Vennbahn: The World's Weirdest Border?

Hidden away in the rolling Eifel hills is one of the world's weirdest international borders: a long, string-shaped piece of Belgium that runs through western Germany. Why is it there, and what does it have to do with an abandoned railway? I went to investigate the story of the Vennbahn...
INSTA - / the.tim.traveller
TWIT - / thetimtraveller
FACE - / thetimtraveller

[@fel1918]

Always nice when some British dude tells you the history of that bike line 5 km's from your house

[@fel1918]

@Omar Ignacio Silvestrini I knew that the path was a train line in the past and that it belongs to Belgium, but it was the first time someone told me about the detailed history ! It makes you feel quite happy about open borders haha But I didn't know about the small German exclave, gonna visit it haha

[@user-bj3pq2si2l]

0:47 That place is fucking gorgeous!

[@biology-of-life]

Same here xDD

[@Dartitis-26]

@@fel1918 Seriously, if I would live there, seeing this weird border of my home country just some minutes away from where I live, I would want to know why this is. I wouldn't wait until someone made a video...

[@thierryh.5963]

@@user-bj3pq2si2l yes it really is, but nowadays overfilled by tourists

[@solidpain9098]

I love how in the end Germany just got a free bike lane which Belgium must pay for and maintain within German territorry. Good deal!

[@Coastfog]

That's a too "glass half full" way of thinking for a German. Source: Being a German. My knee-jerk reaction was "Great, so who has jurisdiction if there's an accident or even a crime committed on the bike lane!?"

[@djallstars]

And a tourist trap for free as well. Awesome deal!

[@DannyMNL]

Belgium maintaining their roads? Are you high?

[@chilanya]

as a Dutch person i find this whole conversation way too amusing

[@-_-naab-_-]

@@chilanya as a Dutch person I declare this comment section. G E K O L O N I S E E R D

[@Mirandorl]

So a schematic drawing of this railway line, showing the set of all land that is in Germany, the set that is in Belgium, and where they both intersect, is a Vennbahn Diagram...

[@warringtonminge4167]

PMSL.😂🤣

[@johnny_pilot]

Brilliant! 🤣

[@jonathanwalther]

I laughed so hard! Thank you!

[@uttariyabandhu]

noice

[@Eden-NoEye]

I live in Roetgen it's really convenient on a Sunday when all the German shops are closed and you can just walk across the border to get groceries.

[@yeoldedumbass4487]

Why aren't they closed in Belgium tho

[@Eden-NoEye]

@@yeoldedumbass4487 because there's a law in Germany that prevents supermarkets from opening on Sundays (Christianity and stuff) but there isn't one in Belgium

[@alok8080]

What about the currency?

[@Eden-NoEye]

@@alok8080 most European countries use Euros (€) so do Belgium and Germany

[@wm2008]

@@Eden-NoEye and in the others you just pay by card or use euro anyway, like here in Croatia

[@jontiswe]

In 2020: "Cross that bridge and you will need to spend two weeks in quarantine"

[@lauruguayitausa]

In Uruguay we are worse... because quarantine is not mandatory and there are 3 cities where u cross the street and u are in Brazil 🇧🇷 a country with one of the worse cases of coronavirus...

[@erdbeerfilm]

EU sei Dank das wir hier endlich in Frieden miteinander auskommen. Toller Bericht 👍

[@dipl.-psych.alfonskaseberg1768]

Hahahaha

[@lauruguayitausa]

@Johannes König Thank you. You too!

[@lzh4950]

Meanwhile Singapore now requires cargo truck drivers entering from neighbouring Malaysia to be swab-tested at the border, causing queues of up to 10h that reportedly killed ~3500 chickens in the trucks' cargo holds as they queued under the sun (kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKKtdnupqJ2drrc). Maybe a solution is to shift more cargo transport to rail, since less drivers would be needed to move the same amount of cargo & thus less tests are also needed too (as a train can carry more cargo than a truck)

[@kumikoOG]

*“May I use your bathroom?”* *“Sure, it’s just down the hall and into Belgium.*

[@hse6144]

If you cross back into Germany, you’ve gone too far!

[@AliSeasider]

Sounds much like finding the toilets in a Wetherspoon’s.

[@gazpachopolice7211]

Before the Indian-Bangladeshi enclave problem was solved, there were many houses which had one part in one country and another part in the other

[@RudolfKooijman]

Try this one :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJTMn2qfrsiSp9U

[@mittfh]

Similarly with the madness that's Baarle, straddling Belgium (Baarle-Hertog) and the Netherlands (Baarle- Nassau).

[@tabchanzero8229]

5:58 _"You can just about not quite see"_ One of the most British things I've ever heard.

[@YangSing1]

Why so?

[@lewis72]

@@YangSing1 Because it's full of delicate vaguerisms.

[@YangSing1]

Lewis72 I’m British and I didn’t notice it was particularly British

[@Toshinben]

@@YangSing1 I almost agree with you that it's not quite British.

[@waylonk2453]

Haha, you got me laughing.

[@toby150]

Do you live in Belgium? The lonely house: "Yes, but actually no"

[@erroristmusic]

Lmao, good one!

[@rapgab]

"yes, but I prefer to pay the high German tax system."

[@CloyMc]

@marcus gamer If both stay in EU, it doesnt matter. Thats why some people don't know all the stuff in this video. They are just living as free people. No soldiers, no visual border...

[@Paski2LP]

@@CloyMc So if Belgium or Germany exit the EU, you are literally captured in your house? Because you are not allowed to tresspass the other country without a visa :v

[@EmilReiko]

@@Paski2LP Germany is the EU, so it would be Belgium who left, and i suppose that would feel pretty landlocked. Anyways, Norway is not EU - and we can cross into Norway from Denmark, Sweden and Finland without a visa.... This bordercrossing at will without permit is not entirely unique to the EU... Citizen of nordic countries can even settle in eac others countries without permits, including norway.

[@mikabrandhofer2511]

"someone shot an austrian and everyone decided that the best thing to do next would be to have a war" is my favourite description of ww1 ever

[@kmw4359]

so Douglas Adams-esque:)

[@andrewgarner2224]

Baldrick says it started when an ostrich was shot.

[@ted1091]

I doubt he'd refer to the queen mum as just a "brit." Nasty english supremacist.

[@andrewgarner2224]

@@ted1091 Let's face WW1 was really a family squabble. You can see them at many weddings and Christmases, it's just this one pulled in the neighbours.

[@Coastfog]

They shot the wrong Austrian...

[@kalebbruwer]

Germany just wants to make sure that even in the case of a civil war, they can still invade through Belgium.

[@AngelSamael]

Yo dawg I heard you like invading through Belgium so I put Belgium in the way of Belgium so you can invade through Belgium whilst you invade Belgium so you can invade through Belgium.

[@shigmag4272]

Am german. Can confirm

[@sleepingcity85]

hard but hilarious (as a german)

[@antiSnaky]

some would say Merkel is totally on it

[@FrancisJoa]

@Jigov Finally one gets it. It is still all German Reich territory after the treaty of Hague Landwarfare Convention from 1871.

[@crowmigration8245]

"Literally just someone's house" *little timmy kicks his ball out of the yard and goes to retrieve* Border patrol: do you have a passport?

[@flavio_spqr]

No need for passports for EU citizens, within the EU.

[@punstress]

@@flavio_spqr How does Timmy prove he's an EU citizen then?

[@flavio_spqr]

@@punstress A national identity card will do. Also, EU citizens don't need passports in Switzerland, Norway or Iceland for example, even tough these 3 countries are not part of the EU, because of the Schengen Agreements - free circulation of people and goods.

[@cupriferouscatalyst3708]

@@punstress why would he need to? Is he applying for a job/loan/residency and/or under arrest on suspicion of a crime?

[@davidsolecki4782]

@@flavio_spqr lol even if you're not a citizen of the EU no one gives a damn

[@lehui8266]

The Vennbahn is an absolute treasure to cycle on. No hills, just speedy well-kept road set in a stunning part of Europe

[@Calvito-]

What`s the point of cycling on a flat road?

[@lehui8266]

@@Calvito- I was doing a tour from the Netherlands to Luxembourg city with two friends and we were doing it on heavy city bikes with a lot of packing (it was a budget trip). We mainly used google maps to navigate so we unfortunately spent a lot of time riding on car centered roads with a 80km speed limit. Hence we were really happy to find an actual place for some easy riding especially since it was so beautiful. I can see your point though if you want to cycle to get a good excersise

[@Calvito-]

@@lehui8266, Of course, my reply was an absolute rubbish. Lots of people want to ride on a flat road, relaxing, talking and just enjoying the day.

[@sofienielsen4608]

@@Calvito- getting from point A to point B

[@JaapVersteegh]

Must be the only well kept road in Belgium!

[@goodday4221]

german guy: *sounds like a german* belgian guy: *sounds like a northern englishman*

[@AsfandShahid]

Because there are 3 official languages in Belgium so which one should have he picked?

[@DaheyDraco]

@@AsfandShahid, not the english one? rofl

[@eddiejc1]

@@AsfandShahid It wouldn't have seemed right to pick German, although that IS a Belgian language, and somebody would have been mad if he picked Dutch or French. I don't think Tim was thinking about any of that, though---the northern English accent was funny and that's all that matters.

[@HenkJanBakker]

Lots of planets have a North.

[@AsfandShahid]

@@bjorndewinter since when is English an official language in Belgium?

[@kklogins]

So with free movement these days Belgium is basically forking up the costs to maintain a bike lane in Germany... How nice of them :) Also: Baarle Nassau / Hertog is weirder

[@TheTimTraveller]

Pretty much, yep! I guess they think it's worth doing it in order to keep the land. BN/BH is pretty weird too but Tom Scott already did a video about that and I wanted to be different :)

[@mennopillu8421]

@@TheTimTraveller i'm from Belgium. I'm in favour of selling :). Also: a little part north of this place, we had also a strange situation: Belgium on the Dutch side of the Maas... which meant that ambulances couldn't go there.... Thankfully it was only some meadows... and we solved that by a land swap with the Netherlands a few years ago.

[@Jakromha]

The bureaucracy of handing over the land probably costs more than the bike lane minus a bit of tourist income.

[@neinnein9306]

Belgians have to pay most taxes per person in Europe. Followed by Germans. So at least both of them can have this bike lane :)

[@vladutcornel]

@@Jakromha France and Spain do it every 6 months (Pheasant Island)

[@drosera88]

Imagine cops chasing some guy running from them on this road. "He just left our jurisdiction! He got away! Wait, he just re-entered our jurisdiction! No wait, he just left our jurisdiction again!"

[@sjonnieplayfull5859]

That is why the police in this area carries long poles with them, to jump over the road and cross the border via international airspace...

[@philipfyfe8620]

There is something the same in Ireland between Cavan and Clones

[@adamabele785]

There is some kind of agreement that settles those cases.

[@stefanoarunzutunz6630]

😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂

[@demaatschappij1127]

@@sjonnieplayfull5859 Lmao 🤣 Actually European police forces are allowed to continue their pursuit across international borders

[@brennencox516]

This video was a bit more interesting than I thought it would be.

[@dotdankory]

you've heard of half of interesting now get ready for a bit more interesting

[@diymicha4905]

It gets REALLY weird in Baarle-Nassau, a few miles to the north west: There are Netherland borders, inside Belgium, inside the Netherlands :)

[@chrisread4818]

I thought of this place, watching this video. I'd post about it but you got there first

[@simplydifferent7712]

DIYMicha And vice versa. There are also Belgium borders in the Netherlands 🙂

[@bubbamoosecat]

That's crazy!

[@varangianguard7764]

A few miles? :D I know Americans and Canadians have a different sense of distance and travel time than we people from small countries, but come on, a 2 hour drive of a 110+ miles is still not 'just a few miles', right?

[@MiaogisTeas]

This is someone's ideal porno, I'm sure.

[@fmhummel]

I can remember a TV report in the early 2000s. Belgium actually offered the land back to Germany, much to the delight of that house owner. But Germany declined.

[@FrozenBusChannel]

But why did they decline?

[@fmhummel]

@@FrozenBusChannel I think the government just couldn't be bothered. That's usually the reason for things not being done in Germany.

[@asd36f]

The Belgian and German prime ministers pointed out that the border between Belgium and Germany has long been clearly defined and they see no reason to change it.

[@fmhummel]

@@asd36f There's no German prime minister.

[@allanprimeau7864]

​@@asd36fas German chancellor I would get this land back. Friendly countries don't occupy each other's land!!

[@terrycs]

I'm not really a cycler, but that bike lane looks beautiful and really tempting

[@DominikKleinMusicde]

It is. I'm a local and can confirm :)

[@TheToomykins]

The lowlands and north-western parts of Europe in general are very bike-friendly. Being so flat and stuff everyone cycles. There's more bicycles in the Netherlands than people.

[@tonymahony2282]

@@TheToomykins there are 9 million bicycles in Bejing .... :-)

[@hafftig3692]

@@TheToomykins lol, Aachen and sorrounding arent flat at all

[@doktormerlin]

@@TheToomykins the Vennbahnweg is not that flat though. The Venn (its name giving thing) are mountains in Belgium that cross the whole country until it ends in Luxemburg

[@Kexkrummel]

"It starts in Belgium and it ends in Belgium" *cries in luxembourgish*

[@maxmustermann8167]

luxembourgish? Thats not a language its german with a dialect.

[@maxmustermann8167]

@Joakim von Anka Nobody needs Luxemburg but Luxemburg needs the EU they got all their wealth by betraying their european "friends" as a tax exile.

[@homasas4837]

@@maxmustermann8167 luxembourg has its own language. It's neither German, neither Dutch, neither French.

[@homasas4837]

@@maxmustermann8167 nobody needs any country. And luxembourg was fine before eu and will be fine after.

[@maxmustermann8167]

@@homasas4837 No its just a german dialect, every german can understand every word. Get your facts right: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxembourgish habe ich ja ganz vergessen, du sprichst ja deutsch, kannst ja gleich den deutschen Eintrag lesen, haha. de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxemburgische_Sprache

[@giovannieich7487]

5:46 For anyone who might be curious, the guy who just bought the fries advised his kid to be careful as to not ruin his jacket.

[@tpmiranda]

The EU. That weird place where you can cross a border without being shot.

[@QemeH]

You can cross a fuckton of borders without being shot. How do you think international trade works? The thing about the inner-EU borders is that you can cross them unannounced and unchecked. (Comparison for our american friends: A bit like crossing from one US state to the next - some different laws, some common laws, but no checks.)

[@666Tomato666]

@@TheOwenMajor oh, I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of school shootings

[@foximacentauri7891]

@@QemeH well, the USA are, as the name suggests, united. The EU isn't a single country (yet?).

[@EagleScoutmano]

I admit to a being a tad ignorant on this one; Explain how the names "The United States of America" and "The European Union" differ in implied unity? both hinge upon words which share the majority of meaning and and etymology; "United" and "Union" are actually two forms of the same word. (if two countries enter into a union with each other, then they have been united...)

[@EagleScoutmano]

(and yes, I know that the USA is a single country; that was proven over a century ago. However, you might notice that "country" and "state" are synonymous terms; the USA began as a trade alliance between wholly independent Nation-states; and only gradually became a single nation. Today, much the same process, if slower for many reasons, is happening in Europe; indeed, asking people from European nations "where are you from" often nets the response "I'm from Europe". Which, of course, still fails to answer the question, what nation are you from?

[@rainerunsinn123]

he correctly pronounced aachen that is enough internet for today

[@Frostbait]

hot damn he actually did although i never thought it would be that hard compared to other german place names

[@seboritter]

Richtig so.

[@kaiimee8465]

@@Frostbait what do you think about our Eichhörnchen or Brötchen

[@starstencahl8985]

Hearing “Akken” or some other weird pronunciation weirds me out every time

[@aramisortsbottcher8201]

@@kaiimee8465 or Streichholzschächtelchen 😂

[@AxellSlade]

Person: So, where do you live? Owner of the lonely house: It's complicated.

[@florians.849]

@pete smyth no Belgium.

[@ridikerous]

They could rewrite the song Owner of a Lonely Heart to fit this situation.

[@rusticcloud3325]

"I live in Germany, but inside Belgium..."

[@michel_dutch]

Having watched 2 of your videos now, I must say I'm very impressed by your effort to pronounce foreign words correctly. A very welcome change compared to other 'travel' videos. Besides that, I like the way you're showing us around at interesting places like this. Keep it up!

[@TheTimTraveller]

Cheers Michel!

[@m-faccin]

This is 100% "Welcome to Europe" experience.

[@133col]

Until you visit Sweden

[@m-faccin]

@@133col why?! I've been there years ago and I don't have particular memories

[@Flyfan24]

@@133col The Swedish-Norwegian, Swedish-Danish and the Swedish-Finish border also have no border control, so what's the difference?

[@ParanoidMaster]

@@133col You know that Sweden is in Europe and part of the exact same open-boarder "Schengen-Area", right?

[@CloyMc]

@Lestat de Lioncourt Me too (Last Night in Sweden) and I am from Germany... The problem is Trump is sometimes the reason we think every American has to be so stupid cause he is the ***ing president. You know what I mean, like: raking forests, can grab them by the pussy, can shoot people and other dumb stuff he said and/or lied. But then I see Jimmy Kimmel. Maybe 133col is joking, we doesn't know. We have to ignore that, cause we doesn't know and keep our EU strong, without borders between us.

[@TheInfinitySystem]

Things we have learned watching your channel: In Belgium, absolutely nothing is done the easy way.

[@db-jugg3r]

My Grandpa was head of the eifelverein, a local group of wanderes through the german and belgium regions in the eifel. They organized trips and held meetings to honor the belgium-german friendship. For that he even was knighted by the king leopold order and got the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany some years later. Belgium, (edit) Netherlands, Luxenburg (/end) and Germany where the first countries to drop their borders and controlls even before the EU.

[@apveening]

"Belgium and Germany where the first countries to drop their borders and controlls even before the EU." I think you are overlooking the BeNeLux, border controls were dropped so long ago I can't even remember having to show a passport for entering Belgium. Just looked it up and the border controls were dropped in 1960, so several years before I was born.

[@db-jugg3r]

@@apveening Hm yes, i think, NL and Belgium dropped their border controlls first. You are right.

[@shadowmanwkp]

Laughs in Baarle-Hertog/Nassau

[@briocheoleary5043]

Baarle Nassau Hertog.. Love it

[@cat5636]

It's still interesting, I had no idea about this!

[@JanPieterGerritsen]

The Belgiums seems to be very good in this sort of Enclaves. Indeed Baarle-Hertog/Nassau is a good example and far more complex then this railway thing and it exists much longer. Here you have houses which have a front door in The Netherlands and the backdoor in Belgium. I know people who had Belgium and Dutch phone and when I started living here the supermarket had a Dutch and Belgium pin unit.

[@briocheoleary5043]

What happens in police chases, in car, or on foot. In baarle Nassau hertog..

[@Dusto9]

It's Europe, police don't stop at the border. They just continue chasing across the border and call up the other country's police forces to assists or take over.

[@solarityberndr.6785]

Hi Tim, great story! There is another railway related strange border at the opposite site of Germany. The railway from Zittau to Cottbus has been build in the Neiße valley and changes the river sides multiple times. After 1945, the eastern side of the river became polish. There is even a railway station for a german villiage which resides now in Poland :-) Wait what you discover when travelling this active line...

[@kachnolos]

A few kilometers from this place is another weird railway track - from Zittau in Germany to Reichenberg (now Liberec) in Czechia, but... it goes through Poland without any stop in Poland. Another is the railway track from Neusalza-Spremberg to Taubenhaim an der Spree, which goes through the Czech Republic, without any stop there too. Another weird railway track is from Adorf (in Germany) to Vojtanov (in the Czech Republic). It doesn't cross the border just once, but seven times on 13 kilometers. And finally Germany and the Czech Republic have the railway station Bayrisch Eisenstein/Železná Ruda-Alžbětín, which stands directly on the border. The state border is marked right in the building - in the middle of the waiting room. :-D

[@juliohenrique8546]

" Until someone shot an Austrian and everyone decided that the best thing to do next would be to have a war " Europe in a nutshell hahaha

[@nayr87]

Gavrilo Principe is that Someone

[@zied6456]

@Northward Bound 😆👍

[@kaiserredgamer8943]

The Austrian is Archduke Franz Ferdinand von Habsburg

[@timelordtardis]

Okay, time for a Baldrick quote: "I heard that it started when a bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich 'cause he was hungry." 😁

[@agba5098]

@Northward Bound You're thinking about the wrong war.

[@Craftamey]

I live in germany and never heard about that…

[@DavidGuettaBG]

Get back to school then!

[@wagenkinder3208]

@@DavidGuettaBG This isn´t widely known

[@sakken95]

I live in Belgium and never heard this either

[@w_atso_n]

Lustigerweise war ich dort vor 2 Jahren im Urlaub und wusste das bis ich dort war auch nicht...

[@TremereTT]

I live in Germany and school told me about it. Also we have similar funny enclave/exclave borders with Swiss and Austria. The biggest problem is that some of he cities have no roads, trains or walkways connecting them to any other place in their country so they aren't realy an exclave by borderlines but by traffic system....

[@MeganMcIntosh]

I’ve lived in Belgium for more than 10 years and I’m just learning this now! Thanks for the video, very interesting!

[@truiteteam3428]

In the dutch part of the country you can find a city cut in half, the countries borders are marked with a white line between house, and some of the house are on both countries, so your neightboor using the same house is in another country, no joke :p

[@krazie02]

Belgium has another weird border, together with the Netherlands, its called Baarle

[@scwhk1]

There are too many videos on that one, which I suspect is why he made a video for this place.

[@rjjacob101]

YES! That has got to be one of the most confounded borders on Earth!!!

[@Killerspieler0815]

@Krazie 02 - Belgium it self is weird and artificial ... it may soon loose cohesion (between French & Nederlands speking parts)

[@wilyriley_]

The Vennbahn: not as insane as Baarle-Nassau ™

[@krazie02]

@@wilyriley_ it is as insane as Baarle-Nassua, since it is Baarle-Nassau. To my (limited) knowledge, Baarle is the name of the village, Baarle-Nassau is the Dutch part and Baarle-Hertog is the Belgian part.

[@KlumsiAtAachenH96]

That was my home, when I was a kid. Rückschlag is owned by my uncle!😅

[@kaiimee8465]

Lol Fr?

[@KlumsiAtAachenH96]

@@kaiimee8465 möglich... Wer bist?

[@aesopwolf3126]

Frag den mal bitte ob der mir Rückschlag schenken kann.

[@aramisortsbottcher8201]

@@aesopwolf3126 man verschenkt doch nichts, das seit 90 Jahren in Familienbesitz ist an Fremde. In der Regel.

[@aesopwolf3126]

@@aramisortsbottcher8201 dann mach mich halt zum Teil der Familie und dann ist das ja wieder gut

[@amelie-3429]

that "borderline insanity" pun is criminally underrated

[@hedgehog3180]

I imagine these days that maintaining the weird borders is a pretty profitable tourist enterprise.

[@sol2544]

By sharing a weird border both countries make more money! It's a total win!

[@charleslambert3368]

Yeah, they have a load of touristy stuff at the Dreilaendereck. (see the video on the Vaalserberg)

[@michaellejeune7715]

We had tourist bridges, tourist railways, tourist invasions. Now we only have tourist traps.

[@charleslambert3368]

@Advocatus Diaboli beautiful except for Aachen.

[@thierryh.5963]

@@charleslambert3368 ❓

[@houtjeboom]

You need to visit Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hertog.... You will be amazed about there borders.

[@parkeerwacht]

In some places it's a bit of Netherlands in a bit of Belgium that is inside the Netherlands

[@camielstoop4430]

Houtje Boom - Be Creative Yes. You can warm your feet in Netherlands and drink a fresh cool beer in Belgium. Not the way around though

[@DiggerWhoops]

Love this! Your delivery is exceptionally entertaining and informative!!!

[@thundermon862]

Wow, I'm pleasantly surprised to find a video about my hometown in my recommendations. Greetings from Mützenich (that bit of Germany surrounded by Belgium) 👋

[@adiuntesserande6893]

I’m hoping we get a comment here from the resident of that one exclaved house....

[@fabianreusch4870]

Abgesehen davon, spreche die Leute auch in Belgien bei euch doch locker auch deutsch, oder nicht?

[@thundermon862]

@@fabianreusch4870 Ja, das nennt sich dann "Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft" (DG) und erstreckt sich noch ein paar Kilometer hinter der Landesgrenze.

[@fabianreusch4870]

@@thundermon862 aja, und niederländisch ist auch nicht allzu schwer zu verstehen, da sollte man doch zurecht kommen 👍

[@markcantemail8018]

Dada It is nice hearing from a Resident of this area . This Rail Grade is an interesting situation . Hello from Western , N.Y .

[@RenateReinartz]

Great work, Tim. We live in Monschau since 9 years. It is so common to cross the border all the time, that we have got a different feeling for borders, the EU, and our neighbors in Belgium. It is just a really great place to be.

[@TheTimTraveller]

Thanks Renate! It's a lovely place :)

[@tweezerjam]

So jealous 🇺🇸❤️

[@harkalyjonas]

Germany after World War I: *"Belgium, give me back my railway! I built it! Mine!"* Hungary after World War I: *"Are you serious?"*

[@juppheinekken3465]

Please explain?

[@harkalyjonas]

@@juppheinekken3465 62,2 After the First World War, Hungary lost 62.2% of its railways.

[@harkalyjonas]

@@juppheinekken3465 With numbers: Length of railway lines in Hungary before the First World War: 21200 km(13173.07 miles)

[@juppheinekken3465]

@@harkalyjonas Allright I got you

[@Belvie]

Got an ad for this in the suggestion section of a Tom Scott video. Good stuff

[@dave3508]

Me too😂

[@linusryderberg4428]

Same

[@FaRiNa473]

Same :D but the funny part (for me), I went to school in Monschau. It's so weird to just here randomly "blabla Monschau bla border to Belgium" I was like "wat...wat?"

[@Tommy-uf1uq]

Same

[@GryphLane]

@Jimmy De'Souza That's absolute horseshit. You're making that up.

[@jjlenny]

I always wonder who decides to give videos like this a thumbs down. Informative and educational, and certainly nothing offensive. I very much appreciate this. Thanks for putting this out.

[@SioxerNikita]

People that doesn't like this content?

[@Indy_21]

"Or you just really like collecting text messages from phone networks welcoming you to their country." 😆 😆 I love this.

[@PlanesTrainsEverything]

I love land borders and call this 'frontieraphilia'. I discovered Vennbahn years ago and have always wanted to go. Thanks for showing this weird place. Great video

[@briocheoleary5043]

Have your seen': map men With Jay Foreman. That's a cool KZbin channel too. And also : Tom Scott. Might be up your street too. Have you any other similar KZbin channels that you like!?

[@fenrisulfr8]

I literally live there. Now I realise how abnormal this is :D Google never knows which country I am in.

[@MeakisTV]

Eventually it will just say "Fuck it, you're both ..."

[@Janroetgen]

I do also live there, where exactly do you? :D

[@SirSilicon]

Ja wir Roetgener haben es nicht leicht. ;-)

[@fenrisulfr8]

@@Janroetgen in Roetgen, I noticed it's even in the exclave part of it.

[@Janroetgen]

Wieso kommen denn jetzt alle hier aus Roetgen? xD Kennen wir uns? Wie alt seid ihr? :D

[@NickyVermeersch]

Great video. You might be interested to know that this is not a unique situation for Belgium. There is a similar situation in the north of the city of Antwerp with The Netherlands. The area is called Baarle-Hertog or Baarle-Nassau, and is a complicated result of trading land during the medieval ages. It is filled with enclaves.

[@patrickho2606]

The Carolingian succession led to a millennium of unresolved border gore. We can just blame the Lothair line for dying early

[@diekje8728]

How belgium works, simplified: “let’s compromise”

[@someoneprobably1016]

"How Belgium works" It doesn't and we don't care.

[@lzh4950]

@@someoneprobably1016 I recall my country's government has previously cited political gridlock in Belgium's legislative body (causing it to be 'hung' over a year I heard) as an example of/reason why we shouldn't vote more opposition MPs into our parliament

[@toschi1606]

“Da musst du aufpassen dass du deine Jacke nicht versaust”

[@shawnmaccoy3393]

Oui il est vrax

[@IlikePineApple123]

xdddd

[@Jerrywood111]

oh mann das wollt ich gerade schreiben

[@bokajllensch661]

Im Video? Wann?

[@IlikePineApple123]

@@bokajllensch661 als der am Stand war

[@travelcampervansandmore]

Very interesting although Baarle-Nassau/Baarle-Hertog in Holland and Belgium is an even bigger headache for cartographers! At 2:30 what is the story about the bit in green above the Lorraine? Seems to be Germany now.

[@The-Urban-Goose]

For some reason I find the exclave that is just some guy's house endlessly hilarious

[@darioinfini]

I wanna hear more about the house in a foreign national outpost. The people who live there must have some interesting quirks to deal with.

[@l.n.4929]

I would be quite interested how their postal address is and if they get their stuff via germany or belgium :)

[@darioinfini]

@@l.n.4929 And do they need a passport to go outside LOL.

[@Eden-NoEye]

It's not the only house, there is also one in Roetgen itself (I live here) it was a railway guardhouse, it has a Belgian address but both the Belgian and the German postmen go there. It's literally the only Belgian house in a kilometer or so.

[@karlnul]

@@darioinfini We have this amazing concept in Europe called the 'Schengen agreement' where we can cross borders as if they weren't there.

[@Ynysmydwr]

@@l.n.4929 The address (Auf Aderich 33, 52156 Monschau) is a German one, though I believe their letterbox -- in the foreground in this photo: www.thisotherworld.co.uk/vennebahn10.JPG -- is on a road in Belgium.

[@davidk.6042]

I'll just say it. . . Absolutely best KZbin channel name, ever!

[@escapedlunatic27]

It isn't even Belgium's weirdest border.

[@shootax]

wich one is it then?

[@MattMcIrvin]

@@shootax Baarle-Nassau/Baarle-Hertog, on the border with the Netherlands. It's a crazy patchwork of enclaves and exclaves that at this point has basically become a tourist attraction (thanks to free movement within the Schengen zone). There used to be worse on the border of India and Bangladesh: an area with actual controlled borders, between not-entirely-friendly countries, that was like that. At one point there was a counter-counter-enclave: a piece of India inside a piece of Bangladesh inside a piece of India inside Bangladesh. Some of the people living there were in a terrible situation where they couldn't legally leave their little enclave without a visa that they couldn't get without going to an office that was outside the enclave. But pretty recently the countries arranged a territory swap and basically cleared it up.

[@escapedlunatic27]

@@MattMcIrvin The 'stans are also a bit of a mess, with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan both having enclaves within Kyrgyzstan - and again, the countries in question aren't on very friendly terms so the borders create a few problems for the people who have to live there. There have been a few attempts made to clear up the situation in Baarle as well, but each one has ended with them deciding they like it the way it is! Presumably they reckon that since the opening of the borders has removed most of the practical problems, they might as well keep things as they are - if they ever cleared it up they'd lose all the tourists, since without the weird borders there would be nothing to distinguish Baarle from any other town in the area.

[@moumier1]

visitez les 3 bornes, point culminant des Pays Bas .

[@MKahn84]

​@@MattMcIrvin I had to go look at that part of the Belgium border with the Netherlands on the map - that is crazy! I counted 5 places (and maybe missed some) where there is a Netherlands exclave that's inside a Belgian exclave that's inside of the Netherlands! Some of those Belgian exclaves have basically nothing inside them. One is just a field - the boundary is the edge of the field all the way around. Another is just a patch in the middle of a field with no real way to tell where you cross the border. In places, the border line cuts right through houses or other buildings. There has to be some interesting stories about that mess!

[@svenweissbrodt3551]

Interessant, kannte diesen Grenzverlauf gar nicht. Was dazu gelernt! Danke, Thank you!

[@darkpaprika6221]

Wohne schon immer in Nrw und noch nie davon gehört. Ist für die Leute, dies kennen wahrscheinlich nix besonderes und deswegen erzählt es nie einer. :'D

[@alexejfrohlich5869]

bitte die korrekte deutsche aussprache benutzen: senk ju :D

[@jacson6411]

Thanks for this vídeo, inspired by your video we went to have a waffle at the wagon and did the bicycle rail with the kids. Amazing place, kids loved it.. made sure to track back those approx 56 yards to where Germany is on both sides of the embankment.. an absolute highlight..

[@tsundoku5733]

By a strange coincidence the name of the single-house exclave, Rückschlag, can mean recoil (or backlash, rebound or setback). Like the recoil of the gun with which Gavrilo Princip shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in June 1914.

[@maximkretsch7134]

In German thd recoil of a gun is Rückstoß.

[@hisss]

I've been to Monschau a lot as a wee lad, but this I never knew. Gotta share this with me mum 'n dad!

[@Katharina-rp7iq]

Imagine living in an exclave consisting of only your house and yet you can walk to your own country across 2 borders within seconds.

[@ridikerous]

The usual goal when becoming rich is to own your own island. Someone owns their own exclave. Now I want an exclave...

[@adrianthoroughgood1191]

Much less exciting, but my parents own a whole postcode. It's only 2 houses and a farm, but there's nothing with that postcode that isn't theirs.

[@dvancamp6710]

Just discovered this and love this guy's humor and delivery! Fantastic video!

[@bolts5994]

YOU HAVE THE BEST NARRATION VOICE EVER. Right up there with Morgan Freeman. Lol. Love the vids

[@doffbatz]

5:50 "jetzt musste aber aufpassen dasste deine Jacke nischt versuaust ne?" 😂

[@christoph13]

Deutsche Väter in a nutshell😂

[@pingpongking692]

ja musste auch soooo lachen xD

[@Mediaevalist]

Und ich könnte wetten, die ganze Familie trägt Funktionsjacken...

[@floriandt1357]

@@Mediaevalist eine übergangsjacke haha

[@maxmustermann8167]

@@christoph13 Einfach grund- und wahllos auf Kinder einprügeln wäre auch eine Alternative. Arabische Väter in an nutshell.

[@michaelfach4922]

Born in Germany and living here now for nearly 50 years I have to admit that I never heard before about this interesting piece of history. Thank you!

[@bluesewitz]

Me too!l

[@antoinebeauman]

Did you hear of die Neustrasse/Nieuwstraat Herzogenrath/Kerkrade ... interesting history aswel nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nieuwstraat_(Kerkrade)#/media/Bestand:Neustrasse,_Herzogenrath.jpg de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neustra%C3%9Fe_(Herzogenrath)

[@peerlesschaos2082]

Well I lived there for 20 years. My family is still there :D When I drove to school my bus crossed the Border 4 times! :D The "Ardennen Offensive" is a dark but interesting part of the landscape. You can see many craters from bombs and old bunkers in the woods and signs of people living literally in caves for month, because of the war.

[@RenatoRamonda]

As someone who grew only a few km from the town of Sanremo (in the Ligurian Riviera) I was amused by the bike seat you can see for a couple of seconds at 06:31 in the foreground, branded "Selle San Remo" (Milan-Sanremo is one of the "old classics" of competitive biking, like the Paris-Roubais, that's why someone making biking accessories would use the name). There you go, I found you an even more obscure bit of geographical information in this video 😛

[@panzerpack9208]

The horror you must go through if the EU had hard borders

[@johannesdahn3039]

Gentlenerd 22 soon to be seen in Ireland 🤔

[@briocheoleary5043]

Johannes Dähn I cant see a hard border coming back. The locals would just ignore it.. rural Ireland is very rural.. and neither side in Ireland has the appetite to enforce one.. imho

[@tumu_bandit]

No brexit for God's sake. Should have another referendum in the next week.

[@HPD1171]

@@tumu_bandit and another extension. and another extension next year, and again and again... I would not be supprised if in 50 years or so the UK will make some sort of weird festival they throw every year where they "go to the EU and request an extension" and there will be a little parade and kids will be asking what it is all about and all the adults will try and explain but none if it will make any sense as they explain the process of shooting your own foot and the answer will just be "its tradition".

[@alisonhilll4317]

So how about Palestine eh ? You ZIONAZIS research Barbara spectre George Soros and IsraAID , and open borders for Israel eh !!!! .

[@NoYouAreNotDreaming]

"when someone shot austrian and everyone decided that the best thing to do is to have a war" love that line

[@bishwatntl]

Austrian Railways run trains between Innsbruck and Reutte in Tirol which, because of the mountains in the area, run through Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany. In the 1960s, the guard used to check that passengers from Austrian stations wanting to stay in Austria (e.g. travelling from Seefeld to Reutte) only travelled in one part of the train. He would then lock the doors on leaving the last Austrian station and then unlock them after arriving back in Austria. Thus passengers could travel through Garmisch but not get on or off there.

[@MaggieHessYoga]

what a great mini documentary of sorts. My first time with The Tim Traveller, but sure I'll come back for more.

[@MrFlaggerty]

Thanks Tim for yet another insightful and well made video! Cheers!

[@TheTimTraveller]

Ah thanks MrFlaggerty!

[@sillytorque]

Baarle Nassau is also full of craziness; a patchwork-like Belgian enclave in the Netherlands. It gets so bad that each house has a small flag on the mailbox to say which country its in....

[@AJGeeTV]

I live in Düsseldorf and the "Vennbahn Radweg" is one of my favourite bike paths which follows the old railway. It is, as you say, very unusual.

[@KyraWS]

Belgium, The Master of Weirdest Borders

[@sarah.j_ca]

so interesting, youve quickly become one of my fave channels, love your presentation

[@TheGodParticle]

The town at the intro was so beautiful.

[@bobmeier4903]

Yes. It's really beautiful. As long as you don't have to go there by your car :D

[@Jonathan-js3vi]

Hilfe, musste letztens mitm Motorrad durch was kaufen, und hab hinter der Bimmelbahn gesteckt...

[@AsbestosMuffins]

"Reutshlagen, which is just someone's house" Petoria....?

[@Ynysmydwr]

A link for the cartophiles: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%BCckschlag_(Monschau)#/media/Datei:Rueckschlag_map.png The exclaved farmstead's name is Rückschlag.

[@yamahonkawazuki]

@@Ynysmydwr vielen dank

[@9alerix]

They were going to call it Peterland but that name was already taken by the gay bar up the street...

[@yamahonkawazuki]

@@9alerix lol

[@chrismcgarry2840]

The sign saying that horse riding is forbidden on the Vennbahn in Germany (at 5:08) makes no sense, since it isn't in Germany. I assume they mean the section surrounded by Germany, but it is a bit weird.

[@mordapl1641]

*The Holy Roman Empire wants to know your location*

[@jackedrussell]

This guy looks like a Tesco Value Simon Pegg.

[@rubifye4739]

Lmao, was about to say that

[@barrybritcher]

Thin Matthew Corbett

[@Jabber-ig3iw]

Tesco value Tom Scott

[@EdwardMillen]

That's what made me click the video - I needed a closer look, plus the subject seemed similar to a Tom Scott video, and I'm sure I've seen a Map Men video with almost the same title

[@nsm1311]

I was thinking the same and found that someone had the same thought too

[@lijie2511]

What a nice closure to end my almost 10 years of life in Belgium and start a new one in the UK!

[@jlelliotton]

I love these weird border things. We have several between Canada and the US. Point Roberts in Washington state is only accessible through Canada. There is one place on the Vermont/New Brunswick border there the border goes through the middle of houses.

[@corderajones]

Jim Elliott don’t forget about the northwest angle in Minnesota

[@TheRealTricky]

Living only a few kilometers away from Baarle Nassau (and Baarle Hertog), I can say that his spaghetti country is very interesting, as I never knew of its existence, and it looks wonderful there, so you gave me a nice vacation idea. I mean Baarle (as we call it when we don't want to name the sections specifically but rather the settlement as a whole) is a city that is all surrounded by the Netherlands, but now it comes, inside are Belgian enclaves, who in turn surround Dutch enclaves, and I believe those also surround some Belgian in turn. I've been in Baarle many many times, since I live in Breda, which is only a rock-toss away from it (well, when you have a scooter it is), I've been in Baarle many many times, and I never know if I'm in the Netherlands or Belgium then. All I know is that the big church is in Belgium and that the Belgian people have a Belgian flag in their house numbers, while the Dutch house numbers have a red left side and a blue right side, being a bit of a play of the Dutch flag. I think that is also worth a video when it comes to odd or weird borders ;)

[@TheTimTraveller]

Yes it definitely is! The main reason I went to the Vennbahn instead is that I feel like it's less well-known - a few big KZbinrs e.g. Tom Scott have already done Baarle Nassau and I wanted to do something different. But I'm sure I'll come to Baarle some day :)

[@TheRealTricky]

@@TheTimTraveller Well, that is a very good motivation, to take this above Baarle. Thumbs up for that. And yeah, I didn't know about strange spaghetti country thing, so I'm grateful that you made me aware of this... Now Germany is not that easy for me to get to (all I have is a scooter, and it's quite a distance to get to the German border for me), so maybe that's why I never knew ;)

[@vulcaniya]

Thanks Tim, I was in the area a few weeks ago looking for the Siegfried line between Aachen and Monschau and my phone and my car GPS went a bit crazy with "Caution.... Border Crossing" alerts every 30 seconds. After seeing your video I understand what the heck happened. Monschau certainly is beautiful.

[@kubamakovsky]

Damn, Im an enthusiast both in trains and borders! Perfect vid for me :D This was actually very nice, you got yourself a subscriber lad

[@cupriferouscatalyst3708]

I love facts like this! WonderWhy and RealLifeLore are two channels that talk a lot about unusual borders, some of them get a LOT more complicated than this! City Beautiful is another channel about similar topics (mainly city planning) and it's one of my favorites. Great (and pretty darn funny) video!

[@cameronwaddel4072]

"A new meaning to cross-country running".

[@guccianddodul]

Ha ha. You have got a sense of humour Cameron!

[@amosamwig8394]

@@guccianddodul ikr ha ha

[@rosicroix777]

TY , I didn’t know that Exclave was a word or even existed. However you made learning this highly entertaining. Keep up the great work 😀

[@warriorbard]

Venbahn: We have a strange international border! Baarle Hertog/Nassau: Hold our beers.

[@cupriferouscatalyst3708]

Kashmir: ...

[@SweetActivity]

You should look up the bits of The Netherlands that are in Northern Belgium, Antwerp

[@PGraveDigger1]

@Kent Arnold That's because Baarle-Hertog is the name given to all of those Belgium enclaves, which are all inside the municipality called Baarle-Nassau. So yeah, Baarle-Hertog is inside of Baarle-Nassau.

[@absurdengineering]

All I know about Nassau is what I learned from AC Black Flag. I decided that I’d rather remain blissfully unaware than learn about the real place :)

[@SynchroScore]

The Northwest Angle would also like to say hello.

[@bruceyoung1343]

I so love the content AND your delivery. Or is it delivery and content

[@wojtekpolska1013]

I drove on a similar rail bike in a historic railway in Poland, and yea, they are quite heavy and require someone to pedal with you, and even then its a lot of work but it is fun, and definitely can recommend sth like that, if you have someone to pedal with

[@lyrimetacurl0]

Found this in recommended when I was not logged in. So it must be recommended in general. Lucky you!

[@flyingsquirrel2620]

Do you know cookies?

[@lidixakmartine3201]

Kudos. You make very sophisticated videos. What a display of genuine intelligence.

[@SteveSSBB]

I feel like I've entered an alternate universe where Karl Pilkington is intelligent.

[@juliocamacho8354]

Simon Pegg

[@GentleJim]

Idk, he looks way more like Simon Pegg to me.

[@SteveSSBB]

​@@GentleJim He does look more like Simon Pegg but Karl Pilkington had several travel-related shows and he's not very bright which makes him better suited than Pegg in the context. I'm not making a strict comparison of physical resemblance.

[@LukasKlein]

I'm German and I didn't know about the exclave or how beautiful Monschau is!

[@ixlnxs]

LOL Most of the Belgians I know have visited it, and I live on the other side of Belgium. ;)

[@sbunny8]

Hmm. I bet you could make an interesting Venn diagram about this. ;-)

[@engineeredarmy1152]

No don't

[@rusticcloud3325]

More like "Vennbahn Diagram"

[@Andrei2patrU]

my sister's house in Roetgen borders the Vennbahn. I can add another fun fact to your video, half her garden is in Belgium and she pays taxes in Belgium for it. I recommend everyone cycle up and down the path when you can! You should've tried visiting Vogelsang as well if you were in the area :)

[@AmadeeOwner7]

0:39 "oh wait, I probably shouldn't do this gesture here.."

[@Silverbrick27]

I'm in Monschau currently - excited to go and see this tomorrow now I've found this. I was just trying to find the video about Belgium's tallest mountain at first, but this is a welcome addition! Thanks Tim!

[@paulsengupta971]

I was in Monschau and Roetgen earlier today. Back home in Guildford now.

[@FougarouBe]

Nice one :) Have you ever been in Baerle-Leduc or Baerle-Nassau ? It is even crazier than that one :P You have belgian land inside The Netherlands and inside the belgian land you also have dutch ground ! It is a puzzle of borders and some houses are accross the border :P Cheers !

[@ruthedwards7775]

we have something similar in this part of England. There's an exclave of Nottinghamshire east of the Trent, and an exclave of Lincolnshire west of the Trent. Why they don't just swap instead of having to send the bin lorries over the bridges every week, I don't know 🙄