Annexation
After the Second World War, the Netherlands claimed a large part of German territory as compensation for damages suffered during the war. In order to do so, the permission of the Allies was required. However, the plan they submitted was not able to obtain the necessary consent. The demands in the original plan included a large part of Niedersachsen and NRW. These include the cities of Oldenburg, Osnabrück, Münster, Kleve, Krefeld, Neuss, Köln, Mönchengladbach and Aachen.
Ultimately, the plans ended with the allocation of a very small portion of what was asked for. From 23rd of April 1949, Elten, Zelfkant and a few small plots, including a part of Wyler, were assigned to the Netherlands. A total of 69 square kilometres.
Many inhabitants of these areas felt torn between two countries. Education continued to be in German and the teachers were paid by the German NRW. All other influences, including the church, came from the German side and it was the wish of the inhabitants to rejoin Germany. The inhabitants argued for this return to their home country of Germany at the highest levels. A delegation of the municipal council from Wyler even went as far as the government in Berlin.
The lauded words on the Wylerberg / Duivelsberg, "Let friendship heal what boundaries share" is not entirely true.
When on the 1st of August 1963 the majority of the annexed areas were transferred back to Germany, the Wylerberg / Duivelsberg and a plot adjacent to the Querdamm in our region remained part of the Netherlands.
