The Wire of Death – The Death Wire (Dodendraad) loop from Leende

Mountain biking trails

Netherlands

North Brabant

Heeze-Leende

The Wire of Death – The Death Wire (Dodendraad) loop from Leende

Moderate

4.2

(10)

107

riders

The Wire of Death – The Death Wire (Dodendraad) loop from Leende

02:12

34.4km

40m

Mountain biking

Moderate mountain bike ride. Good fitness required. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: September 25, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through protected areas

Please check local regulations for:

Kempen~Broek

Waypoints

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Bus stop

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7.84 km

Cranendonck Castle

Highlight • Castle

In 1899, the farm that belonged to the castle was demolished. A villa took its place. This was the basis for the current castle-like building, which was equipped with a tower at the beginning of the 20th century.

Former town hall of the municipality of Maarheeze
In 1938, the then municipality of Maarheeze bought the property and the castle was converted into a town hall. This remained until 1997, when the municipality of Maarheeze merged into the merged municipality of Cranendonck.

Translated by Google •

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9.15 km

Cranendoncksche Bosch

Nature Reserve

17.0 km

Forest Singletrack

Highlight (Segment) • Trail

18.2 km

The Wire of Death (De Doodendraad)

Highlight • Historical Site

In 1914, occupied Germany occupied Belgium, while the Netherlands remained neutral. The border residents, such as those of Hamont-Achel, had a hard time due to the construction of a hermetic barrier to the border. The German occupier wanted to prevent any contact with the free Netherlands and placed a deadly electrical barrier along the border for this purpose.

Since 2000, Hamont-Achel has had a reconstruction (adapted in 2015) of "Den droad" as it is popularly called. Alongside this reconstruction there are information boards that provide additional information about the original construction in 1916.

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18.3 km

The Wire of Death

Highlight • Historical Site

Death Wire, a horror along the border.

Death Wire, silent witness to German means of destruction
This is a 200-metre-long reconstruction of the Death Wire that was constructed by the Germans in the summer of 1916 to prevent ‘unwanted border traffic’ between neutral Netherlands and occupied Belgium. Unwanted traffic includes: deserting soldiers, even young patriots who wanted to volunteer for the Belgian army, spies, letter and other smugglers, ordinary citizens who could no longer cope with the occupation mentally and physically.

The first electric wire barrier had already existed earlier, halfway through 1915, south of the then separate municipalities of Hamont and Achel. As a result, the municipalities found themselves in a kind of no-man’s land. Until the summer of 1916, that is, when the German occupier put a stop to it. The Death Wire ran from the Drielandenpunt in Vaals to the Belgian coast. You can imagine the terrible scenes that took place here. On the strip near Hamont-Achel, 17 people are said to have died at this Wire.

Figures are known that over the entire length of this ‘border’ there must have been more than 1,000 victims, most of them ordinary citizens. It sounds improbable, but many more thousands, reportedly even 20,000 people, managed to get through the barrier unscathed. For example, a rubber framework was used to get through safely, and some even managed to jump to the Netherlands with … a pole.

The barrier was guarded by older, sometimes injured German soldiers.

Ingenious construction:
The construction usually consisted of 5 or 7 rows of iron wire on wooden poles of up to 2 metres high. There was an opening of about 30 centimetres between the wires. The bottom wire was stretched 25 centimetres above the ground. There were three rows next to each other, the outer ones served as a deterrent. On the middle row were porcelain pots that served as insulators. On the wire was a high voltage of no less than 2000 volts alternating current, comparable to the impact of a lightning strike. Every 50 meters a pole provided the power supply.

Translated by Google •

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