Dodendraad Border Crossing Monument

The Wire, also called Dead Wire or Death Gate, was a 332-kilometre long wire barrier built by the German occupiers of Belgium along the border between occupied Belgium and the neutral Netherlands during World War I. In German documents the barrier was officially referred to as Grenzhochspannungshindernis. The barrier was under deadly electrical voltage and was supposed to prevent war volunteers and German deserters from fleeing Belgium. The fencing was also intended to prevent espionage messages from occupied territory from reaching Allied espionage services via the Netherlands and to stop smuggling. The Wire is estimated to have killed many hundreds of people, but could not prevent thousands of people from crossing the border in various ways. After the war, the death gate was quickly demolished.