Dutch Border Research Articles

Fuel Tourism in Dutch Border Regions: Are Only Salient Price Differentials Relevant?

Using detailed data on consumer payments, we find only limited evidence that fluctuations in cross-border fuel price differentials are relevant for Dutch consumers. Consumers living close to the German border did react to a salient increase in Dutch excise fuel duties in January 2014. However, the increase of fuel tourism was only temporary. Secondly, there are no robust indications that fuel tourism is relevant for Dutch consumers living further than 10 kilometres from either the border with Belgium or Germany. The apparent absence of fuel tourism may either be explained by the widespread use of loyalty cards or by the low level of international commuting by Dutch workers.

Beyond Dutch Borders

Each categorization in population statistics has a bias. Some­times they deflate and sometimes they expand populations that merit public policy concern. This article discusses the political consequences of policy choices in that respect: notably by the example of Dutch population statistics and the representation of the “allochtoon.” The “allochtoon” (being of foreign origin) was a benevolent creation for it should facilitate monitoring the effects of integration policies. Part of these was easy naturalization. This meant the loss of “nationality” as a statistical marker. Including the migrants’ offspring furthermore rendered “immigrant” useless. However, creating the “allochtoon” also has had unexpected inflationary effects; notably in the public’s perception. First of all, this effect results from the inclusion of the second generation. Secondly: integration polices are exclusively aimed at “allochtonen” with a non-Western background, yet statistical reproduction usually includes all, i.e., also people of Western origin. This inflationary effect is exploited by populist political entrepreneurs hoping to stir concern about alienation in times of Europeanization. The threat of “the others” in the Netherlands is thus easily construed to be much larger than it would be possible if statistics were enumerated differently.

Anthropogenic Rare Earth Element in rivers: Gadolinium and lanthanum. Partitioning between the dissolved and particulate phases in the Rhine River and spatial propagation through the Rhine-Meuse Delta (the Netherlands)

In this study, we report for the first time lanthanum and gadolinium anomalies at the catchment scale (Rhine-Meuse River system) together with the partitioning of their anthropogenic contents between the dissolved and the particulate phases. We compare the dissolved and total REE patterns of samples taken at 9 locations in the Rhine Branches including Lobith (situated at the German–Dutch border where the Rhine is not yet divided in three Branches), in surface water fed by the Rhine Branches (canals and lake IJsselmeer and Ketelmeer) and 3 locations where the water is derived from the river Meuse (originating from Belgium and France).We demonstrate that the anthropogenic input of lanthanum in the German part of the Rhine River identified by Kulaksiz and Bau (2011) can be traced in the complex Rhine-Meuse Delta up to the North Sea. In the Dutch Branches of the Rhine River, in contrast to the German part of the Rhine River, the anthropogenic lanthanum (LaANTHRO) is mainly present in the particulate phase (SPM) and not in the dissolved phase (defined as the <0.45μm fraction). In the Meuse River no anthropogenic lanthanum was found. The amount of LaANTHRO transported by the Rhine River at the Lobith station (German–Dutch border) varies from 2008 to 2010 between 3.7 and 5.2tons/y in the dissolved phase, and between 28.8 and 37.4tons/y in the particulate phase. However, a big discrepancy is evidenced when we compare the LaANTHRO load calculated on bases of the total water samples with the LaANTHRO load calculated as the sum of the particulate and dissolved load: the total LaANTHRO load is roughly 2 times larger than the LaANTHRO load calculated as the sum of the dissolved and particulate LaANTHRO load. The difference between the two calculated fluxes is most likely caused by not sampling the finest fraction of the particulate pool in the SPM samples with an overflow centrifuge.The anthropogenic gadolinium identified by high gadolinium anomalies in the REE patterns originates from numerous point sources (waste water treatment plant effluents) and can thus be considered as diffuse pollution when compared to anthropogenic lanthanum clearly resulting from a single source. The amount of anthropogenic gadolinium measured in the dissolved phase (main carrier of Gd) increases or decreases along the Rhine and Meuse Rivers depending whether or not the mixing water contains anthropogenic gadolinium, i.e. receives waste water effluents.

Schmallenberg virus epidemic: Impact on milk production, reproductive performance and mortality in dairy cattle in the Netherlands and Kleve district, Germany

Schmallenberg virus (SBV), a novel orthobunyavirus that rapidly spread throughout north-western Europe in 2011, caused congenital malformations in lambs and goat kids (Van den Brom et al., 2012) and newborn calves (Hoffmann et al., 2012). The impact of the SBV epidemic seemed limited however, in terms of the number of affected herds with malformed offspring (European Food Safety Authority, 2012b). Nevertheless, little is known with regard to the overall within-herd impact of SBV infection. The objective of the current study was to quantify the impact of the 2011 SBV epidemic on the productivity of dairy cattle in the Netherlands and the district of Kleve, Germany.For the Netherlands, several multilevel multivariable statistical models were applied on eight productivity parameters regarding milk production, reproductive performance and mortality. All four fertility parameters analysed were slightly but significantly reduced between August 1st and November 1st 2011 compared to the reference period in 2009–2010. Between August 15th and September 19th 2011, the average loss in milk production per cow was −0.26kg (95% CI: −0.30; −0.22) per day in dairy herds, compared to the reference period (p<0.001). The total loss per cow in a subgroup of dairy herds that notified malformations in newborn calves during the mandatory notification period in the Netherlands was −0.43kg (95% CI: −0.59; −0.28) per day (p<0.001).For Germany, a study was carried out in the district of Kleve, situated in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia near the Dutch border. Data on milk yield, two fertility parameters and the number of rendered calves in this specific region were analysed. There was a small but significant increase in the number of secondary and third inseminations between August 1st and November 1st 2011, indicating reduced fertility. No significant change in calf mortality was observed in the assumed SBV period. Milk production at district level did not seem to be affected by SBV in August and September 2011.SBV had no or limited impact on mortality rates, which was as expected given the relatively mild expression of SBV in adult cows and the low incidence of notified malformations in newborn calves. Our results indicate that SBV had a limited impact on productivity of dairy cattle. However, the total economic impact of SBV on the ruminant industry not only consists of productivity caused losses; it is expected that international trade restrictions formed a larger part of the total economic impact.

Establishing cross-border co-operation between professional organizations: Police, fire brigades and emergency health services in Dutch border regions

This article explores the conditions under which local and regional governments will establish and sustain cross-border co-operation in the fields of police, fire fighting and emergency health services. It argues that understanding this type of cross-border co-operation requires a focus on the way in which professionals define and apply their professional standards in cross-border contexts. Moreover, it requires a focus on individual organizations and professionals working in them, rather than ‘government’ or ‘the state’ as a whole, since cross-border co-operation in these areas typically develops as a result of disparate and unconnected initiatives taken by governmental actors in a given border region. Based on four studies of cross-border co-operation in Dutch border regions, we argue that differences in legal, organizational and cultural backgrounds between the participating countries can be and are overcome by street-level professionals and their organizations, who act as ‘regionauts’ in exploring opportunities for cross-border co-operation. In this type of ‘bottom-up’ cross-border co-operation, motivation among participants is the key to establishing co-operation, and solutions to differences between work routines will be developed along the way. As a result, the establishment of cross-border co-operation often is an experimental, pragmatic enterprise, which is greatly affected by local intra- and inter-organizational dynamics. This opens the potential for pragmatic, flexible and creative solutions. Yet, at the same time it also runs the risk of producing unaccountable cross-border arrangements that are insufficiently embedded in legal and professional safeguards against error and abuse.

Beyond Dutch Borders: Transnational Politics among Colonial Migrants, Guest Workers and the Second Generation

Beyond Dutch Borders: Transnational Politics among Colonial Migrants, Guest Workers and the Second Generation

Tracing diffuse anthropogenic Pb sources in rural soils by means of Pb isotope analysis

Knowledge of the cause and source of Pb pollution is important to abate environmental Pb pollution by taking source-related actions. Lead isotope analysis is a potentially powerful tool to identify anthropogenic Pb and its sources in the environment. Spatial information on the variation of anthropogenic Pb content and anthropogenic Pb sources in rural topsoils is remarkably limited. This study presents results of a survey of approximately 350 topsoil samples from rural locations covering the entire Netherlands, for which the bulk geochemical and Pb isotope compositions were determined. The specific aim of this study is to determine the anthropogenic Pb sources in the topsoils from rural areas in The Netherlands. The spatial distribution of anthropogenic Pb in soils in The Netherlands will be explained in terms of land use and pollution sources.Nearly all studied topsoils display Pb contents that exceed the amount expected based on the soil lithology. The range in Pb isotope ratios of the additional Pb fraction in rural Dutch topsoils is established at 1.056–1.199, 2.336–2.486 and 0.452–0.490 for 206Pb/207Pb, 207Pb/208Pb and 206Pb/208Pb, respectively. Five land use types are distinguished (forest, open nature, moor, arable land and grassland) with distinct isotopic compositions for added Pb. Additional Pb in soils of natural areas (forest, open nature and moor) has on average lower 206Pb/207Pb, 208Pb/207Pb and 206Pb/208Pb ratios than the agricultural soils (arable land and grassland). Additional Pb in both natural area soils and agricultural soils is interpreted to be of anthropogenic origin: most likely a mixture of coal/galena, incinerator ashes and gasoline Pb. The dominant sources of additional Pb in the topsoil of open nature areas are most likely incinerator ash and gasoline Pb. In contrast, the on average higher 206Pb/207Pb, 208Pb/207Pb and 206Pb/208Pb ratios of additional Pb in agricultural soils are most likely caused by the presence of animal manure and N–P fertilizers.Several areas are observed with notably high additional Pb contents (26–211mg/kg on an organic matter-free basis) in the topsoil. The largest area is the Randstad area, which has the highest population and traffic density, and hosts a considerable fraction of the Dutch chemical industry. Two other areas with high additional Pb contents in the topsoil are located near the Dutch borders and are most likely influenced by German and Belgian chemical industries. The topsoils in the coastal dunes and southern, central and northern forests are characterized by relatively low additional Pb contents (<10mg/kg on an organic matter-free basis). The population, traffic and chemical industry density is low in these areas and no fertilizers are applied.

Administrative cooperation and disease control in cross-border pork production

In recent years, the continuous structural change in the value chain of modern food production has been characterised by an increasing international division of labour among manufacturing companies. A regional specialisation of primary agricultural production is especially apparent in meat production. Thus, the German–Dutch border area has developed into a region of unprecedented intensive pork production. While The Netherlands specialises in piglet production, the production of fattened pigs continues to grow in northwest Germany. As a result of this increasing transnational value chain development, German imports of Dutch piglets have risen continuously since 2000. However, this structural interweaving of pork production between The Netherlands and Germany has resulted in many new challenges for the cooperation between the various participants and in particular for the administrative authorities in the field of food and feed safety as well as efficient animal disease control. The motivation for this exploratory study stems from the lack of scientific work on this topic to date. The aim of this research is to illustrate the relevance of functioning cross-border cooperation in the food sector, using commodity flow structures and disease spread analysis. Results indicate that cross-border cooperation between authorities during a CSF epidemic can reduce the risk of recurrence and the duration by 50%.

Q fever across the Dutch border in Limburg province, Belgium

Data from three different data sources were compiled to estimate the presence of Coxiella burnetii in the Belgian Limburg province for both humans and livestock. First, serological data of all samples sent to the Belgian reference centre (2003–2010) for human Q fever were analysed, showing evidence for an acute Q fever infection in 1–5% of the cases. Second, a multi-centre prospective survey was conducted in Limburg in 2010 to detect undiagnosed human cases; evidence for a recent infection with Coxiella burnetii was found in three out of 100 patients from which clinicians suspected a Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection. Third, we analyzed data from the Belgian livestock screening program (2009–2010) which consisted of investigating all reported abortions, sampling tank milk, and serological screening of cattle. The results suggest an endemicity in the Limburgian livestock which seems to be especially high in cattle.

Beyond Dutch borders: transnational politics among colonial migrants, guest workers and the second generation, by Mügge, Liza

Beyond Dutch borders: transnational politics among colonial migrants, guest workers and the second generation, by Mügge, Liza

Towards a German Romantic Concept of the Ballad: Goethe’s “Johanna Sebus” and Its Musical Interpretations by Zelter and Reichardt

Towards a German Romantic Concept of the Ballad: Goethe’s “Johanna Sebus” and Its Musical Interpretations by Zelter and Reichardt Francien Markx In the midst of the political turmoil of the Napoleonic wars, the force of nature took its toll on the French-occupied lower Rhine region. On January 13, 1809, the dam near Cleve (lying today in Germany near the Dutch border) collapsed, and the icy waters of the Rhine devastated the village of Brienen and flooded several other villages nearby. A seventeen-year-old village girl, Johanna Sebus, saved her mother’s life but died herself trying to rescue her neighbors. Three months later, her body was found, and she was buried with honor near the old Gothic church in Rindern.1 Her selfless deed was not forgotten, which was especially due to the efforts of the magistrate of the Cleve district, Baron Charles de Keverberg, who brought the events to the attention of the French authorities. In 1811, a monument was erected to Johanna’s memory. Designed by Dominique Vivant-Denon, whom Napoleon had appointed as first director of the Louvre Museum (at that time known as the Musée Napoléon), it is over three meters high, featuring a French text, and a marble medallion depicting a rose floating on the waves.2 Johanna’s death continues to be commemorated, most recently with an exhibition in Cleve on the 200th anniversary of her demise.3 Her courageous act has also inspired many painters, sculptors, and authors.4 The most famous and influential contribution was penned by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who honored Johanna with a ballad in May 1809. Goethe learned about Johanna’s tragic death from his acquaintance Christiane von Vernejoul, who sent him the report of the events written by Baron Keverberg and requested in an accompanying letter: “Mögten Sie die rührende That werth finden von dem ersten Dichter der lebenden Welt, in einer Ballade verewigt zu werden—so wäre dießem edlen Mädchen ein Denckmal errichtet, welches in jedes fühlenden Menschen Brust Bewunderung für die Heldin, und heißen Danck für den Großmüthigen Dichter erwecken würde.”5 Goethe honored the request6 and sent his ballad to Keverberg in Cleve, where it was read at a memorial service for Johanna.7 Among the composers who were inspired by the ballad were Goethe’s contemporaries Carl Friedrich Zelter (1758–1832) and Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752–1814).8 Both were well acquainted with Goethe, and at [End Page 1] some point in their lives his most important musical advisor. Reichardt, Kapellmeister to three Prussian kings, was a renowned music critic and song composer, and had worked closely together with Goethe during the late 1780s and early 1790s on the Singspiele Claudine von Villa Bella and Erwin und Elmire.9 Goethe, however, abruptly ended the collaboration after Reichardt’s sympathies with the French revolution and its democratic cause had become public and his subsequent dismissal as Prussian Hofkapellmeister in 1794. Around this time, the master mason Zelter turned to composing Lieder, and his songs soon came to Goethe’s attention. A close friendship developed, resulting in an extensive correspondence that lasted over thirty years. Zelter was an important figure in Berlin’s musical and cultural life; he took over the direction of the Berlin Singakademie in 1800, was appointed Professor of Music at the Royal Prussian Akademie der Künste in 1809 and responsible for the founding of several musical institutions in Berlin. Together with Johann Abraham Peter Schulz (1747–1800), Zelter and Reichardt were the main representatives of the zweite Berliner Liederschule (ca. 1770–1814). In their Lieder, this second generation of song composers in Berlin tried to find an adequate musical idiom for the new subjective expression of the literature of Empfindsamkeit and Sturm und Drang. The natural, artless quality of the Volkslied, with its regular strophic structure and simple and singable melody, was the ideal for this new form of art song, which nurtured the awakening feelings of German self-awareness and cultural identity.10 For both Reichardt and Zelter, texts by Goethe formed an important inspiration in their search for a new...

ANALYTIC NETWORK PROCESS (ANP) AND VISUALIZATION OF SPATIAL DATA: THE USE OF DYNAMIC MAPS IN TERRITORIAL TRANSFORMATION PROCESSES

&lt;p&gt;Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) is generally used to support planning and decision making processes, but the sharing of information is often limited by two main factors. First, many users have difficulty reading output data, especially tables, matrixes or databases. Second, the presence of many actors introduces different disciplines, knowledge, interests and languages. This paper shows the contribution that the visualization of spatial data can give to the Analytic Network Process (ANP) (Saaty, 2005; 2001; Saaty, Vargas, 2006). This study aims to use visualization techniques to create a common grammar among actors involved, and a shared basis for generating discussion. To do this we have implemented on-going research on a modelling system which is able to visualize various kinds of data in real time. This modelling system works on generative and parametric features applied to datasets, and is based on McNeel’s “Rhinoceros” software and its free plug-in "Grasshopper". The starting point of the work described here is an application on a German section of Corridor 24, Genoa-Rotterdam, part of an Interreg IVB NEW Project, called “Code24”. The goal of this ANP application is to rank three scenarios of improvement of the "Betuwe" railway line connecting Oberhausen to the Dutch borders. The research resulted in an academic internal application which allowed us to improve the system for use in real-world focus groups which included the main stakeholders of these territorial transformation projects.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;http://dx.doi.org/10.13033/ijahp.v3i2.109&lt;/p&gt;

Rare earth elements in the Rhine River, Germany: First case of anthropogenic lanthanum as a dissolved microcontaminant in the hydrosphere

The distribution of dissolved rare earth elements (REE) in the Rhine River, Germany, shows the anthropogenic gadolinium (Gd) microcontamination that is commonly observed in rivers in densely populated countries with a highly evolved health care system. However, the Rhine River also carries anomalously high concentrations of lanthanum (La), which produce very large positive La anomalies in normalized REE distribution patterns. These positive La anomalies first occur north of the City of Worms and then decrease in size downstream, but are still significant approximately 400km downstream, close to the German–Dutch border. The strong La enrichment is of anthropogenic origin and can be traced back to effluent from a production plant for fluid catalytic cracking catalysts at Rhine river-km 447.4. This effluent is characterized by extremely high dissolved total REE and La concentrations of up to 52mg/kg and 49mg/kg, respectively. Such La concentrations are well-above those at which ecotoxicological effects have been observed. The Rhine River is the first case observed to date, where a river's dissolved REE inventory is affected and even dominated by anthropogenic La. Our results suggest that almost 1.5t of anthropogenic dissolved La is exported via the Rhine River into the North Sea per year. This reveals that the growing industrial use of REE (and other formerly “exotic” elements) results in their increasing release into the environment, and highlights the urgent need to determine their geogenic background concentrations in terrestrial surface waters.

P119 Scalp cooling introduction and research – time to cross Dutch borders and enter Europe

P119 Scalp cooling introduction and research – time to cross Dutch borders and enter Europe

Do Design & Construct contracts for infrastructure projects stimulate innovation? The case of the Dutch high speed railway

The key question addressed in this paper is: do Design & Construct (D&C) contracts for infrastructure projects stimulate innovation? Following an overview of the goals and background for adopting D&C contracts, a case study is presented: the tendering procedure for the High Speed Railway link between Amsterdam and the Belgian–Dutch border. There was a Design & Build, Finance & Maintain contracting procedure for the superstructure (infraprovider; 25 years), a contracting procedure for the transport services (15 years) and a D&C contracting procedure for five segments of the substructure (mainly civil engineering). In particular the experiences of the D&C contract for the substructure have been documented in a recent report by the Dutch Parliamentary Commission on Infrastructure Projects and in this paper. The conclusion overall is that everything that could go wrong, went wrong. These failures are demonstrated and explained. A number of lessons can be learned, both for the Netherlands and the international community. Conditions for a proper D&C approach are formulated. Only when these conditions are met can D&C improve the price–quality ratio of infrastructure projects and boost dynamics and innovation in the construction industry.

Conjoining International Marketing and Relationship Marketing: Exploring Consumers’ Cross-Border Service Relationships

Research on international marketing constructs, such as consumer ethnocentrism and country-of-origin effects, typically focuses on consumers’ initial evaluations of foreign products but ignores consumers’ emerging cross-border exchange relationships with foreign service providers. The influence of international marketing constructs on the development of these relationships also seems to be largely ignored. The authors call for new research on cross-border service relationships and integration of relationship marketing with international marketing models. They introduce an exploratory test and develop a research agenda that identifies several avenues for further research. The empirical test involves a study of German consumers who regularly cross the German–Dutch border to attend to their accounts with a foreign (i.e., Dutch) bank. Loyalty to the foreign financial service provider may be explained using substantive relational antecedents, such as satisfaction, trust, and value, and international marketing antecedents, such as consumer ethnocentrism and consumer beliefs about the industry. The results show that the international variables complement the relationship model. The authors discuss the managerial and research implications and provide avenues for further research.

Mimomys hajnackensisfrom the Pliocene of the Netherlands

AbstractWe describe the occurrence in the Netherlands of three teeth ofMimomys hajnackensis(Arvicolidae, Rodentia) from three separate boreholes extending into matine deposits of the Maassluis Formation. These marine Pliocene/Early Pleistocene deposits at depth are overlain by, and interdigitate eastwards with, the freshwater deposits of the Waalre and Peize Formations (formerly known in part as the Tegelen Formation). Teeth identified asM. hajnackensishave not previously been described from the Netherlands although similar material has been reported from Pliocene deposits in Germany at Frechen and Hambach close to the Dutch border. The material described here comes from boreholes at the Polder de Biesbosch near Dordrecht, Diepenveen and Deventer. To our knowledge, these finds represent the oldest described rodent fossils from the Netherlands, corresponding to an absolute age of 2.9 to 3.3 Ma on the basis of comparison with other European localities, implying that the remains are reworked from older deposits.

Possibilities for transborder cooperation in breast cancer care in Europe: A comparative analysis regarding the content, quality and evidence use of breast cancer guidelines

To encourage transborder cooperation in breast cancer care in Europe, we explored possibilities with the German–Dutch border area as an example. Evidence-based breast cancer guidelines were searched and compared on the: (1) methodological quality (with AGREE (Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation)), (2) content of recommendations and (3) evidence use. The methodological quality of the German ( n = 2) and Dutch guidelines ( n = 2) was generally sufficient and comparable, although the applicability and the editorial independence were not clearly documented in the Dutch guidelines. Regarding the content analysis, German recommendations were taken as a reference point, because of the highest AGREE scores. Twenty-one of 25 recommendations discussed in both guidelines were corresponding and 4 were different, 32 were not mentioned in the Dutch guideline. The guidelines shared little evidence (≤11%). We conclude that there are possibilities to encourage transborder cooperation. The clinical context of our results should be examined by measuring the actual care in both countries preferably with quality indicators.

Multi‐scale modelling of land‐use change and river training effects on floods in the Rhine basin

AbstractLand‐use changes effects on floods are investigated by a multi‐scale modelling study, where runoff generation in catchments of different sizes, different land uses and morphological characteristics are simulated in a nested manner. The macro‐scale covers the Rhine basin (excluding the alpine part), the upper meso‐scale covers various tributaries of the Rhine and three lower meso‐scale study areas (100–500 km2) represent different characteristic land‐use patterns. The main innovation is the combination of models at different scales and at different levels of process representation in order to account for the complexity of land‐use change impacts for a large river basin.The results showed that the influence of land‐use on storm runoff generation is stronger for convective storm events with high precipitation intensities than for long advective storms with low intensities. The simulated flood increase at the lower meso‐scale for a scenario of rather strong urbanization is in the order of 0 and 4% for advective rainfall events, and 10–30% for convective rain storms with a return period of 2–10 years.Convective storm events, however, are of hardly any relevance for the formation of floods in the large river basins of Central Europe, because the extent of convective rainstorms is restricted to local occurrence. Due to the dominance of advective precipitation for macro‐scale flooding, limited water retention capacity of antecedent wet soils and superposition of flood waves from different tributaries, the land‐use change effects at the macro‐scale are even smaller, for example at Cologne (catchment area 100 000 km2), land‐use change effects may result in not more than 1–5 cm water level of the Rhine. Water retention measures in polders along the Upper and Lower Rhine yield flood peak attenuation along the Rhine all the way down to the Dutch border between 1 and 15 cm. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Where war met peace: The borders of the neutral Netherlands with Belgium and Germany in the first world war, 1914–19181

In wartime, neutral territory beckons as a beacon of safety from the conflict and strife. This was especially true for the neutral Netherlands in the First World War (1914–1918), which was situated within a short distance of the Western Front and was bordered by belligerent Germany and German‐occupied Belgium. The Dutch land border became the country's most important neutrality frontier, functioning as the geographical place where neutrality began and ended, which necessitated increased border security, witnessed new border‐crossing activities, and ensured that life for border residents changed dramatically. This paper illustrates that, once Germany occupied Belgium, the Dutch border region in the south became a fraught zone between ‘war’ and ‘peace.’ But the eastern border with Germany proper also changed in character. The war situation and changing circumstances at the frontier impacted on the relationship between locals and the state (the authority in charge of border security) and changed locals’ understandings about what it meant to be ‘neutral,’ a ‘frontier‐zone resident,’ and ‘Dutch’ in this extraordinary situation.