Checks are being temporarily reintroduced at Germany's borders with France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Denmark. They are due to run until March 15, 2025. Such controls have already become part of daily life at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland.

"We want to further reduce irregular migration, stop people smugglers, put a stop to criminals and recognize and stop Islamists at an early stage, " said German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.

Germany's borders stretch over more than 3,800 kilometers (2,361 miles). At the country's far western edge, the borders of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands meet. On the first day of the extended checks, things appeared much the same as ever at most of the smaller border crossings. On the single-lane road that connects the Dutch town of Vaals with the German city of Aachen, traffic was also flowing unhindered. The shops were busy and people were sitting enjoying the sun in the street cafés.

Borderless travel has been norm

On the outskirts of Vaals, there are two signs: one reads Federal Republic of Germany, while the other shows a map of the area with many small paths and the Dutch slogan "Grenzeloos fietsen!" (Cycling without Borders). Here, you can bike to and fro between Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands through fields and forests.

Over the decades, this region around Aachen has grown together. Border and control facilities disappeared long ago. Numerous roads and paths connect the towns and villages in the border region. Here, it is quite normal for Germans to live in Belgium and the Netherlands and work in Germany and vice versa. Buses cross the border and people go shopping in the neighboring countries.

Flexible controls at the borders

And the intention is that it stays that way, stressed David Specks, a spokesperson for Germany's Federal Police Inspectorate in Aachen. Germany's Interior Ministry has ordered checks that are "targeted, adapted to the situation and flexible in terms of location and time" rather than "across the board" measures, Specks told DW at a highway service station just over the border with Belgium. Federal police officers in protective vests and with machine guns at the ready had positioned themselves here for the start of the newly extended border controls.

Germany's Federal Police is responsible for policing cross-border crime and for railroad and airport security. Police officers wait in patrol cars directly at the border and monitor traffic. If they see a vehicle that appears suspicious, they follow it and guide it to the service station area.

There, the vehicle is surrounded. The occupants have to show their IDs and papers, and the trunk or cargo loading areas are inspected. 

New controls: a staffing challenge

When it comes to deciding where to carry out border checks, police rely on their experience. They only occasionally monitor smaller roads and very rarely check cycle paths. "There are hardly any people smugglers on bicycles with migrants on the luggage rack, " says Specks.

However, the focus on random checks is primarily due to staffing issues. A few years ago, the German Police Union calculated that in the Aachen region alone some 900 officers would be needed to monitor the main border crossings around the clock. Aachen's Federal Police Inspectorate currently has around 330 officers. It is responsible for a border section that stretches more than 200 kilometers south of Aachen. On top of that, there are 44 railroad stations and three airports.

Unpredictable for residents, too

Germany's conservative opposition parties, the CDU and the CSU, are calling for comprehensive border controls to turn back as many immigrants as possible. Yet that could not be achieved with present staffing levels. In Aachen, the Federal Police unit has received reinforcements to carry out the new border controls; Specks does not want to reveal the exact number. However, he said it was enough to up the pressure. "We can now be in uniform, but also undercover, and we can simply carry out more checks and become less predictable for criminals."

The controls are, however, also unpredictable for people living in the border area. In particular, they are worried about getting stuck for hours in traffic jams at the border. "We are keeping an eye on cross-border traffic and trying to keep the impact to a minimum, " said Richard Köster, who heads the Federal Police in Aachen.

Reactions of neighboring countries to border controls

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has also promised that there will be as little impact as possible on commuters, trade, the economy and travel. She said that the measures were already working in the east and south of the country. "These controls have also enabled more than 30,000 effective refusals of entry since October 2023 alone and, in addition, a fifth fewer asylum applications and a fifth more repatriations, " explained Faeser.

However, Germany's neighbors are not pleased by this new course. The Schengen area is intended to be a zone free of internal national borders.

Getting irregular migration "under control"

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has announced that he is going to talk to the heads of government in the EU and also to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. "Everyone knows that we are operating within the framework of European law, but that we are making maximum use of our options, " said Scholz during an official trip abroad. "Everyone understands that the number of people coming to Germany is too high and that it is therefore in the German government's understandable interest to ensure that we get a grip on these matters through good management of irregular migration." This also includes such controls.

The Federal Police in Aachen drew a positive balance at the end of the first day. They caught a few people who were not permitted to enter the country and issued entry bans. Will people who wanted to enter in an irregular manner not simply use smaller border crossings in future and enter Germany from there? Police spokesperson David Specks shrugged his shoulders. It's always a "cat-and-mouse game", he said.

This article was originally written in German.

While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing.