Türchen 7: Das Grenzsystem der DDR

Border fence, border marker, border post… but where exactly did the border between the two German states run during the division? How was the security system structured on the territory of the GDR, and what did it actually look like on the West German side? We'll take you on a short tour through the last completed phase of border fortifications. One thing to clarify right away: There was never a "no man's land" between the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR. This term keeps cropping up, but since at least the mid-1970s, white border marker posts in the West and square border stones in the East should have made it unequivocally clear that there was no "buffer zone" between the two states. Before that, it had happened that border tourists from the West had accidentally or carelessly entered the "forward territory of the GDR." The distinctive border posts of the GDR, painted in black, red, and yellow and bearing the national insignia, stood several meters behind the actual border, which some associated solely with the sturdy 3-meter-high border fence I. This fence, however, was only the final obstacle in a heavily guarded, 5-kilometer-deep restricted zone. Vehicle barrier ditches, patrol strips, security strips, the inner fence, and the omnipresent Stasi made escapes virtually impossible in the final years of the GDR. From the SED's perspective, the border system had achieved a satisfactory level of effectiveness by this point—though it was no more able to contain the simmering discontent than it ultimately could stop the Peaceful Revolution. The revolution culminated in the abolition of the restricted zone and the dismantling of the inhumane border fortifications. With reunification, a life-threatening state border became a peaceful national border. From the perspective of the SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany), the border system had achieved a satisfactory level of effectiveness by this time—but it was no more able to contain the simmering discontent than it ultimately could stop the Peaceful Revolution. #PointAlpha #PointAlphaAdventCalendar #Christmas #AdventCalendar #Advent #Xmas #Christmas #AdventCalendar2023 #SeasonsGreetings #Snow #Letitsnow #Jinglebells #History #ContemporaryHistory #Border #Geisa #Thuringia #Rasdorf #Hesse #Remembrance #GDR #Peace #MemorialSites #Drone #Germany #LearningSite #AerialPhotograph #Reunification #Borderless #Freedom