during World War II. At this time, the first ...

... allies from Belgium entered our country at border post 35. The village of Mesch near this post thus became the first liberated village in the Netherlands. Given the sad current events in Ukraine, we would like to take a moment to reflect on the importance of peace and freedom for everyone.

No51
SAINT PETER'S MOUNTAIN

Did you know that boundary marker 51 stands on one of the oldest inhabited hills? Boundary marker 51 stands at the highest point of the Sint Pietersberg. This point on ...

... 171 metres above N.A.P. has been owned by Natuurmonumenten since 1995. The Sint Pietersberg area has been inhabited since the first century. Limburg is also home to Vaalserberg at 322 metres above sea level. The highest mountain at 877 metres above sea level has been Mount Scenery on the island of Saba since 2010. And did you know that from 2021 the land registers on Saba, Bonaire and Sint Eustatius will belong to the Dutch Land Registry?

No80
IMPROVED

'A historical route'. Did you know that the Tongerseweg was a historical route between the Roman cities of Maastricht and Tongeren? This road runs all the way ...

... on to Vaals and turns into the German N1 at the border with Germany. There are 16 national monuments along Tongerseweg, including the 1918 Tobacco Factory and a chapel.

No108
GRENSMAAS

'How the Meuse has changed over time'. Did you know that the 'Grensmaas' is a 43 km long section of the Meuse? This area forms the border between Belgium and ...

... Netherlands. On the right side of the Meuse (west) you can see a large bend, this is now a peninsula, in the past there were two separate islands here. With the Topo time travel  you can see the Meuse changing over time.

Did you know that from here it is 51 km of cycling to the finish. 😊

No176
2 POSTS IN 1 LOCATION

Did you know that this post stands at two borders? The official national border of the Netherlands-Belgium and the border between the Barony of Cranendonck and the ...

... Barony of Leen and Hees. The cadastral boundary post is from 1843, the 'Barony boundary post' from 1762 and a National Monument since 1982. Today, the municipality owns the land. And what is the name of the municipality where you are now standing? Right, that's the municipality of Cranendonck.

No177
THE ABDIJ

Each pole has its story, with the short video featuring Bram Tankink talking about Boundary Pole 177 and the connection with the Abbey and its delicious Trappist beer.

No187
THE DEATH COUNCIL

Did you know that during the war 450 km of barbed wire formed the national border? As you have also seen at border post 174, in World War I it saw ...

... the border between war-torn Belgium and neutral Netherlands looked very different. Did you know that along the official land border on the Dutch side was 450 kilometres of barbed wire? On the Belgian side, the German occupiers had stretched 332 kilometres of electric power wire? This "death wire" carried 2,000 volts, so that touching it resulted in death? As a result, around 850 people died during World War I, including some 85 Dutch?

No191
HIGHEST POINT BRABANT

Did you know that this boundary marker stands at the Venakkerbos? The highest natural point in Brabant. This point is only 30 centimetres higher than the second ...

... natural point: the Stevensbergen. The highest point is the former landfill Gulbergen in Mierlo. The Algemeen Hoogtebestand Nederland (AHN) maps heights precisely, even if they differ by only 30 centimetres from each other.

No204
CABLE HOLES

Each pole has its story with in this short video the concrete plinth that served as a cover during the war. Boundary post 204 did not escape several bullet holes.

No209
LONGEST STRETCH OF BORDER

Did you know that this boundary post is special? The post is very deeply buried which makes it look very small. Also, the number is a bit hard to see, ...

... because the shield should point from Belgium to Belgium and the shield from the Netherlands to the Netherlands. For this reason, the number is facing exactly towards the bridge. All in all, then, an unusual bollard, which from here towards bollard 208 marks the longest stretch of straight border with Belgium.

No322
LOVE OF CASSOCKS

Did you know that if we zoom in on this area Topo time travel.nl, the Western Scheldt in the 19the century before this boundary post flowed? This estuary was called the ...

... Braakman and divided Zeeuws-Vlaanderen into a western and eastern part. As you travel through the years, you see the sea retreating further and further due to silting up. The entire former estuary is now a nature reserve and owned by the Forestry Commission. The Kasseiweg road you pass this way served to open up the polder and is first mentioned on the map in 1850.

No326
SMOKKELWEG

Every pole has its story with in this short video Border Pole 326, located on Smokkelweg. A street with a story, where the name speaks volumes.

No348
QUEEN JULIANA

Each post has its story, with in this short video Jos talking briefly but powerfully about border post 348, where Queen Juliana set foot on Dutch soil again after the war.

No349
HOUSE

Each pole has its story, with this short video featuring the home that knows land in two countries. For sale in negotiation, with Boundary Pole 349 right at your front door, for those boundary pole fanatics who see their dream home in this one.

Check out all the Boundary Pole facts on the Borders Classic Youtube channel