Roosendaal, Essen, Rucphen

He was a smuggler
Who deep into the night
Again and again his contraband
Across the border
Small was the smuggling fee
And great the danger
Such is the life of a smuggler.

These are the first sentences of Johnny Hoes' popular 1956 song The Smuggler.

Where there are borders, there is smuggling. This is particularly true of the border between North Brabant and Belgium. Unlike many other borders, the 1843 border devised at the drawing board is not hampered by mountains or rivers.

It is therefore no surprise that, after the abolition of excise duty on salt in Belgium in 1870, smuggling activities in this region boomed. Back then, salt was used in large quantities to pickle meat. For residents of the border region who were tight on money, it became very interesting to buy the cheap salt in Belgium and resell it in the Netherlands at a high profit.

To avoid being caught by customs officers, the smuggler would collect the goods on foot at night from a stable, barn or cooperating pub just across the border. With two jute bags of salt connected with a rope, called the pungel, about 50 kilos of salt could be transported at a time. On the way back, the remote often boggy paths were taken and people went back across the border in a small group, possibly with a scout.

During World War I, the German occupiers of Belgium decided to build a Death Wire along the border between occupied Belgium and neutral Netherlands. To save manpower, the 332-kilometre barrier was put under deadly electrical tension. One of the first Wires of Death was erected near the border town of Essen in January 1915. Here, the Germans chose an anomalous location over the original border, causing smuggling to boom.

In the crisis years that followed, margarine smuggling became popular. To support the dairy sector, Dutch producers were required to incorporate some cream butter into margarine. This was not an issue in Belgium, so the cheaper Belgian margarine found eager consumption in the Netherlands.

After World War II, the roles turned. Around 1960, butter in Belgium cost twice as much as in the Netherlands. With the rise of cars and trucks, the days of petty smuggling were over. Organised crime crossed the border in trucks and even armoured cars. Armed with crow's paws, smugglers tried to shake off customs. It became a cat-and-mouse game in which both sides took gigantic risks during chases. It was only with the advent of the EEC in the late 1960s that price differences and butter smuggling came to an end.

Would you dare to smuggle in this area? Grab your bike and join us across the border.


This Premium cycling route was put together by our editor: Elwin Croeze.