Grenspaal Weijser Paal

The Weijser Paal is an old boundary post on the border between Gemert and Bakel.

The Weijser Paal is a boundary post between Gemert and Bakel. It was Charles the Fifth who determined in 1544 that there would be a kink here in the border between Bakel and Gemert. Throughout the centuries there have been many disputes about the boundaries of the municipalities. Inhabitants of the various villages used the Peel to cut peat and, according to tradition, the peat on the other side was much blacker than in their own municipality. In 1544 Charles the Fifth, then ruler of the largest European empire since Charlemagne in the 9th century, redefined the boundaries between Gemert, Bakel and Helmond and Aarle. This was because Bakel believed that Gemert had appropriated too much land. The name of the pole varies. We also come across Wisse Paal or Weijer Paal. In 1434, following an earlier dispute, the Duke of Brabant had already established the border in a straight line from the Stippelberg Paal to the then Land of Cuijk, today's Sint Anthonis. This direction, apart from the kink at the Weijser Paal, has changed little since then. To the west lies the Paal behind 't Zand, to the east the Ripse paal.

Sources:

P.H. Nooijen, Tussen Peel en Aa, 1967, Gemert

J. Timmers, Langs de palen, 2002, Heemkundekring De Kommanderij, Gemert