Selected stories by Vladimir Pomortzeff Новая страница 1
 

Borderline Town

Photographs by Vladimir Pomortzeff

The town of Baarle is divided in nearly equal parts between Belgium and the Netherlands. Twenty four parcels of Belgium territory are surrounded completely by Dutch territory. There are also seven small Dutch exclaves within the Belgian exclaves. Some of the exclaves are a couple of houses only. Such a comical situation where the borderline runs through houses, restaurants and shops and even through some apartments is a result of the painful division of the medieval Netherlands to Holland and Flanders, now Belgium. The borderline is quite symbolical now, but not so far in the past inhabitants hadn't easy life here.
 

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6. Map of the state borders in Baarle depicted in the commemorative plaque in honour of the Treaty of Maastricht, signed on 8th August 1843 by Belgium and the Netherlands, established the border between the two countries. The plaque is placed directly on the borderline in the downtown.

 

7. House number in the Dutch part of the town.

 

8. House number in the Belgian part of the town.

 

9. The brick house across the street is located on the Dutch territory again.

 

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11. The borderline is marked by white crosses in downtown only. Metal border marks are used in less crowded places.

 

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The photographs of this story were shot in August 2012 in Baarle-Hertog, Belgium, and Baarle-Nassau, Netherlands.

Copyright © 2012 Vladimir Pomortzeff

 
   
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