Vaalserberg

Vaalserberg
The highest point in the European part of the Netherlands
Elevation	322.7 m (1,059 ft)
Translation	Mount Vaals (English)
Location
Vaalserberg Limburg, Netherlands
Coordinates	50°45′17″N 6°01′15″E

The Vaalserberg ("Mount Vaals") is a hill 322.7 metres (1,059 ft) in height and the highest point in the European part of the Netherlands. The Vaalserberg is located in the province of Limburg, at the south-easternmost edge of the country in the municipality of Vaals, near the eponymous town, some three kilometres west of Aachen.

Before 10 October 2010, the Vaalserberg was the highest point in the Netherlands, until upon the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles when Mount Scenery on Saba (the highest point in the Kingdom of the Netherlands) became part of the Netherlands.

Drielandenpunt

Three-Country Point

The Vaalserberg is also the location of the tripoint between Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands and its summit is therefore referred to as Drielandenpunt ("Three-Country Point") in Dutch, or Dreiländereck ("Three-Country Corner") in German, or Trois Frontières ("Three Borders") in French.

Between 1830 and 1919, the summit briefly was a quadripoint, bordering also Neutral Moresnet.

Legend:

  (1) Dutch Province of Limburg

  (2) Belgian (previously Dutch) Province of Liège

  (3) Neutral Moresnet

  (4) Prussian Rhine Province

The current Belgian-German-border is not the same as the former eastern border of Moresnet with Prussia; it lies a little more to the east. Therefore, 5 different borders came together in this point, however never more than 4 at the same time - except possibly for the period 1917-1920, where the border situation was not clear and not undisputed.

This border intersection has made the Vaalserberg a well-known tourist attraction in the Netherlands with a tower on the Belgian side (Dutch: Boudewijntoren; French: Tour Baudouin) offering a grand panorama of the surrounding landscape. This tidy and urbanised development stands in marked contrast to the rough cinder parking area that makes up the Belgium sector and the wooded nature reserve on the German side.

Four-borders road

The road leading up to this point on the Dutch side is called the "Viergrenzenweg" ("four-borders road"), probably because of the former neutral Moresnet, while the roads in Belgium "Route des Trois Bornes" and Germany "Dreiländerweg" only refer to three.

Road Cycling

The Vaalserberg is often used in the Amstel Gold Race and is climbed halfway through the race. The climb is named in the roadbook of the Gold Race as 'Drielandenpunt' and is follwed by the Gemmenich climb.

See also

• List of mountains and hills in North Rhine-Westphalia