clientele in Prussia, Belgium, Austria, Poland and even Russia. In 1717, Tsar Peter the Great visited the Von Clermonts. In 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France, and his wife Josephine de Beauharnais visited Vaals and stayed in Bloemendal Castle, one of the outhouses of the Von Clermont family.
Unofficially, Vaals was adopted into the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, by Governor Sack. Vaals had to orient itself more towards Holland and had to correspond in Dutch from then on. During the Conference of Vienna, it was decided that Aachen was assigned to Prussia and Vaals to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. When Belgium declared itself independent in 1830, Vaals was a part of Belgium until 1839. From 1839 onwards Vaals was reassigned to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Near Vaals four national boundaries, those of Prussia, Belgium, the Netherlands and the Neutral Territory of Moresnet, met. While Moresnet had a flag (Black-White-Blue), it did not have a head of state or a government. As a result of the less than nation-state of Moresnet, in those days at Vaals there was a Four-Border-Point, but not a Four-Country-Point. The road Viergrenzenweg ("Four Borders Road") still exists in Vaals, a reminder of this era, lasting from 1839 to 1919, after which Moresnet was absorbed into Belgium.
Due to increased competition and the political closure of the German and Belgian regio to Vaals, industrial activity went down after 1840. Vaals turned from a wealthy industrial town into a leisure and holiday destination for the citizens of Aachen, slightly resembling Monte Carlo because of its casinos. Germans referred to the town as the "Vaalser Paradies". To stimulate industry and tourism, a tram was installed in 1922 from Aachen, via Vaals to Wijlre, which was expanded to Maastricht in 1924.
Before and during World War II the borders were closed and Vaals grew isolated due to its remote location in the Netherlands. After the war, commerce rose. Germans
