Meerle - Essen station through the Maatjes and along the Klot in corona time

GPS recording of 2 May 2020 Coronarit

From Antwerp's point of view, Essen station is the last railway station along line 12 before the Dutch border and the northernmost railway station in Belgium. The station in Essen was once the most important border station between Belgium and the Netherlands. Because the customs formalities were completed here for cross-border traffic, there are many sidings.
The current station building dates from 1901 and was built in eclectic style, with a metal support and lots of natural stone. The adjacent customs warehouse dates from the same period. Since 1896 there were also quarantine houses at this border station in which, until the 1970s, mainly fatty cattle were quarantined via a special unloading quay to check the animals for infectious diseases. In 1994, the quarantine stables located in the northwest of the station on the sharp corner between the current streets Grensstraat and Hemelrijk were legally protected as monuments. Between the customs shed and the quarantine stables, a part of the loading and unloading quay can still be seen where the cattle were removed from the train.

The landscape 'De Maatjes' is located in the Antwerp Noorderkempen, along the Dutch border, on the territory of the municipalities of Kalmthout and Wuustwezel. The area is bordered in the north by the Vissersstraat, in the west by the Wuustwezelsteenweg, in the south by the Hoofdbaanwatering and in the east by the Kruisvaartweg and the national border with the Netherlands. 'De Maatjes' is a cross-border nature reserve. The Dutch part is called 'De Matjens' and is managed by Staatsbosbeheer.