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I come across this photo in Facebook where the borderline between Belgium and the Netherlands is drawn in the ground splitting a house in two sides one side at each country. One can literally put one foot in Belgium and the other in the Netherlands.

Is this photo real and if so where is it exactly I am so interested in visiting.

B-NL

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  • 7
    There are also similar situation possible on the Dutch German border, where one side of the street is Dutch and the other German. Quite some tension if Holland plays against Germany in soccer
    – user141
    Commented Aug 22, 2013 at 16:06
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    Another famous one is the Joint Security Area between Koreas, where conference rooms are exactly on the border.
    – mouviciel
    Commented Aug 26, 2013 at 14:47
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    There is also a spot where three borders join: Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, called the Drielandpunkt. It's very close to Aachen. There are border lines painted like in your photo, and a small marker on the joining point where you can be in three countries at once.
    – David
    Commented Dec 26, 2013 at 15:04
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    @mouviciel stepping over the line for a selfie with one foot in the DPRK and one in the ROK is however not advised.
    – jwenting
    Commented Mar 12, 2014 at 7:52
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    @hippietrail Did we discuss this on meta? Was this approved? Or are we just playing close-vote chicken for the sake of it? ;)
    – JoErNanO ♦
    Commented Sep 23, 2016 at 13:34

3 Answers 3

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This is in fact a completely legitimate photo. It is from Baarle-Nassau where the borders get really funky.

Indeed, the one house you are looking it is just one of many, though it is probably the most famous. The exact address is Loveren 19, Baarle-Nassau 5111, The Netherlands.

In a situation similar to that along, say, the India-Bangledeshi border, the actual settlement patterns predate the national boundaries around them. Treaties in the 1830s followed by the dissolution of the Spanish Netherlands into Belgium and the Netherlands led to this odd situation. Treaties in the 1830s "clarified" the situation, but resulted in the pattern you see. The various enclaves even go through buildings in some instances.

Because everything is within the Schengen area, however, it presents no more difficulty than, say, borders that go through buildings in two states (e.g. Myock, NC) within the United States, or even in buildings that straddle the Canadian border. (e.g. the "Cross-Border Library" in Derby Line, VT / Rock Island Quebec.)

Note: this video has pictures and more information.

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    Even before Schengen it presentes no difficulty. Look what your history manual says about Benelux ... ;-)
    – Maître Peseur
    Commented Aug 22, 2013 at 19:08
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    Agreed - was just looking for a concise way to put. Schengen is accurate, although there are ways I could have been more precise.
    – Affable Geek
    Commented Aug 22, 2013 at 19:19
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    There are some farms which cross the Northern Irish border.
    – TRiG
    Commented Aug 22, 2013 at 19:43
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    Just nitpicking on this otherwise great answer (+1) but 5111 Baarle-Nassau is not an exact address, it's an incomplete postal code and the name of the city (a Dutch postal code has four numbers and two letters, streets have names but the postal code and house number are enough to fully describe an address).
    – Relaxed
    Commented Aug 23, 2013 at 23:21
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    Rest in peace Affable Geek :/
    – Nean Der Thal
    Commented Mar 24, 2015 at 18:24
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The image is from the border between the Dutch municipality Baarle-Nassau and the Belgian municipality Baarle-Hertog. To be more exact, the address of the house is Loveren 19, Baarle-Nassau, Netherlands. If you don't want to go there, you can look it up on Google Streetview :)

Although it is not that uncommon that towns or villages are split by country borders and that you even in populated areas can stand with your feet in two different countries, the border between Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hertog is indeed rather strange. The Belgian village consists of 22 distinct exclaves, the smallest just about 2500m², within the borders of the Dutch village, while there are further 8 Dutch exclaves within the 22 Belgian exclaves. Wikipedia has a map of the area showing how the complex border course creates small patches of Dutch and Belgian land within each other.

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Just to add some extra info; there's also a town in The Netherlands where the border between The Netherlands and Germany runs through the length of a street with houses on both sides. The odd numbered houses are Dutch and the even ones are German (or the other way around, I forgot).

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    Yes, Neustrasse between Kerkrade and Herzogenrath. Afaik it even has bars etc, that are particularly busy during NL-GER soccer games.
    – Marco van de Voort
    Commented Jul 23, 2014 at 9:23
  • There's a supermarket near Haaksbergen where the border runs through the building. From google maps it looks like they put their liquor store in the German part, probably because taxes on liquor are lower in Germany :) Another place where there's a road running along the border through a town is Dinxperlo.
    – jwenting
    Commented Dec 1, 2022 at 10:44

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