European spirit: first Dutch-German bilingual newspaper

Birth of bilingual newspaper on the Dutch-German border

A regional cross-border newspaper for communities living near the Dutch-German border illustrates how relations between the populations have improved. The Schengen agreement has helped change the groups' attitudes toward one another.

The first issue of Buren (Neighbors) has just landed on the doormats of 400,000 residents in the region around Enschede on the Dutch-German border. The special collector’s item, as the paper’s editorial identifies itself, is a combined effort by the Dutch regional newspaper Twentsche Courant Tubantia, and the German titles Westfälische Nachrichten and Grafschafter Nachrichten.

Journalists from all three newspapers double as translators for each other’s articles in Buren, which is published in both Dutch and German editions. The new paper was launched to celebrate 50 years of collaboration between the border communities in the area. ... ... ...