Roadside History #2: The story of the ‘Zerkenpaol’

This stone is called the ‘Zerkenpaol’ and marks the place where the three municipalities Horst, Venray and Deurne meet. It was placed in 1716, at the end of the Spanish Succession War, when the new borders were defined in the Peace of Utrecht (and the ‘Tractaet van Venlo’). It ended centuries of petty arguments and fights (some even resulted in murder!) between the population of all involved municipalities over who owned which part of the Peel.