The Death Wire

To hermetically seal the border between occupied Belgium and "neutral" Holland during World War I, an electric barrier ran from the coast to Aachen, which was under high voltage: the Dodendraad. Electricity was quite unknown in the Kempen. It was not until the 1920s that the power grid was laid there. Soon, the people of the Kempen realized that the wire was not only a boundary but also a feared weapon. Hundreds of people were electrocuted between 1915 and 1918 during escape attempts (or for other reasons).
During this tour, we pass one of the replicas of the Dodendraad and a reconstructed control building.
Those who want to learn more can visit the website http://www.dodendraad.org/. A very interesting book about the Dodendraad has also been published: 'High Voltage at the Belgian-Dutch Border'.