Flanders is 100 square-metres smaller after border shift
Border markings have been shifted to match the original border agreed upon by Belgium and the Netherlands
Back to its rightful owner
To bring the border area between Belgium and the Netherlands in line with historical agreements, some 100 square metres that had been taken over by Flanders has been relinquished back to the Netherlands.
Paving work recently began in the street in Essen marking the border with the Netherlands. Essen is located in northwest Antwerp province.
The commission charged with the maintenance of international border markers found that the border post was about a metre farther into the territory of the Netherlands than the official border that had been established in 1849.
It was not possible to put a marker in the water, and so it was set a metre away on the Dutch side
There had apparently been a watery ditch where the border was established. “Of course it was not possible to put a marker in the water, and so it was set a metre away on the Dutch side,” Essen mayor Gaston Van Tichelt (CD&V) told VRT. “The stream is long gone, but the border marker has always stood.”
So it was decided to move the marker back to where the border really was. This means that between 50 and 100 square metres that was marked as belonging to Belgium is now – correctly – marked as belonging to the Netherlands.
According to the mayor, moving the border has no consequences for the residents on either side, and no Flemings will end up living in the Netherlands. However, a few square metres of the OCMW building in Essen are now located in the Netherlands.
The changes have been paid for by the neighbouring Dutch town of Roosendaal, which also found that Essen had grown beyond its rightful border.
Photo courtesy City of Essen/Facebook
