Editing Kerkrade (section)

== The border along Nieuwstraat/Neustraße ==
[[File:Kerkrade-1993-BIL.jpg|thumb|Nieuwstraat/Neustraße in 1993. At left is the Dutch side, at right the German side.]]
[[File:Neustrasse, Herzogenrath.jpg|thumb|Nieuwstraat/Neustraße in 2009]]
One part of the border between the Netherlands and Germany runs along the middle of the street Nieuwstraat/Neustraße. The border was heavily fortified by the Germans during [[World War I]] and [[World War II]],<ref name=nijmegen/> but because of relatively unrestricted cross-border travel within the [[European Union]], following World War II marked only with a low wall, about 30&nbsp;cm high, running along the length of the street (borders were at that time designed to be unpassable by vehicles, except at border crossing, but no fence for pedestrians).<ref name=nijmegen/> There was a separate 2-way road on each side, and cars had to pass through the official crossing points, but pedestrians could readily step over the wall (although there were signs informing of the border). In 1995, the wall was removed completely as part of the new [[Schengen Area]] agreement.<ref name=nijmegen/> Nieuwstraat/Neustraße is now a single two-way road, with the extra space now occupied with trees and bicycle lanes.  The border is unmarked, and is crossed even when going round a roundabout or overtaking a vehicle.

The two towns now share some of their public services,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170223130407/http://startouch.thestar.com/screens/32030dbb-174d-48f6-935e-389b7d7af58a%7C_0.html "World's Most Unique Cities"]. ''[[Toronto Star]]'', June 2, 2016.</ref> and promote themselves as a binational "City of Eurode" for economic development purposes.<ref name=nijmegen/>  They share a binational office complex which uses the Eurode name, and is built so that the border passes directly through the centre of the building's main lobby, with one wing of the building in Kerkrade and the other in Herzogenrath.<ref>[http://www.aachener-zeitung.de/lokales/staedteregion-aachen/neue-anlaufstelle-fuer-grenzpendler-in-der-euregio-1.1442645 "Neue Anlaufstelle für Grenzpendler in der Euregio"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223130133/http://www.aachener-zeitung.de/lokales/staedteregion-aachen/neue-anlaufstelle-fuer-grenzpendler-in-der-euregio-1.1442645 |date=2017-02-23 }}. ''[[Aachener Zeitung]]'', September 6, 2016.</ref>