Vaalserberg: Holland's Highest Mountain (& The Strange Story Of Neutral Moresnet)
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- čas přidán 26. 06. 2024
- Thanks everyone for your helpful comments on the Q&A - and now here's the video (most of) you asked for! The Vaalserberg is the highest point of mainland Netherlands, and is also the meeting point of 3 international borders, with Belgium and Germany being the other two. But mysteriously, the road that leads up to it is called the Four Borders Way. So what's the story behind the missing border? I went to Belgermaland to investigate...
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Climbing The Vaalserberg without oxygen tanks. You must me one strong intrepid explorer. :)
Thanks Martyn. It took a lot of training and preparation (and pastries) but it was worth it.
The town of Vaals is 210 meters high; so the climb is only 110 meters! With the bus from Maastricht to Aachen and v.v..
@@TheTimTraveller was it not difficult with your balls that heavy? to climb that high?
the kids these days do anything for an instagram picture... they are insane^^
Plus he had no ropes, pitons, mountaineering boots and Sherpa guides. Indeed, he is an superbly skilled mountaineer....
"Right now we are higher than anyone else in holland and that is quite a thing to say." :D
Yes i watched the video, so what
That isn’t possible
Absolutely loved that comment.
except for the people in that tower...
im pretty sure i was waaay higher last night
As a Dane, I’m so jealous of the Dutch mountains. Denmark can only dream of such dizzying heights.
Just make a film about it!Like this one....173 mts on the sea level am I right ??
A bit to much it's only 170,86 m ...
I've been there. Never again. I developed a terrible case of Hypoxemia going up the slope. I had to be helicoptered back--at great peril to the brave pilot--and taken to a hospital to recover for the next 2 weeks.
But seriously. I have been there. Used to live in Limburg Province. When I was there, there was a cheesy old observation tower. But that was in the 80's.
During several "Euregio 100 km" walks (24 hours max), from Belgian Welkenraed, I, also a Dane, walked past this point before entering Germany and Aachen and then going back to Belgium, to finish the walk. It was mostly the first long-distance walk of the year and it was difficult to see in which country you walked, a lot of the time? ;-)
I were exhausted halfway while climbing Denmark's highest mountain.
You should have employed locals to carry you equipment, climbers always do that on similar expeditions like on the Himalayas.
I don't think the Dutch are poor or stupid enough to do that. Let him carry his own shit, it's not really a mountain anyway! 😋
They would have eaten the pastry, especially if it was Belgian or German pastry.
Taunter, you ain't the brightest fucker around are ya?
@@flitsertheo Belgian pastry, yes. German pastry, no. Also Belgian chocolate, yes. German chocolate, no.
Edit: Dutch Stroopwafel, yes! Two, please!
@@DreadX10
Yeah, I noticed that too. If you want German goods, sausage and beer yes, but pastry? Yeah, I don't think so.
As a volunteer for Dutch Mountain Rescue, I appreciate you taking the responsibility of preparing yourself for the challenges of the Vaalserberg.
You have a severe job, wow, much respect!
@@michaelcraig9449 Thank you Michael.... One man's hump is another man's camel. When the unforgiving southerly winds are lashing, we carry that (322m) beast of burden with pride.
And now let's hope you can volunteer in the Dutch Carribbean on Mount Scenery that one is a tiny bit bigger (2877 feet/887 meters). Be carefull though, it's an potential active vulcano ;-)
I'm a volunteer with Suffolk Mountain Rescue in the UK. We're searching for neglected mountains to bring back to safety.
3 kilometers of not quite hiking.
Now that is an exercise I can get behind.
Getting to the top of Mount Scenery (what a name) at nearly 900 meter is (weather permitting) a medium hike of 3-4 hours round trip. 3 km back and forth is about an hour at a slow pace, so not that big a difference? Honestly, there is a huge difference, I suspect the elevation change will be felt.
Some groups of radio pirates used to go the Dutch-German border and set up their broadcasting system across the border.
The components that were illegal in the Netherlands were placed on the German field, and vica versa.
R.I.P. all these unknown brave heroes who died while hiking this mountain.
This is the highest place on the mainland of the Netherlands. The actual highest point is on a volcano on the Caribbean island of saba
Idd!
Yep and we Dutch have also a border with Venezuela.
We only have to wait until they build a 1km high skyscraper in Rotterdam.
@@Ozymandias1 Nothing may be build now due to a supreme court ruling. The Netherlands is on lock down. 70% of all permits where suspended or canceled.
Politicians set the Nox limits absurd way to low and now a climate change group has won the court cases holding the goverment to their own set limits.
The Netherlands is the country in Europe, the Caribbean is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. There are the countries that are part of our kingdom, The Netherlands in Europe, Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, but wait Sint Maarten is not EU but the French part of Sint Maarten is part of the EU. Then we also have three special municipalities. Those are Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius also not part of EU.
Tim, it's quite reckless to climb the vaalserberg without stroopwafels, any Dutchie could tell you
And now I'm hungry for a stroopwafel. Thanks Jorick. Thankfully as a proper Dutchman, I always have a pack of them somewhere in the supply cabinet.
@@RudyBleeker en zo hoort het
Stroopwafels are the best! Now you can buy them at COSTCO here in Utah! When climbing the Vaalserberg, wear your crampons, use your ice axe, bring rope and pitons, and eat Stroopwafels!
@@RudyBleeker
Als ze niet vers van de markt zijn zijn het geen echte!
Maar ja je moet wat
Its Limburg so Vlaai all the way
I used to live near the smallest mountain in Japan. It's called Mt. Benten, and it's only 6.1 meters tall. It's not exactly a tourist spot, but if you ever find yourself in the area, it's a cool place to visit. There is a little shrine at the top, and a nice ramen shop across the street too.
Such a treacherous mountain. I wonder how many mountaineers died trying to scale its mighty peak?
Can't say for certain, it'd take a lot of surveying to find all the corpses
@ATCkeepsUsafe yup I know. After so many expeditions scaling Vaalserberg over the years, the freezing temperatures and low oxygen level there have caused this to my brain.....
A lot, most likely of boredom! :P
Well, clearly from this vid, it was too technical for Tim. Maybe too many steps up the viewing platform towers ?
@@dirkhirbanger4153 😳😆😆
Oh boy, those people who clicked off too early to miss the ending joke about Saba.
F
5:36 wow that pole was dancing
Is that a ilustion or something?
It is probably the video stabilization of youtube. It matches his walking.
Well, I dare say Poles enjoy a little dance as much as any other nationality. Lol.
As a Dutch person, I am amazed to see how many interesting things you have to tell about our country. Thanks!
The highest mountain of Holland are the dunes at the coast, the highest mountain of the Netherlands is what you showed us 😉
Thanks for showing!
no you can call the whole country holland it's like calling the USA america
it's a nickname
@@Gijs558 No, calling Vaals or Maastricht Holland is like calling Glasgow or Edinburgh English. It is just wrong.
Seems almost everyone makes this mistake. Having lived in the Netherlands, I'm quick to correct.
THANK YOU.
@@Gijs558 It's like calling the USA for California or a more common and comparable mistake would be calling the UK for England.
when I was in Aachen, I came to this place so often that it became my wander place if I got bored of my study life. I usually hiked from the Aachen side (the hills with a lot of green grass compare to the Dutch side Maastricht that you showed in this video). Having been said, I never knew about the Moresnet until you pointed it out in this video. I knew the name of the street (4 point borders) but never really searched the reason. Thanks. It brings back memory when I was in Aachen.
There is a State in the U.S called Kansas and its high point is MT Sunflower. Its about 2m higher than the land surrounding it.
Yep. 1232m high. It is also less than 1 km from the border with Colorado -- and the lowest point of Colorado (1011m) is just 100 km north, where the Arikaree River flows (part of the time, anyway) into the extreme NW corner of Kansas.
The lowest state high point in the US is Britton Hill in Florida, a whopping 105 meters above sea level.
There is a pass in the Everglades National Park, 3ft (0.9m) high.
You're literally the only foreigner who I've ever seen and heard pronounce things the correct way or at least translate them in a way that makes people understand what they're reading even though you're obviously not Dutch. That picture at 01:50 is really really close to my house, and yes indeed Vaals looks like mount everest to me.
Except that he pronounces the Netherlands as "Holland"...!
@@Ynysmydwr It's all Dutch to me.
Vaal appears to mean 'pale' in English so what does Vaals mean ?
@@millomweb Actually means valley. Dal in Dutch. Vaals basically means valley.
@@Jerbod2 That was my brother's suggestion and is likely. Looked at Transvaal - that seems to based on a river - pale? river ?
UK uses Dal - as dale/valley. I was born in 'Kendal' (from Kent Dale - the river Kent flowing through the town).
I wonder why Google translate does not mention valley then ! ?
Funny thing about this 300 meter high "mountain." If you look at the Olympics before World War II, you'll notice something unusual about the Winter Olympics. Every country who hosted the Olympics after 1924 got BOTH the Winter AND the Summer Games. Indeed, they were considered part of the same package. The one exception was 1928 when the Summer Olympics were in Amsterdam. How can you hold skiing or alpine events on a 300 meter hill? You can't, which is why for that year, the winter Olympics were held in St. Moritz, Switzerland. St. Moritz got them again in 1948, while London got the summer games. Both sites were chosen because they were relatively unscathed after WWII. The IOC abandoned the idea of the same country hosting the Summer and Winter Olympics at the same time, and in the 90's the Winter games were moved to different years from the Summer Games.
As an esperanto speaker, I'm thrilled that you mentionned this language ! And there were a festival of esperanto speaking youth with music and culture events that took place in 2014 I think, in this particular territory !
Dude just free solo'ed Vaalserberg. Respect.
Repelling down it must be harder....
"Right now we are higher than anyone else in holland and that is quite a thing to say."
me chilling in a dutch coffee shop: *Dutch Doubt noises*
The highest mountain of Hollands. That’s like looking for the warmest spot of Antartica. :)
And it's not even Holland as this little mountain is in the province of Limburg. 😁
On my island (Texel) we have a mountain which is called The high mountain.. Its 15 meters above mean sea level.
This is not even close to Holland, it's in the far corner of Limburg. Fantastic reportage though,.
"Far" is a big word for this small country.
It's still higher than anything in bloody awful Holland 😁
@@robbedoeslegrand236 still takes about about 3 hours to get there from Amsterdam by car. And about 4 hours by public transport.
@@MarceldeJong Yeah ... and Limburg is not in Holland. :S
@@BakjeLeip Remember the song "Kwestie van Geduld" by Rowwen Heze? You have to pass at least North Brabant to reach Holland, so the band has a hard time to teach Holland Limburgs while North Brabant is the second largest province of The Netherlands in area. Historical mistakes (dictionary's for instance) when it comes to using Holland instead of The Netherlands are not my problem. Holland was and will be only a part of The Netherlands.
My grandparent emigrated from Netherlands (one of the flattest countries in Europe) in the 1950's to Australia, the flattest continent - they were not big on hills. I have 'scaled' the tallest 'mountain' on our continent several times - wearing shorts, t-shirt & sneakers. At 2,228m it is a trip that you need to prepare for - by buying sunscreen.
Correction: Holland are provinces in the Netherlands (North and South Holland). So this is not the highest point of Holland, but the Netherlands. And the hightest point of the kingdom of the Netherlands is in Saba.
And again you made an awesome video. You really put an effort in making it not look like a boring place to visit. And that sir, is not an easy task. Well done!
Haha, thanks Tom! Hey it's not so bad, there's a labyrinth, a tower, a restaurant, some flags... trust me, I've climbed the highest points in Belgium and Luxembourg, and they would kill for something as exciting as the Vaalserberg :D
Fascinating. Pillow-fighting is illegal in Germany. Every day, even at my age, you can learn something new. I live in the Canary Islands (highest point 3.718m) and this video is hilarious for me!
If you understand the Dutch, you'll know they think it is hilarious too. ;)
@@robbedoeslegrand236 Yes, they have a great sense of humour.
Guess that makes me a repeat offender. But maybe Bavaria, as it does with many things from the 'evil prussians', doesn't regonize this law.
(un)fortunately that's not quite accurate. There's absolutely no law prohibiting consensual pillowfights. Would be funny though.
Well, if you go about hitting people with pillows unprovoked in any other country the police might arrest for you assault too
In 1983 I was on Saba and actually climbed to the top of the ex-volcano. There was a vendor selling cold Heinekin at the top 😁
4:09
The population spoke and still speaks (many not anymore) a Dutch-German transitional dialect.
Most of the inhabitants lied about French being their mother tongue in the censuses after the world wars.
Before the wars, they claimed to speak German (which they deemed closest to their dialect), but out of anti-German sentiments after the wars, they claimed to be French-speaking (basically their second language). The town is now officially French speaking.
I don't know much about the origins of the name "Moresnet", but most of the names of the villages in the area are Germanic in origin.
The Dutch German transitional dialect = Limburgs
@@hannofranz7973not quite, depending in the local dialect there are German words but it is not a mix between German and Dutch. It is low Franconian, where Zeeuws for example is also part off
Meanwhile in New Zealand, we call that a speed bump and put a 20kph suggested speed limit.
WHahahaha every road has speedbumbs here where there used to be put holes(kuilen) whahahaha this comment section is realy funny as a dutch person. People think flat earth originated here whahahaha
@@Niels357 Didn't flat earth originate their Whahahah! :)
@@elise3794 as a joke, then like always americans took it seriously and ran with it! As they do with everything! Whahahaha
Quite a few lols thanks =)
Please delete this comment, very insensitive
@@kantjeboosmoke7074 huilen
Great video! Especially liked the excursus on Neutral-Moresnet. I'd love the see even more of that kind in your videos :)
Moresnet almost sounds like "moch es net" -> "mach es nicht" -> "don't do it"
It doesn't sound very French the way he pronounces it. :-)
It's because it's supposed to be pronounced Moréné, which sounds exactly like "dead and born", which doesn't sound any more inviting
I come from this region, the former Neutral Moresnet named Kelmis now! At that time, even Moresnet is in the french speaking region now, they use to speak a German Dutch dialect (PLATT Dutch)! Valls-Moresnet-Gemmenich- Kelmis!
I'm very happy CZcams recommended this for me today.
Heeey! ... My town :D That is nice to see, glad you had a good time!
I like your stuff mate. We're interested in the same things, so I'm glad you've been able to explore them and share them. Well done and thanks!
I duplicated this achievement last week, pleased to be guided by the CZcams video and achieving a personal first of crossing an international frontier on a local bus. Great stuff and rather more of a climb than I anticipated!
Neu-Moresnet, my hometown ! Thank you so much for sharing our (strange) history :D
And now Moresnet has a new museum.. so he has to come back!
Before Lockdown I was coming here once a week from Aachen and now we have a covid border!
I love vaals as it instantly feels Dutch,within a few steps of entering from Germany .
From home in Aachen I can see both landmarks and its lovely .
Vaals is a very friendly place and as is its province Limburg .
I can't wait to cross the border again when It's legal due to covid restrictions as I'm not Dutch .
Your work is appreciated - Many thanks for these videos
Cheers UKGuy!
I must say, I've recently started bingeing your videos and they bring me so much joy. I wish I could do this sort of travelling as well. Thank you for doing all the legwork and editing. Fantastic.
I like your humour, please do some other videos of the Netherlands!
Neutraal-Moresnet has a fascinating history, and you touched upon the main points. One thing that I would like to add is that due to very low taxes in Neutraal-Moresnet and no tarriffs on alcohol, the little country also contained a lot (and I mean a LOT) of distilleries, and alcohol smuggling was a big industry. There's a fairly great dutch history book of the place "Moresnet" by Philip Droge (with an umlaut on the o, which I can't remember how to type) Not sur if it has been translated, but it's a weird and wonderful history
Comedic gold, Tim! I also appreciate that the weather you get is what most of us get, not the postcard perfect clear skies.
This video is about something so incredibly boring, yet is made so very interesting, it boggles the mind. This truly is a great CZcams Channel.
To be honest, that's literally the furthest away from "Holland" as you can be while still being in the Netherlands.
Holland is composed of two provinces: Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland (you can guess what that means), which are located in the West of the Netherlands. So when you're talking about "Holland", that's what you're talking about. When you say "the Netherlands" you can refer to any part of the country. I hope this helps :)
Awesome vid! videos are getting better and better and I'm learning new things about my country.
oh and better visit Saba now :P
Cheers point point! I'd love to go to Saba. The mountain is described on english Wikipedia as a "potentially active volcano" and "potentially dangerous". Ok let me correct that, I'd potentially love to go to Saba...
That whole area has multitudes to offer! Beautiful!
I simply love your humourous editing! Keep it up!
I want to go and visit the Netherlands for so many reasons now after watching your videos. This pandemic needs to end quickly
hah, they cheated, they added that 50m observation tower !
Excellent to see your vlog...Danke schoen
That's rather cute at the end, a scrap-metal collector rolling along, ringing a bell.
"Wait, mum, what did you think I meant?" Haha that was too funny xD
Denmark's highest point is just as exhilarating.
To be honest, i like the Himmelbjerget much more than Yding Skovhøj, not least because the Himmelbjerget has a tower on its top.
Translations for non-danish speakers: HImmelbjerget means The Sky Mountain, and Yding Skovhøj is Yding Forest-Hill
Even 3 times lower lol
Gunnbjørn Fjeld in Greenland is 3694m high, is that not part of Denmark then and highest point of Kingdom of Denmark?
@@maartenj.vermeulen900 Yes and no. It is the highest point in Denmark (the kingdom), but not the highest point in Denmark (the country).
Postcolonial politics are... complicated.
Basically, Greenland and the Faroe Islands have so many devolved powers nowadays that they are kind of countries in their own right. But also kind of not.
@@gerdforster883 Cheers for that! 😁
Learning shitloads about things tha are so near me, and I never knew. What an awesome job you're doing Tim!
Interesting, strange, and very worthwhile video.
I'm extremely saddened I found your channel after my first ever trip to Germany and Nederlands.. have to make another trip
One of my team members said he was going on holiday to NL to do some climbing.
There were blank looks from the Americans, blank looks from the Brits, giggles from the Germans.
He meant artificial climbing, but we still ripped him for a week, going "Climbing" in Amsterdam.
Loving your videos and find these useless facts fascinating. Your quirky/witty delivery is also fantastic. Thanks!
I'm an American immigrant to The Netherlands. Waalserberg reminds me of where I grew up in upstate New York.
I was in the Netherlands for two days, and saw two hills in that time. One of them was literally a dirt mound less tall than I was, and the other was the base of a tower.
I can see three hills, without even leaving my bed. My review of the Netherlands is 7/10 lovely country, not enough hills.
Leave it to the Dutch to have a european country without mountains and a caribbean island without beaches.
Gustav Meyrink 😂😂
At least the European country has beaches and the island has mountains.
Loving your videos!
I love your sense of humor!
its illegal to light fireworks in The Netherlands or Germany but its legal in Belgium
No it isn't
It is legal in the Netherlands and I am Dutch, so I know that.
Wietze Van Der Wijk nope, alleen op oud en nieuw
Interestingly, also the border crossing place between Austria and Germany near Salzburg is also called "Walserberg". Furthermore, there is an Austrian exclave (if this is the right word - meaning a piece of Austrian land, which can only be reached on road from Germany and has no domestic road connection to the rest of Austria) in Western Austria called "Kleines Walsertal", i.e. "Walser Valley". This would lead me to the conclusion, that there is a statistic relation between the word "Walser" and "(weird) borders" ;-) You should definitively visit these places and create a video, if you haven't already done so...
you are very funny and I Have learned a lot from you. Thanks, keep it coming.
Finally all the questions I've had for 65 years are answered regarding Moresnet.
Neat that is 20 minutes driving away :-)
How about drinking alcohol when you're 16 or 17 years old? That's illegal in NL but legal in both BE and DE.
except for beer :)
Not true. Buying alcohol is illegal under 18 in the Netherlands, but there's no law that forbids people under 18 years old from drinking alcohol in private.
@@PGraveDigger1 kinda the same in germany (beer etc under 16)
@@flycrack7686 It used to be that in the Netherlands you could buy alcoholic drinks under 15% alcohol when you were 16 or older, and drinks with more than 15% alcohol when you were 18 or older. Right now you have to be 18 to buy any kind of alcoholic drink. Consumption is pretty much always legal.
@@PGraveDigger1 beer is legal at 16
brilliant with the text just before the end. keep it up Tim.:)
I too have conquered the mightily high mountain in the Netherlands just like you.
Great video!
Moresnet is fascinating and thats a great border region. Hope you made it to monschau.
This place is still higher than any point in Denmark, Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania.
Eat that Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania!
Thanks for also mentioning Neutral-Moresnet.
Exhibit A - why i love your channel
Dutch band The Nits made an album called In The Dutch Mountains. 😀
Good work differentiating between types of weird. I like that observation tower. Zinc has never been so interesting. Blimey that was exciting. You need to give your mum a credit at the end.
If you're not careful I'll differentiate your type of weird next. But since you left a nice comment, have a present: assets.thermofisher.com/TFS-Assets/CAD/posters/Infographic-Zinc.pdf?icid=CAD_blog_metals_2017Dec
Pain au raisin, good stuff 👍🏾👍🏾
You got a new sub. I've watched many of your videos but this one got me to sub. I like everything about your content.
Fun fact: The Hollands are two provinces and neither one of them contains that Vaalserberg. Our country is named the Netherlands.
Dankje, ik was op zoek naar deze comment. :)
the vaalserberg isn't in Holland. It's in Limburg.
Danke!
It is not Limburg, it is The Kingdom of Limburg. They even sound like they have a soft G spot.
Oh fuck off. Next football match you'll be cheering "hup Holland hup" just like the rest of us.
@@Tommy20136 I never cheer "hup Holland hup"
because A: I'm an uncompromising anti-nationalist and shit on such petty and childish national chauvinism.
And B: I don't give a fuck about football.
Yes we know, but it is easier to speak out. Holland is technical speaking only North and South Holland.
enchanting 💖
I like that your introduction thing that's on every video isn't a third of the video, seeing that on some channels gets annoying, so thanks. Your videos are good because they're like taking a quick trip to the location, I'll never be there, I don't need to know every detail lol You've got a good way of giving us a quick and interesting view of places.
Like I said in the previous video. It is quite a boring place actually. I did not know about the fourth border.
Nice video!
Cheers Urahara12squad!
This is not Holland's highest mountain, because Vaalserberg is in Limburg and not in Holland. Holland is the specific region of both ''zuid-holland'' and ''noord-holland''. Calling Limburg Holland would be the same as calling Scotland Wales or England.
Geiler Beitrag! Danke! :)))
In fact the older name of Vaalserberg was Sankt Hubertsberg. The mountain of Saint Hubert. So, in fact the highest point of the Netherlands 🇳🇱 is St Hubert’s mountain. St Hubert is known for having met a deer 🦌 with a cross on his head, converted, evangelized East Belgium 🇧🇪, became bishop of Tongeren (Belgian Flemish Limburg), Maastricht (Dutch Limburg), and Liège (Luik) (Belgian Walloon Province which included the old original Duchy of Limburg destroyed by Napoleon). Even the imperial city of Aachen in Germany 🇩🇪 belonged to his big diocese. St Hubert is the patron of the hunters.
As a citizen from the pancake flat lands, this is hilarious!
The stone doesn’t actually mark the border point between the three countries. It is far to practically placed for one. Second, the actual border point is about 100m away behind the big pointy observation tower.
Third: I’m also really fun at parties.
Why do you not have a million subscribers? Informative and very funny! Keep them coming!
LOL. I need to follow you more. Your sarcastic asides are exquisite. Had me in stitches the whole way through. I also learned that a pillow is considered a weapon in Germany. The more you know! ***Rainbow***
calling this holland is like calling edinburgh england...
オランダ日本JN ik wil ook japans leren :))
DVDspeler Moet je doen; je vind het vast leuk. Ik werk als leraar Japans op de universiteit ^_^•
Hopelijk is je Japans beter dan je Nederlands ;)
Frietje Oorlog ik zie mijn typfout inderdaad. Beschamend, sorry. Maar ja mijn Japans is inderdaad ietwat beter dan mijn Nederlands.
オランダ日本JN zinloos vak.
Greetings from Aachen ♥️
Well done! Must have been much harder than climbing the Everest! 😁👍
Hillarious!!!