The House Split Between Two Countries

Some people go to bed in one country and wake up in another. Tag the friend who cannot pick a favorite country. In a small town between Belgium and the Netherlands, the border does not run around the houses. It runs straight through them.

Niektorí ľudia idú spať v jednej krajine a zobudia sa v inej. Označ kamaráta, ktorý si nevie vybrať obľúbenú krajinu. V malom meste medzi Belgickom a Holandskom hranica neobchádza domy. Vedie priamo cez ne.

The line between the two countries zigzags through streets, gardens, and living rooms, because of old land deals between local lords centuries ago. When it cuts through a front door, the house gets two street numbers, one for each country. People here decide which country a house belongs to by checking where the front door sits.

Čiara medzi oboma krajinami sa kľukatí cez ulice, záhrady a obývačky, kvôli starým dohodám o pôde medzi miestnymi pánmi pred storočiami. Keď prereže vchodové dvere, dom dostane dve popisné čísla, jedno pre každú krajinu. Ľudia tu rozhodujú, ktorej krajine dom patrí, podľa toho, kde sú vchodové dvere.

For years, families sometimes moved their front door a few steps to one side, just enough to land in whichever country charged lower taxes that year. One house has its front door exactly on the line. Nobody has ever agreed which country that family belongs to, and nobody seems to mind.

Roky niektoré rodiny presúvali vchodové dvere o pár krokov na stranu, presne natoľko, aby sa ocitli v krajine, ktorá v danom roku vyberala nižšie dane. Jeden dom má vchodové dvere presne na hranici. Nikto sa nikdy nezhodol, ktorej krajine tá rodina patrí, a zdá sa, že to nikomu neprekáža.