Dutch - German border and others
Dutch - German border Strange and unusual borders in Europe:
| a. Divided towns / towns in two countries: |
(external links!) :
Frankfurt/Oder (D) - Slubice (PL)
Forst/Lausitz (D) - Zasieki (PL)
Zinnwald-Georgenfeld (D) - Cinovec (CZ)
Cieszyn (PL) - Ceský Tesín (CZ)
Rheinfelden (D) - Rheinfelden (CH)
Laufenburg (D) - Laufenburg (CH)
Konstanz (D) - Kreuzlingen (CH)
Lucelle (F) - Lucelle (CH)
Simbach am Inn (D) - Braunau am Inn (A)
Neuhaus (D) - Schärding (A)
Gorizia (I) - Nova Gorica (SLO)
Bad Radkersburg (A) - Gornja Radgona (SLO)
Ruse (PYCE) (BG) - Giurgiu (RO)
Gmünd-NÖ (A) - Ceské Velenice (CZ)
Lauterbourg (F) - Neulauterburg (D)
Großrosseln (D) - Petite Rosselle (F)
Kleinblittersdorf/Saar (D) - Grosbliederstroff (F)
Strasbourg (F) - Kehl/Rhein (D)
Menen (B) - Halluin (F)
Wervik (B) - Wervicq Sud (F)
Comines/Komen (B) - Comines (F)
Mouscron (Moeskroen) (B) - Tourcoing (F)
Erquelinnes (B) - Jeumont (F)
Stoubach (B) - Stupbach (D)
Hendaye (F) - Irún (E)
Haparanda (S) - Tornio (FIN)
Valga (EST) - Valka (LV)
Esztergom (H) - Stúrovo (SK)
Scheibenhardt (DE) - Scheibenhard (F)
Echternach (L) - Echternacherbrück (DE)
Mondorf-Les-Bains (L) - Mondorff (F)
Niagara Falls, Ont. (CA) - Niagara Falls, NY (US)
Nogales, AZ (US) - Nogales (MX)
Laredo, TX (US) - Nuevo Laredo (MX)
Tecate, CA (US) - Tecate (MX)
| Pls, do visit external links, but don't forget to return to this page after having explored the resp. links!! (more links below) |
| b. enclaves: |
Campione d'Italia: Italian village on Swiss territory near Lugano (CH)
Büsingen/Hochrhein: German village on Swiss territory, entirely surrounded by Swiss communities and currency is the Swiss Frank, yet Buesingen is part of the South German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
Kleinwalsertal: Austrian valley in the Alp mountains, but is only accessable from German side; villages have two dialing prefixes and two postal codes: one German, one Austrian. German customs territory.
The German Bundesstrasse 258 (federal national road) (from Aachen to Monschau and Koblenz) crosses Belgian territory for 1.5 miles between the villages Konzen and Roetgen. Yet you do not notice, as this trunk road does not connect to the inner-Belgian road network. Find photos of this road here!!
Similar with the Dutch national road N274 (from Heerlen to Roermond) crosses German territory on a length of 3,2 miles, yet this street has no connection to the inner-German road network. It was built before Schengen when there were still customs and border patrols and this trunk road crosses the German community of Heinsberg on stilts.
Llivia (E): Spanish (Catalonian) village on French territory in the Eastern Pyrenees.
The West Hungarian town of Sopron (in German Ödenburg) is surrounded by Austrian territory on three sides, only from the east the city can be reached locally. Distance to the border from Sopron: to the North 8 km, South 7,5 km and west 6 km. Old town is partly bilingual! - A few pictures here.
The Czech town with the German sounding name 'Varnsdorf' borders with Germany (Saxony) at its Northern and Western city limits.
The Czech town of Aš (German 'Asch') is situated in a 6 km narrow corridor squeezed in between German States of Bavaria and Saxony, and can be reached from the rest of Czech Republic only from the south east.
The Turkish city of Istanbul is the only town in the world that is situated on two continents. (Namely Europe and Asia)
| c. Bilingual places: |
Brussel / Bruxelles: the Belgian capital is officially bilingual with street signs in Dutch and French
Bautzen / Budysin (and the Upper and Lower Lusatia-region): Around Bautzen in Eastern Germany lots of places are billingual (German / Sorbian )
Bozen / Bolzano (and Southern Tyrol in Italy) are entirely bilingual Italian and German.
Biel / Bienne: the only city in Switzerland that is officially bilingual: all street bords in German and French.
Helsinki / Helsingfors: The Finnish capital and the southern coastal areas, as well as Vaasa/Vasa and the Western coast are bilingual with place names and street bords often in Swedish and Finnish.
Komárno: The south-Slovakian town on the river Danube with Hungarian speaking 2/3 majority is entirely bilingual: Hungarian - Slovakian.
Contrary to popular belief, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is not bilingual in the true sense: it's a strange mixture of either German or French, but almost never in the two languages at the same time: newspapers, and kindergarden are German speaking, while street names and public announcements are in French. People on the street speak in Luxembourg local language which has Germanic origins. Photos here.
Deutsche Fernwegweiser HERE Duitse afstandsborden |
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