Germany–Netherlands border

Germany–Netherlands border

Germany–Netherlands border dispute

Border crossing at Netterden

The Germany–Netherlands border is 570 km long (including rivers but excluding the maritime border in the Dollart bay and outside it) and separates Germany and the Netherlands.

The provinces (counted from north) on the Dutch side are Groningen, Drente, Overijssel, Gelderland and Limburg. The states on the German side are Niedersachsen and Nordrhein-Westfalen.

Route

The border begins in the north at the shore of the Dollart bay, part of the Ems river estuary, then it goes southwards, not without repeatedly deflecting several kilometres towards the west, partly following some small rivers, and for 8 km the large Rhine river.

Then it follows around 100 km of the Meuse valley, however a few km to the east of the Meuse river, before leaving the valley the last part of border to the Germany / Netherlands / Belgium border tripoint located at Vaalserberg about 3 km west of Aachen.

The border is fairly irregular and is around 570 km although the straight distance between the border ends of Dollart and Vaalserberg is 288 km.

Road and rail crossings

There are at least 60 official road crossings and six railway crossings of the border. Both countries are part of the Schengen Area and the European Union, so there are minimal or non-existent border controls.

Motorways crossing the border:

Railways crossing the border:

• Ihrhove–Nieuweschans railway
• Almelo–Salzbergen railway
• Dortmund–Enschede railway
• Oberhausen–Arnhem railway
• Viersen–Venlo railway
• Sittard–Herzogenrath railway

Disputes

The maritime border is disputed in a part of the Ems estuary outside the Dollart bay, where Germany has the view that the state border runs on the left bank of the Ems, while the Netherlands regards the Thalweg as its border. This is based on interpretations of old treaties, especially the 1815 Congress of Vienna.

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