The Germany–Netherlands border (; ) consists of a land and maritime border across the Dollart through the Frisian Islands into the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

Land border

The border is located in the northwestern part of Germany and the east of the Netherlands. The border runs as a fairly irregular line from the shore of the Dollart bay which is part of the Ems river estuary in the north to the Belgium–Germany–Netherlands

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

at Vaalserberg. The length of the border is around in length, although the straight distance between the two border end points is . The border runs along portions of rivers, including for along the large

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

river. It also runs for about along the Meuse valley, although most of the time a few kilometres to the east of the

Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

river rather than along it, before leaving the valley at the last portion of border to the border tripoint located at Vaalserberg about west of

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

. The German states which share the international border are (from north to south)

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

and

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

while on the Dutch side, the provinces are

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Jan ...

Overijssel Overijssel (; ; ; ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name comes from the perspective of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, Episcopal principality of Utrecht ...

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

and Limburg.

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. Germany relies on a bill of enfeoffment from 1464, when German Emperor Frederick III raised Ulrich I, the son of a local chieftain to the status of Imperial Count, in which the

County of East Frisia The County of East Frisia (; Frisian: ''Greefskip Eastfryslân''; Dutch: ''Graafschap Oost-Friesland'') was a county (though ruled by a prince after 1662) in the region of East Frisia in the northwest of the present-day German state of Lower S ...

is described as "von der Westeremse osterwards" (thus including the Ems). According to the Netherlands, this has lapsed in the French period – after the incorporation in France of both areas of West Frisia (now part of the Dutch provinces of

and

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

) and

East Frisia East Frisia () or East Friesland (; ; ; ) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisia (peninsula), East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia and to the ...

(now part of the German state of

). Thus according to international law, the boundary should be at the center of the navigation channel. In 2014 the two nations' foreign ministers met to put an end to the dispute. It was decided that the border should remain ambiguous and responsibility for the region in question shared.

Border crossings

There are at least 60 official road crossings and six railway crossings of the border. Both countries are part of the

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, so there are minimal or non-existent border controls. Motorways crossing the border: Railways crossing the border: * Ihrhove–Nieuweschans railway * Almelo–Salzbergen railway * Münster–Enschede railway * Oberhausen–Arnhem railway * Viersen–Venlo railway * Sittard–Herzogenrath railway

Border treaties

The modern border today is the result of centuries of border negotiations and agreements between the states and other political entities in the region, such as the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

, Kingdom of Hannover and the United Provinces of the Netherlands, of which Germany and the Netherlands ultimately became the modern day successor states. Many of the border agreements and treaties drawn up between these states were adopted by subsequent treaties and remain in force today.List of treaties provided in the footnotes of

Prussia and the Netherlands

Treaties with Prussia largely delimited and provided for the demarcation of the southern portion of the Germany–Netherlands border from Losser south to Vaals. Among the agreements and treaties were: ; 31 May 1815 : Treaty between Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia, and Netherlands, signed in Vienna as part of the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

; 26 June and 7 October 1816 : Boundary Treaties between the Kingdom of Prussia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands signed in Aachen and Cleves ; 23 September 1818 : General Record drawn up between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Prussia concerning the frontier lines, signed in Emmerich ; 11 December 1868 : Treaty between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Prussia concerning the frontier line between the two States at several points between the province of Limburg and the district of Aachen signed in Aachen ; 30 October 1823 : Instruments between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Prussia concerning abolition of the right of pasturage in fallow land (jus compascui) signed in Münster ; 11 April 1827 : Further Agreement between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Prussia modifying the partial frontier along Gelderland fixed by the Agreement of 30 October 1823 and abolishing the right of pasturage in fallow land ; 23 June 1843 : Final Protocol, with annexes, between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Prussia fixing the frontier line between Netterden and Vrasselt; signed in Emmerich ; 12 August 1872 : Agreement between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Prussia defining the frontier line between the Netherlands commune of Dinxperlo and the Prussian commune of Suderwick; signed in Dinxperlo ; 22 August 1879 : Agreement between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Prussia concerning the frontier line between the two States at the Netherlands commune of Winterswijk and the Prussian commune of Barlo, signed in Winterswijk ; 12 May 1880 : Agreement between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Prussia defining the frontier between Eibergen and Ammeloe, signed in Eibergen ; 16 August 1883 : Agreement between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Prussia adjusting the frontier between Eibergen and Ammeloe, signed in Bentheim ; 1 and 31 August 1882 : Agreement between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Prussia fixing the State frontier at and in the section of the Buiten Aa lying between boundary stones No. 202 and 202a, which has been abandoned and filled in as a result of the construction in Netherlands territory of the Nieuwe Statenzijl (New State Dike-lock) signed in Aurich/Groningen; with Additional Declaration in Aurich/Groningen on 27 April and 29 May 1883.

Hannover and the Netherlands

Treaties with Hannover largely delimited and provided for the demarcation of the northern portion of the Germany–Netherlands border north of Losser. Among the agreements and treaties were: ; 2 July 1824 : Frontier Treaty between the Kingdom of Hanover and the Kingdom of the Netherlands relating to the course of the frontier signed in Meppen ; 12 September 1825 : Instrument between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Hanover defining the frontiers ; 14 and 19 March 1863 : Exchange of declarations between the Netherlands and Hanoverian Governments fixing the frontier line in the Dollard, signed in The Hague and Hannover

Paris Protocol 1949

The Paris Protocol of 22 March 1949, following World War II, the commission made 19 provisional changes in the frontier allowing the Netherlands to annex pieces of German territory totaling 26 square miles and 487 acres. The annexation was based on the Report by the Demarcation Commission of the Netherlands–German Frontier, signed at The Hague on 10 December 1949. The Netherlands annexed pieces of German territory as part of

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

reparations.

Treaties with Germany

; 8 April 1960 : "Treaty between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Federal Republic of Germany concerning the course of the common frontier, the boundary waters, real property situated near the frontier, traffic crossing the frontier on land and via inland waters, and other frontier questions", known in short as the "Frontier Treaty", was signed in The Hague. This treaty, which came into effect on 10 June 1963, provided for the return of most of the German territories annexed by the Netherlands under the Paris Protocol of 1949, thus establishing the land boundary of the two countries that exists to this day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Germany-Netherlands border European Union internal borders Borders of Germany Borders of the Netherlands International borders