The wars of freedom in 1813/14 led to the end of the reign of Napoleon I, after whose fall the European princes and statesmen met in Vienna in 1814/15 for the Congress of Vienna to decide on the reorganization of Europe. After the formation of the Kingdom of the United Netherlands, a new border arrangement was made here with the newly founded “German Confederation”. This included 35 princely states and 4 free cities. The new border was to be “at least a cannon shot away from the Meuse”. Since the cannonballs flew around four kilometers back then, the medieval municipal boundaries between Well and Arcen, as well as Walbeck and Straelen in the Walbeck area were determined to be the new state border.