Kleng Wach - Vaals

The Klèng Wach; this is how this former customs control house is called in Vaaler dialect. As a young customs officer, my father stood here guarding the border between the Netherlands and Germany. You can hardly imagine it any more, such a tall man in a leather jacket in this small guardhouse. Yet that was only 50 years ago. Built around 1890, Kleng Wach looks back on an eventful history. During World War I (1914-1918), the Netherlands being neutral, this border crossing was hermetically sealed with barbed wire by order of the Dutch government. In the early 1920s, the barrier is removed and residents of the neighbouring (German) Vaalserquartier can shop in Vaals for a few hours a day.

In the late 1930s, just before the outbreak of World War II, the border crossing is now closed again by iron bollards by order of the German authority. When the Germans invade our country on 10 May 1940, it turns out that the fence has been removed and a movable barbed-wire fence has been constructed, allowing German troops to advance across this border towards Belgium.

After the war, this border crossing is guarded by Dutch soldiers (major leave officers) and customs (kommiezen). During this period, the name Klèng Wach (small guardhouse) also arises, probably to mark the difference from the large border post on Maastrichterlaan. In 1951, by order of the German authorities, the border crossing on Akenerstraat is hermetically sealed for the third time. This time it is an iron gate, called ‘Iesere Jardieng’ (iron curtain) by the people of Vaal. In late 1959, this drang gate opens for a few hours a week and in a wooden construction shed on the German side, the residents of Vaalserquartier, who at this time do massive shopping in Vaals, can clear their goods.

In the late 1970s, the border crossing still being guarded, the iron curtain disappears and concrete posts replace it. After the Schengen Agreement, there are no more fixed border posts and the Klèng Wach falls into disrepair. In 1993, the municipality of Vaals becomes the owner of the customs house and rents it to the local history society Sankt Tolbert, which has set up a museum there; the smallest museum in the Netherlands.