Receiving station MN7

On the corner at the intersection Leliestraat/Boschovenseweg there is a reconstruction of the forty-meter-long central antenna mast of the wireless military transmitting and receiving station MN7. From March 1915 the installation was built by the Belgian army. Dozens of people succeeded in keeping the plans secret for more than half a year! For earthing, the spade dug a pit three and a half meters deep and with a circumference of 27 meters. The grounding consisted of zinc plates. These made a hell of a noise during transport, which did not bother Dutch customs officers. They were just taking their lunch break. A large batch of coal was brought in by train. The coal was not taken to the addressee on the transport document, but to the sending station. Because the cart did not close properly, a wide track of coal dust was visible on the road. Nobody noticed it. Forty eighteen-meter-long ship's masts came from Zaandam to the Baarle-Nassau train station. A local craftsman transported the poles in pairs of three with a handcart (!) to the transmitting station. Nobody asked questions.

After the antenna mast was erected, the transmitting installation was constantly guarded to prevent German attempts at sabotage. In the beginning the surveillance was done by bloodhounds. At night the surroundings were watched with searchlights. Regional newspapers spoke as follows about 'the city of light Baarle-Hertog': 'While the people of Baarle-Nassau sit every evening in an Egyptian darkness, it is as if a Romanian petroleum source has been discovered on that Belgian site'.

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