Cycle route along the German border




Dinxperlo, Suderwick, Aalten
You will cycle a route that tells you the special story of Dinxperlo and twin village Suderwick. The villages are connected in such a way that they speak their own dialect: a mix of German and Dutch mixed together. In short, welcome to Dinxperwick! At two places in the village, the yellow./blue place name sign with this fused name will welcome you. It symbolises a borderless Europe.
In Dinxperwick, Germans and Dutch live side by side as ‘naobers’ and share joys and sorrows. A trip across the border for an errand is the most natural thing in the world. Yet it used to be different: a hundred years ago, you could still risk fines or prison sentences if you went shopping across the border.
Start your tour from the TOP Welinkbos and be the first to visit the Grenslandmuseum (when open). Here you will learn more about local history and life along the border. The same goes for the ‘Büdeken’, the border guard house with barrier. Here you can see how the border changed over the years: from barbed wire fences to simple pavement markings.
Cycle along the Heelweg (Hellweg), where one row of houses is in Germany and the other in the Netherlands, and discover works of art and monuments recalling life on the border. For example, look for Queen Beatrix's 1984 footprint and the striking black panels with red and white texts, a work of art by Berlin artist Kristina Leko. The route takes you past three humorously depicted Statues of a commie and two smugglers, a nod to the time when smuggling was a dire necessity for many, especially in wartime.
From Dinxperlo, you cycle seamlessly through the German forest area. Just before crossing the border back into the Netherlands, pause for a moment at the Hemdener Kreuz. During the time of Calvinism (1675-1821), hideaway churches just across the German border provided a safe haven for Dutch Catholics, who did not enjoy freedom of religion at the time.
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