IBS No. 7 - Belgium (BE) & Germany (GM) 1961

International Boundary Study

No. 7 – June 30, 1961

Belgium – Germany

Boundary

(Country Codes: BE-GM)

The Geographer

Office of the Geographer

Bureau of Intelligence and Research

INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY STUDY

No. 7

BELGIUM - GERMANY BOUNDARY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Boundary Brief.............................................................

II.

Background..................................................................

III.

Treaties ..........................................................................

IV. Summary .......................................................................

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BELGIUM - GERMANY BOUNDARY

I. BOUNDARY BRIEF

According to official German sources, the Belgium-Germany boundary is 167 kilometers
(104) in length, while Belgian sources cite 162 kilometers (101 miles).

II. BACKGROUND

The Belgium - Germany boundary, as delimited by the Congress of Vienna in 1815, was
declared to be the "historical line" of division between the two states.

Demarcated during

the next year, over a century passed before revisions were made. Under the provisions of
Articles 31 - 35 of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, the territories of Eupen-Malmedy and
Moresnet were ceded to Belgium. In total, 1036 square kilometers (approximately 400
square miles) and 60,000 inhabitants were transferred. Although dissatisfied with the
general territorial clauses of Versailles, Germany did not exert political pressure on the new
Belgian frontier until World War II. In fact, peaceful negotiations in 1935 led to the transfer
to Germany of two small parcels of land near Aachen to permit improvements in the layout
of the freight yards.

On May 23, 1940, the Congress of Vienna boundary again came into force with the
publication of an edict reuniting Eupen-Malmedy and Moresnet with Germany. The edict
was invalidated with the end of hostilities and the territory reverted to Belgian sovereignty.

In the early post-war period both the Netherlands and Belgium proposed to the occupying
powers that certain provisional rectifications be made along their boundaries with
Germany. The "Working Party on Provisional Adjustments to the Western Frontiers of
Germany" approved in 1949 the transfer of seven small parcels of land (20 square
kilometers; 500 inhabitants) to Belgium:

1. Bildchen
2. Lichtenbusch
3. Fringshaus
4. Leykoul
5. Elsenborn

Boundary lengths are usually determined by map measurement and many factors affect the accuracy of

the results: 1) the precision of the measuring tool; 2) the experience of the operator, 3) the scale of the
map, 4) the degree of generalization followed by the mapping agency, etc. As a result, a certain margin of
difference should be anticipated with all measurements. Since all maps are generalized, the larger figure is
recommended as being more accurate.

In actuality the boundary was between the Low Countries and Germany; Belgium was not separated from

the Netherlands until almost 25 years later.

All of the post-war changes have been with the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany.

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6. Losheim
7. Hemmeres

After a brief period of negotiation, Belgium and Germany signed on September 24, 1956,
a "Treaty ... concerning the Rectification of the … Boundary and Other Questions." The
main purpose of the treaty was to solve the technical questions of frontier communications,
drainage, and customs control which had been the underlying causes of the 1949
provisional rectifications. The treaty solution was an admirable compromise eliminating
irritating inequities with a minimal transfer of territory (see orientation map).

The provisionally transferred areas of:

1. Bildchen
2. Lichtenbusch
4. Leykoul, and
7. Hemmeres

were returned to Germany intact. At Fringshaus (3), a complicated road junction, certain
Belgian territory (I) was ceded to Germany while the road south to Konzen (A) was
assigned permanently to Belgium as was the Elsenborn salient (B). At Losheim, an
adjustment returned Losheim village (6) and the highway to Hollerath to Germany while the
section enclosed by the highway and the railroad (C) was ceded to Belgium.

The adjustments became effective on September 10, 1958.

III. TREATIES

In the following discussion, the 19th century treaties are included only for historical
background. Their provisions were totally negated by the provisions of the Treaty of
Versailles and subsequent agreements.

A. General Treaty Between Great Britain, Austria, France, Portugal, Prussia,
Russia, Spain, and Sweden

signed at (Congress of) Vienna on June 9, 1815.

The Congress of Vienna treated the boundary between Prussia and the Low Countries as
the "historical" boundary. The provisions were placed in effect by treaty (B) below and ran
from 1816 to 1919 and from 1940 to 1945.

B. Boundary Treaty Between Prussia and the Netherlands

signed at Aachen on

June 26, 1816.

This treaty incorporated the detailed delimitation and demarcation of the boundary
established in more general terms by the Congress of Vienna.

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C. Treaty Between Great Britain, Austria, France, Prussia, and Russia, on the one
part, and the Netherlands, on the other

, signed at London on April 19, 1839.

The division of the Low Countries was finally effected and the 1815 boundary was
separated into two sectors, i.e., Belgian and Netherlands.

D. Treaty of Versailles

signed at Paris on June 28, 1919.

The Articles 31 - 35 created an entirely new boundary by detaching Moresnet and Eupen-
Malmedy from Germany. Delimitation of the boundary was totally lacking in the normal
sense, but provisions for detailed delimitation and demarcation were provided under
Article 35.

E. Report of the Belgian - German Boundary Demarcation Commission

signed at

Aachen on November 6, 1922.

The Report is the definitive document for the precise delimitation and demarcation of the
Versailles boundary. The very detailed and technical report was published in the Moniteur
Belge of March 7, 1925, as an annex to a law incorporating the ceded territory into the
Belgian provincial structure.

F. Treaty Between the Kingdom of Belgium and the German Reich Relative to
Effect an Exchange of Territory on the Belgian - German Frontier

signed at Aachen

on May 10, 1935.

Two small parcels of land, approximately 1.7 square kilometers in extent, were ceded by
Belgium to permit an orderly expansion of the Aachen freight yards. The area involved was
so small that the boundary representation, except for the largest-scale maps, was
unaffected.

G. Report of the Western German Frontier Demarcation Commission - Southern
Group - Belgian - German Frontier

issued at Arlon (Belgium) on September 9, 1949.

The Report represented the detailed delimitation and demarcation work supplementing the
"Communique of a Working Party on Provisional Adjustments to the Western Frontiers of
Germany" issued in Paris on March 29, 1949.

Seven parcels of territory (20 square kilometers; 500 inhabitants) were provisionally placed
under Belgian administration. The final disposition of the territory was accomplished by the
1956 Treaty cited below.

H. Treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Kingdom of Belgium
concerning Rectification of the German - Belgian Boundary and other Questions

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signed at Brussels on September 24, 1956.

Minor but vexing problems of border administration, customs control, communications and
stream pollution had, for a number of years, led to dissatisfaction with specific areas along
the boundary. While the provisional rectifications of 1949 alleviated most of the irritating
problems, they unfortunately created others of similar magnitude. The territorial provisions
of the 1946 treaty represent a good compromise and should eliminate the causes of
irritation:

Article 1

"(1)In order to establish a suitable boundary line between the two countries,

eliminating irregularities and conforming to local conditions and the
requirements of transportation, the High Contracting Parties have agreed upon
the following boundary rectifications:

(a) Belgium relinquishes the exercise of governmental jurisdiction over the

following sections of territory:

1. The town of Aachen - Bildchen, specifically that portion of its territory

situated between boundary markers 1017 and 980 and between the
provisional markers of 980/1 and 980/36;

2. The section of the Raeren highway and the forest of Freyen (south of

Lichtenbusch) between boundary markers 943 and 920 and the
provisional markers 919/1 and 919/55;

3. The highways from Rotgen to Fringshaus and from Fringshaus to

Lammersdorf between boundary markers 812, 813 and 776, 775;

4. A portion of the hamlet of Leykoul, specifically the section of territory

situated between boundary markers 652 and 648, and along the
Breitenbach, from the provisional boundary marker 647/1 through 647/4
to marker 652;

5. The section of Highway L 25 and the triangular wooded tract belonging to

Bulling (Bullange) Forest between boundary markers 493, 477/476 as far
as marker 451 and the provisional markers 404/63 through 404/75 as far
as 404/115;

6. The locality of Losheim, specifically that portion of territory situated

between boundary markers 451 and 405 and the provisional markers
404/1 to 404/63;

7. The portion of the locality of Hemmeres between boundary markers

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161/160 to marker 150 and the provisional markers 149/1 to 149/24.

(b) The Federal Republic of Germany cedes to Belgium the following Belgian-

administered portions of territory:

1. The highway from Fringshaus to Konzen between boundary markers 813

C and 775 D and markers 761 A and 762;

2. The wooded tract between boundary markers 624 and 572 and

provisional markers 572/1 and 572/32 (Wahlerscheid Forest);

3. The triangular tract southwest of Highway L 25 at the locality of Losheimer

Graben between boundary markers 476 to 451 and a line running
alongside the southwest edge of Highway L 25 parallel to the provisional
boundary markers 404/63 and 404/75.

lying north of the highways from Rotgen to Fringhaus and from Fringshaus to
Lammersdorf (between boundary markers 812 and 776) as far as the right-
of-way of the railway line from Raeren to Kalterherberg (between boundary
markers 800 and 787).

(2) These boundary rectifications are shown in detail on the maps attached to this

Treaty as Annex 1 (a) to (h)."

IV. SUMMARY

Half-tone reproductions of the original treaty maps are annexed to this study.

Map 1b shows the Bildchen area which was returned to Germany. The boundary, as a
result, is identical with the pre-1949 boundary.

Map 1c covers the Lichtenbusch area which was similarly returned to Germany
sovereignty. The highway on the border and the Am Todtleger parcel had been under
provisional Belgian administration.

Map 1d is of the very complicated road junction of Fringshaus. Before 1949 the three
roads had been in Germany while the territory on all sides was under Belgian
administration. In 1949 the roads were provisionally transferred to Belgium. The 1958
solution saw the cession of Belgian territory north of the roads and the return of the two east
- west segments to Germany. In turn Germany ceded the north - south stretch of highway to
Belgium.

On map 1e the return of the small Leykoul salient to Germany is represented. Map 1f

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illustrates the return of the Udenbreth - Losheimer Graben road and the Losheim area to
Germany as well as the cession of the forest area west of the road to Belgium.

The retrocession of the Hemmeres salient to Germany is shown on map 1g while the final
map, 1h, represents the new boundary resulting from the transfer of the Monschau city
forest to Belgium.

The remaining segments of the boundary were unaffected by the 1958 rectifications and
official Belgian and German maps show these portions accurately at all scales.

Since Article 7 of the Bonn Convention on Relations provides that the final determination of
the boundaries of Germany must await a peace settlement of the whole of Germany, these
frontier arrangements are necessarily provisional.

Document Outline