Crazy Dutch/Belgian town

[Thorin]

I learned something new about my country of origin today - there is a town on the border between the Netherlands and Belgium that is fractured into many small parts that don't connect that belong to one or the other country!

http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith//baarle.htm

The orange portions are part of the national territory of the Netherlands.  The green portions, which constitute what we might think of as an inland archipelago, are part of Belgium.

Problems or opportunities?

Living in a extremely enclavated village such as Baarle brings its own problems but also unique opportunities.

As each house is deemed to pay taxes in the country where its front door is located, it is an old tradition in Baarle to move the front door some meters if that is profitable for the taxes, especially for shops. This is part of making the best out of a strange situation. In 1995 a remeasurement of all the borders of enclaves according to modern exact standards was completed. This gave rise to some problems of this kind. In at least one case a house would have had to move from Belgium to the Netherlands. The inhabitants did not want that to happen, but the solution was simple: they moved the front door of their house. One formerly Dutch meadow (with one cow grazing there) "moved" in 1995 from the Netherlands to Belgium, as it was recognised that it had to be a Belgian parcel.

Border in a street:


This is in a warehouse (red/white/blue is Dutch, black/yellow/red is Belgian):



Which side is this house on?  Belgium!  Because the front door is on the Belgian side


And this house is right on the border, so it has two addresses (only one in the city):

[Mr. Analog]

It's like an episode of Laverne & Shirley but... it's a town... crazy!

Is there something in the water in the low countries that makes them so strange?

[Thorin]

Crazy borders:


And that meadow they rezoned in 1995:

One formerly Dutch meadow (with one cow grazing there) "moved" in 1995 from the Netherlands to Belgium, as it was recognised that it had to be a Belgian parcel.

[Tom]

Crazy Dutchmen...

[Darren Dirt]

It's like an episode of Laverne & Shirley but... it's a town... crazy!

Is there something in the water in the low countries that makes them so strange?

BELGIUM!

(I think Douglas Adams was aware of this particular town's absurdity...)