Venlo

Venlo:

Venlo, the "twin-town" on the river Maas is situated in the northern part of the Province Limburg and consists of Venlo (on the eastbank of the Maas) and Blerick (on the westbank of the Maas). Originally two (independent) cities, but united in 1940.

Centrally situated on the A67 motorway in North-Limburg and directly at the border to neighboring Germany, Venlo also is border crossing point for road and rail traffic.
Next to the two motorway border crossings (40 to Duisburg/Essen and 61 towards Mönchengladbach and Koblenz) there are other small crossings, there is furthermore a local Regionalexpress of the Deutsche Bahn (DB) to Cologne and Koblenz. Interior railway traffic towards Nijmegen (North), Roermond (south) and to the Dutch hinterland (Eindhoven/Tilburg/Rotterdam/The Hague)

Venlo: 65.000 inhabitants
Distances: Nijmegen: 60km; Maastricht: 80km; Eindhoven: 55km; Duisburg (D): 40km

	Overview: The numbered border check points will be described below on this page.
02	Schwanenhaus: Close to the motorway border-crossing, we find this small opening where only pedestrians and cyclists can cross into neighboring Holland. Schwanenhaus (D) / Bevrijdingsweg (NL)
02	Venlo: Having crossed the border on foot, we look back to the German side. Bevrijdingsweg (NL) / Schwanenhaus (D)
02	Schwanenhaus: From a certain distance (and back on German territory), we can see the living-house on the Dutch side: front door on the Dutch side, but the car-park (driveway) is on the German side and only accessible from there.

01	Kaldenkirchen (D): From downtown Kaldenkirchen we follow the main-road towards 'Heidenend'.
01	Heide (Tegelen, NL): Directly at the border, but still on Dutch territory, a street name board and an advertisement, the garages in the background are on German territory already. Kaldenkerkerweg (NL) / Steyler Str. (D)
01	Heide (Tegelen, NL): The first few meters on the Dutch side: to the right the abandonned customs house and check-point. Kaldenkerkerweg (NL) / Steyler Str. (D)
01	Since the officers and the official check-point have disappeared, we can drive on without stopping or being stopped. Kaldenkerkerweg (NL) / Steyler Str. (D)
01	Heide (Tegelen, NL): The last few meters on Dutch territory: the white living-house still on Dutch ground, however at the left a pole with a territory-sign saying 'Federal Republic of Germany'. Kaldenkerkerweg (NL) / Steyler Str. (D)

03	Reaching this border-crossing from the German side: the first house on the left still is in Germany, the supermarket next to it already in Holland. Niederdorfer Strasse (D) / Herungerberg (NL)
03	Rather busy on the Dutch side due to the 'border-market', yet no sign of life when looking to the German side. Follow this road to cross the A40 towards the town-quarter 'Herongen' being a part of German Straelen. Niederdorfer Strasse
03	The earlier mentioned Dutch supermarket has Germans as main client target group, selling German coffee brands and Dutch cheese, and lately also soft drinks in cans, as there is no deposit on aluminium cans (and hence no obligation to collect the empty cans) in Holland. Niederdorfer Strasse (D) / Herungerberg (NL)
03	Since the border controls have disappeared, there is unlimited cross-border shopping possibility. I was partly reminded of border-markets at the Czech and Polish borders. Niederdorfer Strasse (D) / Herungerberg (NL)
03	The parking lot for the Dutch supermarket is on German territory. Niederdorfer Strasse (D) / Herungerberg (NL)

Veen en Daal (Venlo): Wezelsche Barrière

Leaving Venlo at the Europaplein roundabout towards the north and crossing the motorway (A67 - Eindhoven) we end up at the border just again after a few hundred yards.

04	Border between Venlo (NL) and Straelen (D) at the "Wezelsche Barrière":on the left a German streetbord, next to it on the right a Dutch street name board. On the German side the Federal trunk road 58 to Straelen and Gelderen begins. Weselseweg (NL) / Dammerbrucher Str. (D), corner Zoutpad (NL)
04	Directly at the border and looking into Germany: the ancient German border-post is (was) situated 300 yards further down the road in the hinterland at the Dammerbruch, corner of Mühlendyck. Weselseweg (NL) / Dammerbrucher Str. (D)
04	Directly at the border, same place, but now looking towards Venlo. Weselseweg (NL) / Dammerbrucher Str. (D)

	Venlo CS: In the main station of Venlo, we find since last year next to the ticket vending machines of local Dutch Railways NS (Nederl. Spoorwegen) also two machines of the German regional DB-Regionalbahn Westfalia.
	Grensovergang Straelen (snelweg): Despite of the fact that the former German motorway 'A2' was renamed into A40 a few years ago, this Dutch welcome sign never was corrected.

(15) - Venlo (NL)