Inner German border

The Inner German border (German: Innerdeutsche

Inner German border
Grenze pronounced [ˈɪnɐdɔʏtʃə ˈgʁɛntsə] or Deutsch-
deutsche Grenze pronounced [ˈdɔʏtʃˌdɔʏtʃə ˈgʁɛntsə]; Innerdeutsche Grenze
initially also Zonengrenze pronounced [ˈtsɔnən North and central Germany
ˌgʁɛntsə]) was the border between the German
Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) and the
Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West Germany)
from 1949 to 1990. Not including the similar and
physically separate Berlin Wall, the border was 1,393
kilometres (866 miles) long and ran from the Baltic Sea
to Czechoslovakia.

It was formally established on 1 July 1945 as the

boundary between the Western and Soviet occupation
zones of former Nazi Germany. On the eastern side, it
was made one of the world's most heavily fortified
frontiers, defined by a continuous line of high metal Border installations at Schlagsdorf
fences and walls, barbed wire, alarms, anti-vehicle
Type Border fortification system
ditches, watchtowers, automatic booby traps, and
minefields. It was patrolled by fifty thousand armed Height Up to 4 metres (13 ft)
East German guards who faced tens of thousands of Site information
West German, British, and U.S. guards and soldiers.[1]
In the frontier areas on either side of the border were Controlled by East Germany
stationed more than a million North Atlantic Treaty West Germany
Organisation (NATO) and Warsaw Pact troops.
Condition Mostly demolished, some
The border was a physical manifestation of Sir Winston parts preserved for historic
Churchill's metaphorical Iron Curtain that separated the record
Soviet and Western blocs during the Cold War. It Site history
marked the boundary between two economic systems –
capitalism and communism. Built by East Germany in Built 1952
phases from 1952 to the late 1980s,[2] the fortifications Built by East Germany
were constructed to stop the large-scale emigration of In use 1952–90
East German citizens to the West, about 1,000 of
whom are said to have died trying to cross it during its Materials Steel, concrete
45-year existence.[3] It caused widespread economic Demolished 1990
and social disruption on both sides; East Germans Battles/wars Cold War
living in the region suffered especially draconian
restrictions.[4] Garrison information
Garrison East:
The better-known Berlin Wall was a physically
Nationale Volksarmee
separate and much shorter border barrier surrounding
West Berlin, more than 155 kilometres (96 mi) to the Grenztruppen der DDR
east of the inner German border. Berlin, which was Ministerium für
entirely within the Soviet zone, had been similarly Staatssicherheit
Volkspolizei
divided by the four powers, thus creating an exclave Group of Soviet Forces
surrounded by East Germany that was closely aligned in Germany
with (but not formally part of) West Germany.
West:
On 9 November 1989, the East German government
announced the opening of the Berlin Wall and the inner Bundeswehr
German border. Over the following days, millions of
East Germans poured into the West to visit. Hundreds Bundesgrenzschutz
of thousands moved permanently to the West in the Bundeszollverwaltung
following months as more crossings were opened, and Bayerische Grenzpolizei
ties between long-divided communities were re-
established as border controls became little more than a British Army
cursory formality. The inner German border was not British Frontier Service
completely abandoned until 1 July 1990,[5] exactly 45 United States Army
years to the day since its establishment, and only three
months before German reunification formally ended Germany's division.

Little remains of the inner German border's fortifications. Its route has been declared part of the European
Green Belt linking national parks and nature reserves along the course of the old Iron Curtain from the
Arctic Circle to the Black Sea. Several museums and memorials along the old border commemorate the
division and reunification of Germany and, in some places, preserve elements of the fortifications.[6]

Contents
Development
Origins
1945–1952: the "Green Border"
1952–1967: the "special regime"
1967–1989: the "modern frontier"
Economic and social impact
Tourism
Views of the border
Fortifications of the inner German border
Restricted zone
Protective strip
Outer fence, walls and minefields
Border line
East Germany's sea border
River borders
Border guards of the inner German border
East Germany
West Germany
Western Allies
Cross-border contacts
Crossing the inner German border
Crossing points
 Border crossing regulations
Emigrating from East Germany
Ransoms and "humanitarian releases"
Escape attempts and victims of the inner German border
Refugee flows and escape attempts
Escape methods
Order to fire
Deaths on the border
Fall of the inner German border
Opening of the border and the fall of the GDR
Abandonment of the border
Border area today
See also
Notes
References
Books
News reports
Other sources
External links
Images
Videos
Background information on the border
Other

Development

Origins

The inner German border originated from plans by the Allies of World War II to divide a defeated Germany
into occupation zones.[7] Their boundaries were drawn along the territorial boundaries of 19th-century
German states and provinces that had largely disappeared with the unification of Germany in 1871.[8]
Three zones were agreed on, each covering roughly a third of Germany: a British zone in the north-west,
an American zone in the south and a Soviet zone in the East. France was later given a zone in the
southwest of Germany, neighbouring with France, carved out of the British and American zones.[9]

The division of Germany was put into effect on 1 July 1945. Because of their unexpectedly rapid advances
through central Germany in the final weeks of the war, British and American troops occupied large areas
that had been assigned to the Soviet zone of occupation. The redeployment of Western troops prompted
many Germans to flee to the West to escape the Soviet takeover of the remainder of the Soviet zone.[10]

The wartime Allies initially worked together under the auspices of the Allied Control Council (ACC) for
Germany.[11] Cooperation between the Western Allies and the Soviets ultimately broke down because of
disagreements over Germany's political and economic future. In May 1949, the three western occupation
zones were merged to form the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) with a freely elected government. In
October, the Soviet zone was proclaimed the German Democratic Republic (GDR), under communist
rule.[12]

From the outset, West Germany and the Allies

rejected East Germany's legitimacy.[13] The
creation of East Germany was deemed a
communist/Soviet fait accompli, without a freely
or fairly elected government. The FRG regarded
German citizenship and rights as applying equally
to West and East German citizens. An East
German who escaped or was released to the West
was automatically granted West German rights
including residence, the right to work, and (later)
EEC freedom of movement; West German laws
were deemed to be applicable in the East. East
Germans thus had a powerful incentive to move to
the West, where they would enjoy greater freedom The Allied zones of occupation in Germany,
and economic prospects.[14] The East German highlighting the inner German border (heavy black
line), the originally Soviet-occupied zone (red) and the
government sought to define the country as a
area from which UK/US troops withdrew in July 1945
legitimate state in its own right[15] and portrayed
(purple). The provincial boundaries in gray are those of
West Germany as enemy territory (feindliches Germany until 1933 prior to the Nazi party's rule, and
Ausland) – a capitalist, semi-fascist state that differ from the modern federal states established later.
exploited its citizens, sought to regain the lost
territories of the Third Reich, and stood opposed to
the peaceful socialism of the GDR.[16]

1945–1952: the "Green Border"

In the early days of the occupation, the Allies controlled traffic between the zones to manage the flow of
refugees and prevent the escape of former Nazi officials and intelligence officers.[17] These controls were
gradually lifted in the Western zones, but were tightened between Western and Soviet zones in 1946 to
stem a flow of economic and political refugees from the Soviet zone.[18] Between October 1945 and June
1946, 1.6 million Germans left the Soviet zone for the west.[19]

The east–west interzonal border became steadily more tense as the relationship between the Western Allies
and the Soviets deteriorated.[20] From September 1947, an increasingly strict regime was imposed on the
eastern Soviet zone boundary. The number of Soviet soldiers on the boundary was increased and
supplemented with border guards from the newly established East German Volkspolizei ("People's Police").
Many unofficial crossing points were blocked with ditches and barricades.[21] The West Germans also
stepped up security with the establishment in 1952 of the Federal Border Protection force of 20,000 men –
the Bundesgrenzschutz, or BGS; however, Allied troops (the British in the north, the Americans in the
south) retained responsibility for the military security of the border.[22]

The boundary line was nonetheless still fairly easy to cross. Local inhabitants were able to maintain fields
on the other side, or even to live on one side and work on the other. Refugees were able to sneak across or
bribe the guards, and the smuggling of goods in both directions was rife.[23] The flow of emigrants
remained large despite the increase in East German security measures: 675,000 people fled to West
Germany between 1949 and 1952.[24]

Phases of development of the inner German border

 The border before fortification: Inner German border at
inter-zonal barrier near Priwall (Baltic Sea coast), July
Asbach in Thuringia, 1950 1961

The newly strengthened

border in 1962, with barbed-
wire fences, watchtowers, and
minefields

1952–1967: the "special regime"

The relative openness of the border ended abruptly on 26 May 1952, when East Germany implemented a
"special regime on the demarcation line", justified as a measure to keep out "spies, diversionists, terrorists
and smugglers".[25] The East German move was taken to limit the continuing exodus of its citizens, which
threatened the viability of East Germany's economy.[26]

A ploughed strip 10 m (32.8 ft) wide was created along the entire length of the inner German border. An
adjoining "protective strip" (Schutzstreifen) 500 m (1,640 ft) wide was placed under tight control. A
"restricted zone" (Sperrzone) a further 5 km (3.1 mi) wide was created in which only those holding a
special permit could live or work. Trees and brush were cut down along the border to clear lines of sight for
the guards and to eliminate cover for would-be crossers. Houses adjoining the border were torn down,
bridges were closed, and barbed-wire fencing was put up in many places. Farmers were permitted to work
their fields along the border only in daylight hours and under the watch of armed guards, who were
authorised to use weapons if their orders were not obeyed.[25]

Border communities on both sides suffered acute disruption. Farms, coal mines, and even houses were split
in two by the sudden closure of the border.[27][28] More than 8,300 East German civilians living along the
border were forcibly resettled in a programme codenamed "Operation Vermin" (Aktion Ungeziefer).[29]
Another 3,000 realised they were about to be expelled from their homes and fled to the West.[24] The seal
around the country was expanded in July 1962, when East Germany declared its entire Baltic coast a
border zone subject to closures and restrictions.[30]

The border between East and West Berlin was also significantly tightened, although not fully closed; East
Germans were still able to cross into West Berlin, which then became the main route by which East
Germans migrated to the West.[31] Between 1949 and the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, an estimated
3.5 million East Germans – a sixth of the entire population – emigrated to the West, most via Berlin.[31]
The railways between East Berlin and other important parts of East Germany went through West Berlin, so
an easy way of going to West Berlin was leaving such a train. This railway configuration could not easily
be changed, but a new 125 km (78 mi) long railway was built around West Berlin. Following the
completion of the Berlin outer ring in 1961, sealing off the East German border with West Berlin became
more feasible, and ultimately became a reality in August of that year.

1967–1989: the "modern frontier"

East Germany decided to upgrade the fortifications in the late

1960s to establish a "modern frontier" that would be far more
difficult to cross. Barbed-wire fences were replaced with
harder-to-climb expanded metal barriers; directional anti-
personnel mines and anti-vehicle ditches blocked the movement
of people and vehicles; tripwires and electric signals helped
guards to detect escapees; all-weather patrol roads enabled
rapid access to any point along the border; and wooden guard
towers were replaced with prefabricated concrete towers and A Bundesgrenzschutz Alouette II
observation bunkers.[32] helicopter patrols the West German side
of the inner German border, 1985
Construction of the new border system started in September
1967.[33] Nearly 1,300 kilometres (808 mi) of new fencing was
built, usually further back from the geographical line than the old
barbed-wire fences.[32] The upgrade programme continued well
into the 1980s.[34] The new system immediately reduced the
number of successful escapes from around a thousand people per
year in the mid-1960s to only about 120 per year a decade later.[35]

The introduction of West German Chancellor Willy Brandt's

Ostpolitik ("Eastern Policy") at the end of the 1960s reduced
tensions between the two German states. It led to a series of
treaties and agreements in the early 1970s, most significantly a Annotated diagram of the third-
treaty in which East and West Germany recognised each other's generation inner German border
sovereignty and supported each other's applications for UN system c. 1984
membership, although East Germans leaving for the West retained
the right to claim a West German passport.[36][37] Reunification
remained a theoretical objective for West Germany, but in practice that objective was put aside by the West
and abandoned entirely by the East.[36][37] New crossing points were established and East German
crossing regulations were slightly relaxed, although the fortifications were as rigorously maintained as
ever.[38]

In 1988, the East German leadership considered proposals to replace the expensive and intrusive
fortifications with a high-technology system codenamed Grenze 2000. Drawing on technology used by the
Soviet Army during the Soviet–Afghan War, it would have replaced the fences with sensors and detectors.
However, the plan was never implemented.[39][40]

Economic and social impact

The closure of the border had a substantial economic and
social impact on both halves of Germany. Cross-border
transport links were largely severed; 10 main railway lines,
24 secondary lines, 23 autobahns or national roads, 140
regional roads and thousands of smaller roads, paths and
waterways were blocked or otherwise interrupted. The
tightest level of closure came in 1966, by which time only
six railway lines, three autobahns, one regional road and
two waterways were left open. When relations between
the two states eased in the 1970s, the GDR agreed to open
more crossing points in exchange for economic assistance.
All that remains of the East German border Telephone and mail communications operated throughout
village of Bardowiek, razed in the 1970s. The the Cold War, although packages and letters were routinely
inscription on the lone transformer tower opened and telephone calls were monitored by the East
reads, "Bardowiek: mentioned in historical German secret police.[7]
records since 1292; illegally destroyed
between 1977 and 1989 during the 'DDR' The economic impact of the border was harsh. Many
regime." towns and villages were severed from their markets and
economic hinterlands, which caused areas close to the
border to go into an economic and demographic decline.
The two German states responded to the problem in different ways. West Germany gave substantial
subsidies to communities under the "Aid to border regions" programme, an initiative begun in 1971 to save
them from total decline. Infrastructure and businesses along the border benefited from substantial state
investment.[41]

East Germany's communities had a much harder time, because the country was poorer and their
government imposed severe restrictions on them. The border region was progressively depopulated through
the clearance of numerous villages and the forced relocation of their inhabitants. Border towns suffered
draconian building restrictions: inhabitants were forbidden from building new houses and even repairing
existing buildings, causing infrastructure to fall into severe decay.[42] The state did little but to provide a
15% income supplement to those living in the Sperrzone and Schutzstreifen; but this did not halt the
shrinkage of the border population, as younger people moved elsewhere to find employment and better
living conditions.[41]

The GDR bore a huge economic cost for its creation of the border zone and the building and maintenance
of its fortifications. The zone consumed around 6,900 square kilometres (2,700 sq mi) – more than six per
cent of the East's territory,[43] within which economic activity was severely curtailed or ceased entirely. The
actual cost of the border system was a closely guarded secret, and even today it is uncertain exactly how
much it cost to build and maintain. The BT-9 watchtowers each cost around 65,000 East German marks to
build and the expanded metal fences cost around 151,800 marks per kilometre. The implementation of the
"modern frontier" in the 1970s led to a major increase in personnel costs. The total annual expenditure on
GDR border troops rose from 600 million marks per annum in 1970 to nearly 1 billion by 1983. In early
1989, East German economists calculated that each arrest cost the equivalent of 2.1 million marks, three
times the average value to the state of each working person.[44]

Tourism
The Berlin Wall was a specific piece of the Inner Border which became the physical embodiment of the
Iron Curtain that stood between East Germany and West Germany. Stretching approximately 28 miles
(45 km) through the city of Berlin and another 75 miles (120 km) around the edges of West Berlin, it was
almost 15 feet (5 m) high.[45] The sheer physical stature of the Berlin Wall in addition to becoming an
iconic, international symbol of the Cold War and its virtues, drove it to become a popular site of tourism
throughout its existence, and even after its dismantling. Although an exact number of visitors to the Berlin
Wall cannot be given, as there were no official records at the time, estimates are provided through the
counting of tourists by Western and Eastern border guards. The numbers obtained from the border guards
suggest that Berlin Wall tourism was a popular outing for German people and foreigners alike, it is reported
that the Berlin Wall received approximately 1.65 million tourists in 1969 alone, with around 23,000 of
those being foreign visitors.[46]

Views of the border

The two German governments
promoted very different views of the
border. The GDR saw it as the
international frontier of a sovereign
state – a defensive rampart against
Western aggression.[47] In Grenzer
("Border Guard"), a 1981 East
German Army propaganda film,
NATO and West German troops and
tanks were depicted as ruthless
militarists advancing towards East The West German view: The East German view: the border
"Germany does not end depicted as a defensive line against
Germany. Border troops interviewed
here! The Fatherland is military aggression from NATO.
in the film described what they saw as
over there too!"
the rightfulness of their cause and the
threat of Western agents, spies and
provocateurs. Their colleagues killed
on the border were hailed as heroes and schoolchildren in East Berlin were depicted saluting their
memorial.[48]

However, West German propaganda leaflets referred to the border as merely "the demarcation line of the
Soviet occupation zone", and emphasised the cruelty and injustice of the division of Germany.[49] Signs
along the Western side of the frontier declared "Hier ist Deutschland nicht zu Ende – Auch drüben ist
Vaterland!" ("Germany does not end here: the Fatherland is over there too!"[50])

Whereas East Germany kept its civilians well away from the border, West Germany actively encouraged
tourism, and locations where the border was especially intrusive became tourist attractions. One example
was the divided village of Mödlareuth in Bavaria. The Associated Press reported in 1976 that "Western
tourists by the busload come out to have their pictures taken against the backdrop of the latest Communist
walled city [and] the concrete blockhouse and the bunker-slits protruding from the green hillock where a
collective's cows were grazing."[35]

At Zimmerau, in Bavaria, a 38-metre (125 ft) observation tower (the Bayernturm) was constructed in 1966
to give visitors a view across the hills into East Germany.[51] The inhabitants of the East German village of
Kella found themselves becoming a tourist attraction for Westerners in the 1970s and 1980s. A viewing
point, the "Window on Kella", was established on a nearby hilltop from which tourists could peer across
the border with binoculars and telescopes.[52] To the amusement of many, a nudist beach was opened on
the Western side in 1975 immediately adjoining the border's terminus near the Baltic Sea port of
Travemünde. Visitors often sought to have a nude photograph taken below a looming East German
watchtower; the West Germans noted "a lot more movement on that watchtower since the nudist beach
opened".[53][54]

Fortifications of the inner German border

The East German side of the inner German border was dominated
by a complex system of fortifications and security zones, over
1,300 kilometres (810 mi) long and several kilometres deep. The
fortifications were established in 1952 and reached a peak of
complexity and lethality at the start of the 1980s. The border
guards referred to the side of the border zone facing the GDR as
the freundwärts (literally "friendward") side and that facing the
FRG as the feindwärts ("enemyward") side.[55]
Preserved part of the border between
Thuringia and Hesse: the border
Restricted zone fence with a mined control strip
behind it and a lane patrol road. The
A person attempting to make an illegal crossing of the inner actual boundary was located above
German border around 1980, travelling from east to west, would the wooded slope.
first come to the "restricted zone" (Sperrzone). This was a 5 In the rear of the open area on the
kilometres (3.1 mi) wide area running parallel to the border to slope, a cross marks the place
which access was heavily restricted. Its inhabitants could only where 34-year-old worker Heinz-
Josef Große was shot on 29 March
enter and leave using special permits, were not permitted to enter
1982 attempting Republikflucht
other villages within the zone, and were subjected to night time
("flight from the republic").
curfews.[43][56][57] It was not fenced off, but access roads were
blocked by checkpoints.[58]

On the far side of the Sperrzone was the signal fence (Signalzaun), a continuous expanded metal fence
1,185 kilometres (736 mi) long and 2 metres (6.6 ft) high. The fence was lined with low-voltage electrified
strands of barbed wire. When the wire was touched or cut, an alarm was activated to alert nearby
guards.[59]

Protective strip

On the other side of the signal fence lay the heavily guarded "protective strip" (Schutzstreifen), 500 to 1,000
metres (1,600 to 3,300 ft) wide, which adjoined the border itself.[58] It was monitored by guards stationed
in concrete, steel and wooden watchtowers constructed at regular intervals along the entire length of the
border. Nearly 700 such watchtowers had been built by 1989;[59] each of the larger ones was equipped
with a powerful 1,000-watt rotating searchlight (Suchscheinwerfer) and firing ports to enable the guards to
open fire without having to go outside.[60] Their entrances were always positioned facing towards the East
German side, so observers in the West could not see guards going in or out. Around 1,000 two-man
observation bunkers also stood along the length of the border.[60]

East German border watchtowers and bunkers

 The BT-11 The BT-9 A Führungsstelle or
(Beobachtungsturm-11), an (Beobachtungsturm-9), a 9 m Kommandoturm, a 6 m (20 ft)
11 m (36 ft) observation (30 ft) observation tower observation tower and
tower introduced in 1969. introduced in the mid-1970s command centre
The top-heavy tower was as a more stable
unstable and vulnerable to replacement for the BT-11
collapsing.

An observation bunker, A metal observation tower

known as an Erdbunker, manned by three GDR
preserved at Observation guards. Some watchtowers
Post Alpha, which were semi-portable and
accommodated one or two could be moved to new
guards sectors when needed.

Guard dogs were used to provide an additional deterrent to escapees. Dog runs (Kettenlaufanlagen),
consisting of a suspended wire up to 100 metres (330 ft) long to which a large dog was chained, were
installed on high-risk sectors of the border. The dogs were occasionally turned loose in temporary pens
adjoining gates or damaged sections of the fence.[61]

The guards used an all-weather patrol road (Kolonnenweg, literally "column way") to patrol the border and
travel rapidly to the scene of an attempted crossing. It consisted of two parallel lines of perforated concrete
blocks running beside the border for about 900 kilometres (560 mi).[62]
Next to the Kolonnenweg was one of the control strips
(Kontrollstreifen), a line of bare earth running parallel to the
fences along almost the entire length of the border. There
were two control strips, both located on the inward-facing
sides of the fences. The secondary "K2" strip, 2 metres
(6.6 ft) wide, ran alongside the signal fence, while the primary
"K6" strip, 6 metres (20 ft) wide, ran along the inside of the
fence or wall.[63] In places where the border was vulnerable
to escape attempts, the control strip was illuminated at night
by high-intensity floodlights (Beleuchtungsanlage), which
were also used at points where rivers and streams crossed the
A preserved section of the border
border.[61]
fortifications at Hötensleben. The patrol
road is on the left; the primary control strip
Anyone attempting to cross the control strips would leave
runs parallel in the middle; beyond it rise a
footprints, which were quickly detected by patrols. This
row of Czech hedgehog barricades and
enabled the guards to identify otherwise undetected escape
the border wall.
attempts, recording how many individuals had crossed, where
escape attempts were being made and at which times of day
escapees were active. From this information, the guards were able to determine where and when patrols
needed to be increased, where improved surveillance from watchtowers and bunkers was required, and
which areas needed additional fortifications.[63]

Anti-vehicle barriers were installed on the other side of the primary control strip. In some locations, Czech
hedgehog barricades, known in German as Panzersperre or Stahligel ("steel hedgehogs"), were used to
prevent vehicles being used to cross the border. Elsewhere, V-shaped anti-vehicle ditches known as
Kraftfahrzeug-Sperrgraben (KFZ-Sperrgraben) were installed along 829 kilometres (515 mi) of the border
and were absent only where natural obstacles such as streams, rivers, gullies or thick forests made such
barriers unnecessary.[64]

Outer fence, walls and minefields

The outer fences were constructed in a number of phases, starting with the initial fortification of the border
from May 1952. The first-generation fence was a crudely constructed single barbed-wire fence
(Stacheldrahtzaun) which stood between 1.2 and 2.5 metres (3.9 and 8.2 ft) high and was built very close
to the actual border line.[65] This was replaced in the late 1950s with parallel rows of more strongly
constructed barbed-wire fences, sometimes with concertina wire placed between the fences as an additional
obstacle.[66]

East German border fences and walls

 Reconstruction of the "first-
generation" fence as erected in
1952, with control strip in the
foreground
The "second-generation"
fences in 1962, with derelict
barbed wire in the foreground, a
control strip, two rows of barbed
wire further back and a
watchtower at the rear

A border marker pole stands in A high wall and watchtowers

front of a third-generation fence, divided the village of
which was constructed from Mödlareuth in
several overlapping horizontal Bavaria/Thuringia. A stretch of
tiers of expanded steel-mesh the wall still stands as a
fencing. memorial to the division of
Germany.

A "third-generation" fence, much more solidly constructed, was installed in an ongoing programme of
improvements from the late 1960s to the 1980s. The fence line was moved back to create an outer strip
between the fence and the actual border. The barbed-wire fences were replaced with a barrier typically 3.2–
4.0 metres (10–13 ft) high. It was constructed with expanded metal mesh (Metallgitterzaun) panels. The
openings in the mesh were generally too small to provide finger-holds and were very sharp. The panels
could not easily be pulled down, as they overlapped, and they could not be cut through with a bolt- or wire-
cutter. Nor could they be tunnelled under easily, as the bottom segment of the fences was partially buried in
the ground. In a number of places, more lightly constructed fences (Lichtsperren) consisting of mesh and
barbed wire lined the border.[61] The fences were not continuous and could be crossed at a number of
places. Gates were installed to enable guards to patrol up to the line and to give engineers access for
maintenance on the outward-facing side of the barrier.[61]
In some places, villages adjoining the border were fenced
with wooden board fences (Holzlattenzaun) or concrete
barrier walls (Betonsperrmauern) standing around 3–4 metres
(9.8–13.1 ft) high. Windows in buildings adjoining the border
were bricked or boarded up, and buildings deemed too close
to the border were pulled down. The barrier walls stood along
only a small percentage of the border – 29.1 kilometres
(18.1 mi) of the total length by 1989.[63]

Anti-personnel mines were installed along approximately half

of the border's length starting in 1966; by the 1980s, some
1.3 million mines of various Soviet-made types had been SM-70 tripwire-activated directional anti-
personnel mine mounted on the fence.
laid.[67] In addition, from 1970 the outer fence was booby-
The cone contained an explosive charge
trapped with around 60,000 SM-70 (Splittermine-70)
which fired shrapnel fragments when
directional anti-personnel mines. They were activated by
activated.
tripwires connected to the firing mechanism. This detonated a
horn-shaped charge filled with shrapnel that was sprayed in
one direction along the line of the fence. The device was
potentially lethal to a range of around 120 metres (390 ft). The mines were eventually removed by the end
of 1984 in the face of international condemnation of the East German government.[68]

Border line

Until the late 1960s, the fortifications were constructed almost up to the actual border line. When the third-
generation fortifications were constructed, the fences were moved back from between 20 metres (66 ft) to
as much as 2 kilometres (1.2 mi). This gave the guards a clear field of fire to target escapees without shots
landing in the West and provided a buffer zone where engineers could work on maintaining the outward
face of the fence in East German territory. Access to the outer strip was very tightly controlled, to ensure
the guards themselves would not be tempted to escape. Although often described by Western sources as a
"no-man's land", it was de jure wholly East German territory, and escapees could be arrested or shot.[69]
Westerners were prohibited from entering the area and thus could not go to the aid of escapees.

The East–West border line

The actual border: a West
German pole with warning
sign, a GDR marker and the
fence and a watchtower
beyond
An East German boundary A distinctive East German
stone with "DDR" (Deutsche "barber pole" border marker.
Demokratische Republik) The spike on the top deterred
carved on the eastern side birds from perching on it.
The actual line between West and East Germany was located on the far side of the outer strip. It was
marked by granite stones (Grenzsteine) with the letters "DDR" carved on the west-facing edge. Around
2,600 distinctive East German concrete "barber pole" (Grenzsäule or Grenzpfähle) markers were installed
just behind the border line at intervals of about 500 metres (1,600 ft). A metal coat of arms of East
Germany (Staatsemblem) was fixed to the side of the marker facing West Germany.[32]

On the West German side, there were no fortifications of any kind, nor even any patrol roads in most areas.
Warning signs (Grenzschilder) with messages such as Achtung! Zonengrenze! ("Danger! Zonal border!") or
Halt! Hier Zonengrenze ("Stop! Zonal border here") notified visitors. Foreign military personnel were
restricted from approaching the border to avoid clashes or other unwanted incidents. Signs in English and
German provided notifications of the distance to the border to prevent accidental crossings. No such
restriction applied to Western civilians, who were free to go up to the border line, and there were no
physical obstacles to stop their crossing it.[32]

East Germany's sea border

The inner German border system also
extended along the Baltic coast, dubbed
the "blue border" or sea border of the
GDR. The coastline was partly fortified
along the east side mouth of the river
Trave opposite the West German port of
Travemünde. Watchtowers, walls and
fences stood along the marshy shoreline to
deter escape attempts and the water was
patrolled by high-speed East German
Deutsche Grenzpolizei (GDR border
boats. The continuous line of the inner Armed GDR border
police) patrol boat off the East German
German border ended at the peninsula of police patrolling a
island of Rügen, December 1955
Priwall, still belonging to Travemünde, beach on the island
of Rügen, 1956
but already on the east side of the Trave.
From there to Boltenhagen, along some
15 kilometres (9.3 mi) of the eastern shore
of the Bay of Mecklenburg, the GDR shoreline was part of the restricted-access "protective strip" or
Schutzgebiet. Security controls were imposed on the rest of the coast from Boltenhagen to Altwarp on the
Polish border, including the whole of the islands of Poel, Rügen, Hiddensee, and Usedom as well as the
peninsulas of Darß and Wustrow.[30]

The GDR implemented a variety of security measures along its Baltic coastline to hinder escape attempts.
Camping and access to boats was severely limited[30] and 27 watchtowers were built along the Baltic
coastline.[70] If a suspected escape attempt was spotted, high-speed patrol boats would be dispatched to
intercept the fugitives. Armed patrols equipped with powerful mobile searchlights monitored the
beaches.[71]

Escapees aimed for the western (West German) shore of the Bay of Mecklenburg, a Danish lightship off
the port of Gedser, the southern Danish islands of Lolland and Falster, or simply the international shipping
lanes in the hope of being picked up by a passing freighter. The Baltic Sea was, however, an extremely
dangerous escape route. In all, eighteen people are estimated to have died attempting to flee via the
Baltic.[72]

Some East Germans tried to escape by jumping overboard from East German ships docked in Baltic
harbours. So many East Germans attempted to flee this way in Danish ports that harbourmasters installed
extra life-saving equipment on quaysides where East German vessels docked. The GDR's government
responded by stationing armed Transportpolizei (Trapos) on passenger ships to deal forcefully with escape
attempts. On one occasion in August 1961, the Trapos caused an international incident in the Danish port
of Gedser, when they beat up a would-be escapee on the quayside and opened fire, hitting a Danish boat in
the harbour. The next day, thousands of Danes turned out to protest against "Vopo (Volkspolizei) methods".
The "boat-jumpers" were eventually stopped by further restricting the already limited travel rights of the
GDR's population.[73]

River borders
The border also ran along part of
the length of three major rivers of
central Germany: the Elbe
between Lauenburg and
Schnackenburg (around 95 km or
59 mi), the Werra and the Saale.
The river borders were especially
problematic; although the Western Sparnberg on the Saale in the High-speed GDR river patrol boat,
Allies and West Germany held mid-1980s, enclosed behind a equipped with searchlights to detect
that the demarcation line ran concrete wall escapees
along the eastern bank, the East
Germans and Soviets insisted that
it was located in the middle of the river (the Thalweg principle). In practice, the waterways were shared
equally but the navigation channels often strayed across the line. This led to tense confrontations as East or
West German vessels sought to assert their right to free passage on the waterways.[74]

The rivers were as heavily guarded as other parts of the border. On the Elbe, East Germany maintained a
fleet of about 30 fast patrol boats and West Germany had some 16 customs vessels. The river border was
closely watched for escapees, many of whom drowned attempting to cross.[75] Numerous bridges blown
up in the closing days of the war remained in ruins, while other surviving bridges were blocked or
demolished on the East German side.[76] There were no ferry crossings and river barges were rigorously
inspected by the GDR border guards.[77] To prevent escape attempts, the East German river banks were
barricaded with a continuous line of metal fences and concrete walls. At one location, Rüterberg on the
Elbe, the border fortifications completely surrounded the village and sealed off the inhabitants from the rest
of East Germany as well as the West.[78]

Border guards of the inner German border

The guards of the inner German border comprised tens of thousands of military, paramilitary and civilian
personnel from both East and West Germany, as well as from the United Kingdom, the United States and
initially the Soviet Union.

East Germany

Following the end of the Second World War, the East German side of the border was guarded initially by
the Border Troops (Pogranichnyie Voiska) of the Soviet NKVD (later the KGB). They were supplemented
from 1946 by a locally recruited paramilitary force, the German Border Police (Deutsche Grenzpolizei or
DGP), before the Soviets handed over full control of the border to the East Germans in 1955/56. In 1961,
the DGP was converted into a military force within the National People's Army (Nationale Volksarmee,
NVA). The newly renamed Border Troops of the GDR (Grenztruppen der DDR, commonly nicknamed
the Grenzer) came under the NVA's Border Command or Grenzkommando. They were responsible for
securing and defending the
borders with West Germany,
Czechoslovakia, Poland, the
Baltic Sea and West Berlin. At
their peak, the Grenztruppen had
up to 50,000 personnel.[79]

Around half of the Grenztruppen

were conscripts, a lower
proportion than in other branches
of the East German armed forces.
Many potential recruits were Border Troops of the GDR (Grenztruppen), 1979. Border
screened out as potentially Reconnaissance
unreliable; for instance, actively (Grenzaufklärungszug)
religious individuals or those with soldier, 1979
close relatives in West Germany.
They were all subjected to close
scrutiny to assure their political
reliability and were given
intensive ideological
indoctrination.[80]

A special unit of the Stasi secret

police worked covertly within the
Grenztruppen, posing as regular
border guards, between 1968 and 1985, to weed out potential defectors.[81] One in ten officers and one in
thirty enlisted men were said to have been recruited by the Stasi as informers. The Stasi regularly
interviewed and maintained files on every guard. Stasi operatives were directly responsible for some
aspects of security; passport control stations at crossings were manned by Stasi officers wearing
Grenztruppen uniforms.[82]

The Grenztruppen were closely watched to ensure they could not take advantage of their inside knowledge
to escape across the border. Patrols, watchtowers and observation posts were always manned by two or
three guards at a time. They were not allowed to go out of each other's sight in any circumstances. If a
guard attempted to escape, his colleagues were under instructions to shoot him without hesitation or prior
warning;[82] 2,500 did escape to the West, 5,500 more were caught and imprisoned for up to five years,[83]
and a number were shot and killed or injured in the attempt.

The work of the guards involved carrying out repair work on the defences, monitoring the zone from
watchtowers and bunkers and patrolling the line several times a day. Border Reconnaissance
(Grenzaufklärungszug or GAK) soldiers, an elite reconnaissance force, carried out patrols and intelligence-
gathering on the western side of the fence. Western visitors to the border were routinely photographed by
the GAKs, who also oversaw work detachments maintaining the fence. The workers would be covered by
machine guns to discourage them from attempting to escape.[84]

West Germany

A number of West German state organisations were responsible for policing the western side of the border.
These included the Bundesgrenzschutz (BGS, Federal Border Protection), the Bayerische Grenzpolizei
(Bavarian Border Police) and the Bundeszollverwaltung (Federal Customs Administration).[32] West
German Army units were not allowed to approach the border without being accompanied by BGS
personnel.[2]
The BGS, established in 1951, was responsible for policing a zone
30 kilometres (19 mi) deep along the border.[85] Its 20,000
personnel were equipped with armoured cars, anti-tank guns,
helicopters, trucks and jeeps. The BGS had limited police powers
within its zone of operations to tackle threats to the peace of the
border.[86] Until 1972 in addition to volunteers, conscripts could
be drafted for the Compulsory Border Guard Service.[87] West German Bundesgrenzschutz
personnel, civilians and an East
The Bundeszollverwaltung (BZV) was responsible for policing German border guard on opposite
much of the inner German border and manning the West German sides of the border line at Herrnburg
crossings. Its personnel lived with their families in communities near Lübeck
along the border and carried out regular policing tasks in a zone
about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) deep along the border. They had the
power to arrest and search suspects in their area of operations with the exception of the section of border in
Bavaria.[88] The BZV's remit overlapped significantly with that of the BGS, which led to a degree of
feuding between the two agencies.[86]

The Bayerische Grenzpolizei (BGP) was a border police force raised by the Bavarian government to carry
out policing duties along the inner German border's 390 kilometres (240 mi) in Bavaria. By the late 1960s,
the BGP had six hundred men patrolling its sector of the border, alongside the BZV, BGS and the U.S.
Army. Its duties were very similar to those of the BZV, leading to turf wars between the two agencies.[89]

Western Allies

The British Army conducted only

relatively infrequent patrols along
its sector of the inner German
border, principally for training
purposes and symbolic value. By
the 1970s, it was carrying out
only one patrol a month, rarely
using helicopters or ground radar
and erecting no permanent United States Army personnel Joint British Army – British Frontier
observation posts. The British meet with Bundesgrenzschutz Service patrol near Helmstedt, early
border zone was divided into two officers, 1979. 1970s
sectors covering a total distance of
about 650 kilometres (400 mi)
along the border.[90] Unlike the Americans, the British did not assign specific units to border duty, but
rotated the task between the divisions of the British Army of the Rhine.[91]

The border was also patrolled in the British sector by the British Frontier Service, the smallest of the
Western border surveillance organisations. Its personnel served as a liaison between British military and
political interests and the German agencies on the border.[92] The BFS was disbanded in 1991 following
Germany's reunification.[93]

The United States Army maintained a substantial and continuous military presence at the inner German
border throughout the entire period from 1945 to after the end of the Cold War. Regular American soldiers
manned the border from the end of the war until they were replaced in 1946 by the United States
Constabulary,[94] which was disbanded in 1952 after policing duties were transferred to the German
authorities. It was replaced by three dedicated armoured cavalry regiments assigned to provide a permanent
defence.[95] The 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment based at Bamberg, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment
based at Nuremberg and the 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment based at Fulda – later replaced by the 11th
Armored Cavalry Regiment – monitored the border using observation posts, ground and air patrols,
countering intrusions and gathering intelligence on Warsaw Pact activities.[96]

Cross-border contacts

There was little informal contact

between the two sides; East German
guards were under orders not to
speak to Westerners.[97] After the
initiation of détente between East
and West Germany in the 1970s, the
Roll of East German propaganda leaflets East German border guards two sides established procedures for
in a canister which was fired across the near Mackenrode, maintaining formal contacts through
border during the "leaflet war" between Thuringia, walking past a 14 direct telephone connections or
East and West Germany propaganda caricature of Grenzinformationspunkte (GIP,
West German Chancellor "border information points"). They
Konrad Adenauer. The were used to resolve local problems
caption reads: "He who affecting the border, such as floods,
aims high shall fall a long forest fires or stray animals.[98]
way."
For many years, the two sides
waged a propaganda battle across
the border using propaganda signs and canisters of leaflets fired or dropped into each other's territory.[99]
West German leaflets sought to undermine the willingness of East German guards to shoot at refugees
attempting to cross the border, while East German leaflets promoted the GDR's view of West Germany as a
militaristic regime intent on restoring Germany's 1937 borders.[99][100]

During the 1950s, West Germany sent millions of propaganda leaflets into East Germany each year. In
1968 alone, more than four thousand projectiles containing nearly half a million leaflets were fired from
East Germany into the West. Another six hundred waterproof East German leaflet containers were
recovered from cross-border rivers.[100] The "leaflet war" was eventually ended by mutual agreement in
the early 1970s as part of the normalisation of relations between the two German states.[99]

Crossing the inner German border

The inner German border was never entirely sealed in the fashion of the border between the two Koreas
and could be crossed in either direction throughout the Cold War.[57] The post-war agreements on the
governance of Berlin specified that the Western Allies were to have access to the city via defined air, road,
rail and river corridors. This was mostly respected by the Soviets and East Germans, albeit with periodic
interruptions and harassment of travellers. Even during the Berlin Blockade of 1948, supplies could be
brought in by air – the famous Berlin Airlift. Before and after the blockade, Western civilian and military
trains, road traffic and barges routinely passed through East Germany en route to Berlin.

The border could be crossed legally only through a limited number of air, road, rail and river routes.
Foreigners were able to cross East German territory to or from West Berlin, Denmark, Sweden, Poland and
Czechoslovakia. However, they had only limited and very tightly controlled access to the rest of East
Germany and faced numerous restrictions on travel, accommodation and expenditure.[102] Lengthy
inspections caused long delays to traffic at the crossing points.[103] Westerners found crossing the inner
German border to be a somewhat disturbing experience; Jan Morris wrote:
 Travelling from west to east through [the inner German
border] was like entering a drab and disturbing dream,
peopled by all the ogres of totalitarianism, a half-lit world
of shabby resentments, where anything could be done to
you, I used to feel, without anybody ever hearing of it,
and your every step was dogged by watchful eyes and
mechanisms.[104]

Crossing points

Before 1952, the inner German border could be crossed at almost any
point along its length. Fortification of the border resulted in the
severing of 32 railway lines, 3 autobahns, 31 main roads, 8 primary
roads, about 60 secondary roads and thousands of lanes and cart
Crossing points on the inner
tracks.[105] The number of crossing points was reduced to three air
German border, 1982[101]
corridors, three road corridors, two railway lines and two river
connections giving transit access to Berlin, plus a handful of
additional crossing points for freight traffic.[106]

The situation improved somewhat after the initiation of détente in

the 1970s. Additional crossings for so-called kleine
Grenzverkehr – "small border traffic", essentially meaning West
German day trippers – were opened at various locations along the
border. By 1982, there were 19 border crossings: six roads, three
autobahns, eight railway lines plus the Elbe river and the
Mittellandkanal.[101]
West German trains ran through East
Germany. This 1977 view shows how
The largest was at Helmstedt-Marienborn on the Hanover–Berlin
barriers were made near the tracks to
autobahn (A 2), through which 34.6 million travellers passed
keep people away.
between 1985 and 1989.[107] Codenamed Checkpoint Alpha, this

was the first of three

Allied checkpoints on
the road to Berlin.[108]
The others were
Checkpoint Bravo,
where the autobahn
crossed from East
Germany into West
Berlin, and most
Vehicles queuing at the East German The West German crossing facility at famous of all,
passport control at the Marienborn Herleshausen in 1985, looking west along Checkpoint Charlie, the
crossing point, December 1989 Bundesautobahn 4 only place where non-
Germans could cross
from West to East
Berlin.[109]

It was not possible to simply drive through the gap in the fence that existed at crossing points, as the East
Germans installed high-impact vehicle barriers and mobile rolling barriers that could (and did) kill drivers
who attempted to ram them.[110] Vehicles were subjected to rigorous checks to uncover fugitives.
Inspection pits and mirrors allowed the undersides of vehicles to be scrutinised. Probes were used to
investigate the chassis and even the fuel tank, where a fugitive might be concealed, and vehicles could be
partially dismantled in on-site garages. At Marienborn there was even a mortuary garage where coffins
could be checked to confirm the occupants really were dead.[111] Passengers were checked and often
interrogated about their travel plans and reasons for travelling. The system used simple technology and was
slow, relying largely on vast card indexes recording travellers' details. It was effective nonetheless; during
the 28-year operation of the Marienborn complex no successful escapes were recorded.[112]

Border crossing regulations

West Germans were able to cross the border relatively freely to visit relatives, but had to go through
numerous bureaucratic formalities. East Germans were subjected to far stricter restrictions. Not until
November 1964 were they allowed to visit the West at all, and even then only pensioners were allowed.
This gave rise to a joke that only in East Germany did people look forward to old age.[113] Younger East
Germans were not allowed to travel to the West until 1972, though few did so until the mid-1980s. They
had to apply for an exit visa and passport, pay a substantial fee, obtain permission from their employer and
undergo an interrogation from the police.[114]

The odds were against successful applications, and only about forty thousand a year were approved.
Refusal was often arbitrary, dependent on the goodwill of local officials.[115] Members of the Party elite
and cultural ambassadors were frequently given permission to travel, as were essential transport workers.
However, they were not permitted to take their families with them.[116]

Until the late 1980s, ordinary East Germans were permitted to travel to the West only on "urgent family
business", such as the marriage, serious illness or death of a close relative. In February 1986, the regime
relaxed the definition of "urgent family business", which prompted a massive increase in the number of
East German citizens able to travel to the West.[117] The relaxation of the restrictions was reported to have
been motivated by a desire on the part of the East German leadership to reduce their citizens' desire to travel
and shrink the number applying to emigrate. In practice, however, it had exactly the opposite effect.[117]

Emigrating from East Germany

There was no formal legal basis under which a citizen could

emigrate from East Germany. In 1975, however, East Germany
signed up to the Helsinki Accords, a pan-European treaty to
improve relations between the countries of Europe.[118] An
increasing number of East German citizens sought to use the
Accords' provision on freedom of movement to secure exit
visas. By the late 1980s more than a hundred thousand
applications for visas were being submitted annually with
Crossing the border by rail at Oebisfelde
15,000–25,000 being granted.[119][120]
railway station, April 1990
The GDR's government nonetheless remained opposed to
emigration and sought to dissuade would-be émigrés. The
process of applying for an exit permit was deliberately made slow, demeaning, frustrating and often
fruitless. Applicants were marginalised, demoted or sacked from their jobs, excluded from universities and
subjected to ostracism.[121] They faced the threat of having their children taken into state custody on the
grounds that they were unfit to bring up children.[122] The law was used to punish those who continued to
apply for emigration; more than ten thousand applicants were arrested by the Stasi between the 1970s and
1989.[123]
A report for the Central Committee's security section noted: "The emigration problem is confronting us
with a fundamental problem of the GDR's development. Experience shows that the current repertoire of
solutions (improved travel possibilities, expatriation of applicants, etc.) have not brought the desired results,
but rather the opposite." The agitation for emigration, the report concluded, "threatens to undermine beliefs
in the correctness of the Party's policies".[124]

Ransoms and "humanitarian releases"

East German citizens could also emigrate through the semi-secret route of being ransomed by the West
German government in a process termed Freikauf (literally, buying freedom).[125] Between 1964 and 1989,
33,755 political prisoners were ransomed. A further 2,087 prisoners were released to the West under an
amnesty in 1972. Another 215,000 people, including 2,000 children cut off from their parents, were
allowed to leave East Germany to rejoin their families. In exchange, West Germany paid over 3.4 billion
marks (DM) – nearly $2.3 billion at 1990 prices – in goods and hard currency.[126]

Those ransomed were valued on a sliding scale, ranging from around 1,875 DM for a manual worker to
around 11,250 DM for a doctor. The justification, according to East Germany, was that this was
compensation for the money invested by the state in the prisoner's training. For a while, payments were
made in kind using goods that were in short supply in East Germany, such as oranges, bananas, coffee and
medical drugs. The average prisoner was worth around 4,000 DM worth of goods.[127]

The scheme was highly controversial in the West. Freikauf was denounced by many as human trafficking,
but was defended by others as an "act of pure humanitarianism";[128] the West German government
budgeted money for Freikauf under the euphemistic heading of "support of special aid measures of an all-
German character".[125]

Escape attempts and victims of the inner German border

Refugee flows and escape attempts

Between 1950 and 1988, around four million East Germans

migrated to the West, 3.454 million before the Berlin Wall's
construction in 1961. After that, the number of illegal crossings fell
dramatically and continued to fall as the defences were improved.
During the 1980s, only about 1% of those who left East Germany
did so by escaping across the border – far more emigrated after
being granted official permits, fleeing through third countries or by
being ransomed by the West German government.[38]

The vast majority of refugees were motivated by economic

concerns and sought to improve their living conditions and
Diagram summarising the numbers
opportunities by migrating to the West. Events such as the crushing
of people who succeeded in passing
of the 1953 uprising, the imposition of collectivisation and East
each element of the inner German
Germany's final economic crisis in the late 1980s prompted surges border system, 1974–79
in the number of escape attempts.[129]

Attempts to flee across the border were carefully studied and

recorded by the GDR authorities to identify possible weak points. These were addressed by strengthening
the fortifications in vulnerable areas. At the end of the 1970s, a study was carried out by the East German
army to review attempted "border breaches" (Grenzdurchbrüche). It found that 4,956 people had attempted
to escape across the border between 1 December 1974 and 30 November 1979. Of those, 3,984 (80.4%)
were arrested by the Volkspolizei in the Sperrzone, the outer restricted zone. 205 (4.1%) were caught at the
signal fence.[130]

Within the inner security zone (the Schutzstreifen), a further 743 people (15%) were arrested by the guards.
48 (1%) were stopped – i.e. killed or injured – by landmines and 43 (0.9%) by SM-70 directional mines on
the fence. A further 67 people (1.35%) were intercepted at the fence (shot and/or arrested). A total of 229 –
just 4.6% of attempted escapees, representing less than one in twenty – made it across the fence. Of these,
the largest number (129, or 55% of successful escapees) succeeded in unmined sectors. 89 (39% of
escapees) managed to cross both the minefields and the fence, but just 12 (6% of the total) succeeded in
getting past the SM-70s.[130]

Escape attempts were severely punished by the GDR. From 1953, the regime described the act of escaping
as Republikflucht (literally "flight from the Republic"), by analogy with the existing military term
Fahnenflucht ("desertion"). A successful escapee was not a Flüchtling ("refugee") but a Republikflüchtiger
("Republic deserter"). Those who attempted to escape were called Sperrbrecher (literally "blockade
runners" but more loosely translated as "border violators").[129] Those who helped escapees were not
Fluchthelfer ("escape helpers"), the Western term, but Menschenhändler ("human traffickers").[131] Such
ideologically coloured language enabled the regime to portray border crossers as little better than traitors
and criminals.[132]

Republikflucht became a crime in 1957, punishable by heavy fines and up to three years' imprisonment.
Any act associated with an escape attempt – including helping an escapee – was subject to this legislation.
Those caught in the act were often tried for espionage as well and given proportionately harsher
sentences.[133] More than 75,000 people – an average of more than seven people a day – were imprisoned
for attempting to escape across the border, serving an average of one to two years' imprisonment. Border
guards who attempted to escape were treated much more harshly and were on average imprisoned for five
years.[134]

Escape methods

Escapees used a variety of

methods. The great majority
crossed on foot, though some
took more unusual routes.
One of the most spectacular
was the balloon escape in
September 1979 of eight
people from two families in a
home-made hot-air balloon.
Their flight involved an Boot modified with a hooked BMW Isetta bubble car used to smuggle
ascent to more than 2,500 overshoe to enable the wearer to several East Germans across the border
metres (8,200 ft) before climb the fences in the 1960s
landing near the West
German town of Naila.[135]
The incident inspired the film Night Crossing.

Other escapees relied more on physical strength and endurance. An escapee on August 26, 1987 used meat
hooks to scale the fences,[136] while in 1971 a doctor swam 45 kilometres (28 mi) across the Baltic Sea
from Rostock almost to the Danish island of Lolland, before he was picked up by a West German
yacht.[137] Another escapee used an air mattress to escape across the Baltic on 2 September 1987.[138]
Mass escapes were rare. One of the few that succeeded took place on 2 October 1961, when 53 people
from the border village of Böseckendorf – a quarter of the village's population – escaped en masse,
followed by another 13 in February 1963.[139] An unusual mass escape occurred in September 1964 when
14 East Germans, including 11 children, were smuggled across the border in a refrigerated truck. They
were able to escape detection by being concealed under the carcasses of slaughtered pigs being transported
to the West.[140]

The traffic was not one-way; thousands of people migrated each year from West Germany to the east,
motivated by reasons such as marital problems, family estrangement and homesickness.[141] A number of
Allied military personnel, including British, French, German and American troops, also defected.[142] By
the end of the Cold War, as many as three hundred United States citizens were thought to have defected
across the Iron Curtain for a variety of reasons[143] – whether to escape criminal charges, for political
reasons or because (as the St. Petersburg Times put it) "girl-hungry GIs [were tempted] with seductive
sirens, who usually desert the love-lorn soldier once he is across the border." The fate of such defectors
varied considerably. Some were sent straight to labour camps on charges of espionage. Others committed
suicide, while a few were able to find wives and work on the eastern side of the border.[144]

Order to fire

From 1945 onwards, unauthorised crossers of the inner German border risked being shot by Soviet or East
German guards. The use of deadly force was termed the Schießbefehl ("order to fire" or "command to
shoot"). It was formally in force as early as 1948, when regulations concerning the use of firearms on the
border were promulgated. A regulation issued to East German police on 27 May 1952 stipulated that
"failure to obey the orders of the Border Patrol will be met by the use of arms." From the 1960s through to
the end of the 1980s, the border guards were given daily verbal orders (Vergatterung) to "track down, arrest
or annihilate violators". The GDR formally codified its regulations on the use of deadly force in March
1982, when the State Border Law mandated that firearms were to be used as the "maximum measure in the
use of force" against individuals who "publicly attempt to break through the state border".[145]

The GDR's leadership explicitly endorsed the use of deadly force. General Heinz Hoffmann, the GDR
defence minister, declared in August 1966 that "anyone who does not respect our border will feel the
bullet." In 1974, Erich Honecker, as Chairman of the GDR's National Defence Council, ordered: "Firearms
are to be ruthlessly used in the event of attempts to break through the border, and the comrades who have
successfully used their firearms are to be commended."[146]

The Schießbefehl was, not surprisingly, very controversial in the West and was singled out for criticism by
the West Germans. The GDR authorities occasionally suspended the Schießbefehl on occasions when it
would have been politically inconvenient to have to explain dead refugees, such as during a visit to the
GDR by the French foreign minister in 1985.[145] It was also a problem for many of the East German
guards and was the motivating factor behind a number of escapes, when guards facing a crisis of
conscience defected because of their unwillingness to shoot fellow citizens.[147]

Deaths on the border

It is still not certain how many people died on the inner German border or who they all were, as the GDR
treated such information as a closely guarded secret. But estimates have risen steadily since unification, as
evidence has been gathered from East German records. As of 2009, unofficial estimates are up to 1,100
people, though officially released figures give a count from 270 up to 421 deaths.[148]
There were many ways to die on the inner German
border. Numerous escapees were shot by the border
guards, while others were killed by mines and
booby-traps. A substantial number drowned while
trying to cross the Baltic and the Elbe river. Not all
those killed on the border were attempting to escape.
On 13 October 1961, Westfälische Rundschau
journalist Kurt Lichtenstein was shot on the border
near the village of Zicherie after he attempted to
speak with East German farm workers. His death
aroused condemnation across the political spectrum
in West Germany.[149] The incident prompted
students from Braunschweig to erect a sign on the West German memorial East German memorial
border protesting the killing.[150] to Helmut Kleinert, shot to border guard
dead on the border on Waldemar Estel, who
An Italian truck driver and member of the Italian 1 August 1963. His death was shot on the border
Communist Party, Benito Corghi, was shot at a was memorialised by the on 3 September 1956.
crossing point in August 1976; the GDR German Federation of The GDR blamed
government was severely embarrassed and, Trade Unions. "imperialist agents" for
unusually, offered an apology.[151] In one notorious his death.
shooting on 1 May 1976, a former East German
political prisoner, Michael Gartenschläger, who had
fled to the West some years before, was ambushed
and killed by a Stasi commando squad on the border
near Büchen. The Stasi reported that he had been
"liquidated by security forces of the GDR".[152]

Twenty-five East German border guards died after

being shot from the Western side of the border or
were killed by resisting escapees or (often
accidentally) by their own colleagues.[153] The East German government described them as "victims of
armed assaults and imperialist provocations against the state border of the GDR"[154] and alleged that
"bandits" in the West took potshots at guards doing their duty – a version of events uncorroborated by
Western accounts of border incidents.

The two sides commemorated their dead in very different ways. Various mostly unofficial memorials were
set up on the western side by people seeking to commemorate victims of the border. West Germans such as
Michael Gartenschläger and Kurt Lichtenstein were commemorated with signs and memorials, some of
which were supported by the government. The death of East German Heinz-Josef Große in 1982 was
commemorated annually by demonstrations on the Western side of the border.[155] After the policy of
détente was initiated in the 1970s, this became politically inconvenient and state support for border
memorials largely ceased.

The taboo in East Germany surrounding escapees meant the great majority of deaths went unpublicised and
uncommemorated. However, the deaths of border guards were used for GDR propaganda, which portrayed
them as "martyrs". Four stone memorials were erected in East Berlin to mark their deaths.[156] The regime
named schools, barracks and other public facilities after the dead guards and used their memorials as places
of pilgrimage to signify that (as a slogan put it) "their deaths are our commitment" to maintaining the
border. After 1989 the memorials were vandalised, neglected and ultimately removed.[157]

Fall of the inner German border

 The fall of the inner German border came rapidly and
unexpectedly in November 1989, along with the fall of the Berlin
Wall. Its integrity had been fatally compromised in May 1989
when the Hungarian government began dismantling its border
fence with Austria. The government was still notionally
Communist but planned free elections and economic reform as part
of a strategy of "rejoining Europe" and reforming its struggling
economy.[158]
A demonstration in Plauen on 30
October 1989 calling for democracy, Opening the Hungarian border with Austria was essential to this
freedom of the press and freedom to effort. Hungary was at that time a popular tourist destination for
travel
East Germans;[159] West Germany had secretly offered a much-
needed hard currency loan of half a billion DM ($250 million) in
return for allowing citizens of the GDR to freely emigrate.[160]
Pictures of the barbed-wire fences being taken down were transmitted into East Germany by West German
television stations.[161] This prompted a mass exodus by hundreds of thousands of East Germans, which
began in earnest in September 1989. In addition to those crossing the Hungarian border, tens of thousands
of East Germans scaled the walls of the West German embassies in Prague, Warsaw and Budapest, where
they were regarded as "German citizens" by the federal government, claiming "asylum".[162]

Czechoslovakia's hardline communist government agreed to close its border with East Germany to choke
off the exodus. The closure produced uproar across East Germany[163] and the GDR government's bid to
humiliate refugees by expelling them from the country in sealed trains backfired disastrously. Torn-up
identity papers and East German passports littered the tracks as the refugees threw them out of the
windows. When the trains passed through Dresden, 1,500 East Germans stormed the main railway station
in an attempt to board. Dozens were injured and the station concourse was virtually destroyed.[164]

The small pro-democracy Monday demonstrations soon swelled into crowds of hundreds of thousands of
people in cities across East Germany. The East German leadership considered using force but ultimately
backed down, lacking support from the Soviet Union for a violent Tiananmen Square-style military
intervention.[165] Reformist members of the East German Politbüro sought to rescue the situation by
forcing the resignation of the hardline Party chairman Erich Honecker, replacing him in October 1989 with
the marginally less hardline Egon Krenz.[166]

The new government sought to appease the protesters by reopening the border with Czechoslovakia. This,
however, merely resulted in the resumption of the mass exodus through Hungary via Czechoslovakia. On
8 November 1989, with huge demonstrations continuing across the country, the entire Politbüro resigned
and a new, more moderate Politbüro was appointed under Krenz's continued leadership.[167]

Opening of the border and the fall of the GDR

The East German government sought to defuse the situation by relaxing the country's border controls with
effect from 10 November 1989;[168] the announcement was made on the evening of 9 November 1989 by
Politbüro member Günter Schabowski at a somewhat chaotic press conference in East Berlin, who
proclaimed the new control regime as liberating the people from a situation of psychological pressure by
legalising and simplifying migration. Misunderstanding the note passed to him about the decision to open
the border, he announced the border would be opened "immediately, without delay", rather than from the
following day as the government had intended. Crucially, it was neither meant to be an uncontrolled
opening nor to apply to East Germans wishing to visit the West as tourists.[168] At an interview in English
after the press conference, Schabowski told the NBC reporter Tom Brokaw that "it is no question of
tourism. It is a permission of leaving the GDR [permanently]."[169]
As the press conference had
been broadcast live, within
hours, thousands of people
gathered at the Berlin Wall
demanding that the guards
open the gates. The border
guards were unable to contact
their superiors for instructions
and, fearing a stampede, Crowds of West Germans East and West Germans mingling in front
opened the gates. The iconic welcome East German Trabant of the newly opened border wall in
scenes that followed – people drivers at the Helmstedt crossing, Heinersdorf, Thuringia, 4 December 1989
pouring into West Berlin, 11 November 1989
standing on the Wall and
attacking it with pickaxes –
were broadcast worldwide.[170]

While the eyes of the world were on the Mauerfall (the fall of the Wall) in Berlin, a simultaneous process of
Grenzöffnung (border opening) was taking place along the entire length of the inner German border.
Existing crossings were opened immediately. Within the first four days, 4.3 million East Germans – a
quarter of the country's entire population – poured into West Germany.[171] At the Helmstedt crossing point
on the Berlin–Hanover autobahn, cars were backed up for 65 km (40 mi); some drivers waited 11 hours to
cross to the West.[172] The border was opened in stages over the next few months. Many new crossing
points were created, reconnecting communities which had been separated for nearly 40 years. BBC
correspondent Ben Bradshaw described the jubilant scenes at the railway station of Hof in Bavaria in the
early hours of 12 November:

It was not just the arrivals at Hof who wore their emotions on their sleeves. The local people
turned out in their hundreds to welcome them; stout men and women in their Sunday best,
twice or three times the average age of those getting off the trains, wept as they clapped.
"These are our people, free at last," they said ... Those arriving at Hof report people lining the
route of the trains in East Germany waving and clapping and holding placards saying: 'We're
coming soon'."[173]

Even the East German border guards were not immune to the euphoria. One of them, Peter Zahn, described
how he and his colleagues reacted to the opening of the border:

After the Wall fell, we were in a state of delirium. We submitted a request for our reserve
activities to be ended, which was approved a few days later. We visited Helmstedt and
Braunschweig in West Germany, which would have been impossible before. In the NVA even
listening to Western radio stations was punishable and there we were on an outing in the
West.[174]

To the surprise of many West Germans, many of the East German visitors spent their "welcome money"
buying great quantities of bananas, a highly prized rarity in the East. For months after the opening of the
border, bananas were sold out at supermarkets along the western side of the border as East Germans bought
up whole crates, believing supplies would soon be exhausted.[175] The rush for fruit made the banana the
unofficial symbol of the changes in East Germany, which some dubbed the "banana revolution".[176]
 Some West German leftists protested at what they saw as rampant
consumerism by tossing bananas at East Germans coming to visit
the West.[177] The easterners' obsession with bananas was
famously spoofed by the West German satirical magazine Titanic
on the front cover of its November 1989 edition, which depicted
"Easterner Gaby (17), happy to be in West Germany: My first
banana". Gaby was shown holding a large peeled cucumber.[178]

The opening of the border had a profound political and

Zonen-Gaby's first banana: West
German magazine cover satirising
East Germans' banana-buying spree
previous year.[180]
psychological effect on the East German public. For many people,
the very existence of the GDR, which the SED had justified as the
first "Socialist state on German soil", came to be seen as pointless.
The state was bankrupt, the economy was collapsing, the political
class was discredited, the governing institutions were in chaos and
the people were demoralised by the evaporation of the collective
assumptions that had underpinned their society for forty years.
Membership of the Party collapsed and Krenz himself resigned on
6 December 1989 after only fifty days in office, handing over to
the moderate Hans Modrow.[179] The removal of restrictions on
travel prompted hundreds of thousands of East Germans to migrate
to the West – more than 116,000 did so between 9 November and
31 December 1989, compared with 40,000 for the whole of the

The new East German leadership initiated "round table" talks with opposition groups, similar to the
processes that had led to multi-party elections in Hungary and Poland.[181] When the first free elections
were held in East Germany in March 1990, the former SED, which had renamed itself as the Party of
Democratic Socialism, was swept from power and replaced by a pro-reunification Alliance for Germany
coalition led by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Chancellor Kohl's party. Both countries
progressed rapidly towards reunification, while international diplomacy paved the way abroad. In July
1990, monetary union was achieved.[182] A Treaty on the establishment of a unified Germany was agreed
on in August 1990 and political reunification took place on 3 October 1990.[183]

Abandonment of the border

The border fortifications were progressively torn down and eventually

abandoned in the months following its opening. Dozens of new crossings
were opened by February 1990, and the guards no longer carried weapons
nor made much effort to check travellers' passports.[184] The guards' numbers
were rapidly reduced; half were dismissed within five months of the
opening.[185] On 1 July 1990 the border was abandoned and the
Grenztruppen were officially abolished;[183] all but two thousand of them
were dismissed or transferred to other jobs.

The Bundeswehr gave the remaining border guards and other ex-NVA
soldiers the immense task of clearing the fortifications, which was completed
only in 1994, and rebuilding hundreds of roads and railway lines.[186] A The abandoned border in
serious complication was the presence of mines along the border. Although Thuringia, December
the 1.4 million mines laid by the GDR were supposed to have been removed 1990
during the 1980s, it turned out that 34,000 were unaccounted for.[187] A further 1,100 mines were found
and removed following reunification at a cost of more than 250 million marks,[188] in a programme that
was not concluded until the end of 1995.[189]

The border clearers' task was aided unofficially by German civilians from both sides of the former border,
who scavenged the installations for fencing, wire and blocks of concrete to use in home improvements.
Much of the fence was sold to a West German scrap-metal company. Environmental groups undertook a
programme of re-greening the border, planting new trees and sowing grass seed to fill in the clear-cut area
along the line.[185]

Border area today

Very little remains of the
installations along the former
inner German border. At least
thirty public, private and
municipal museums along the
old line present displays of
equipment and other artifacts
relating to the border. Among
the preserved sites are several
dozen watchtowers, short
Memorial to "the victims of View of border-related exhibits at the stretches of the fence and
inhumanity" at Rüterberg, Grenzmuseum Schifflersgrund in associated installations (some
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Thuringia
of which have been
reconstructed), sections of the
wall still in situ at Hötensleben
and Mödlareuth, and a number of buildings related to the border, such as the GDR crossing point at
Marienborn.[186][190]

Substantial sections of the Kolonnenweg remain in place to serve as farm and forestry access roads, though
the accompanying anti-vehicle ditches, fences and other obstacles have been almost entirely removed.
Artworks, commemorative stones, memorials and signs have been erected at many points along the former
border to mark its opening, to remember its victims and to record the division and reunification of Germany.

The closure of the border region for nearly forty years created a haven for wildlife in some places.
Although parts of the East German side of the border were farmed, intensive farming of the kind practised
elsewhere in Germany was absent and large areas were untouched by agriculture. Conservationists became
aware as early as the 1970s that the border had become a refuge for rare species of animals and plants.
Their findings led the Bavarian government to begin a programme of buying land along the border to
ensure its protection from development.

In December 1989, only a month after the opening of the border, conservationists from East and West
Germany met to work out a plan to establish a "German Green Belt" (Grünes Band Deutschland)
stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Czech border.[191] The Bundestag voted unanimously in December
2004 to extend federal protection to the Green Belt and incorporate it into a "European Green Belt" being
developed along the entire 6,800-kilometre (4,200 mi) length of the former Iron Curtain. The German
Green Belt now links 160 natural parks, 150 flora-and-fauna areas, three UNESCO biosphere reservations
and the Harz Mountains National Park.[192] It is home to a wide variety of species that are rare elsewhere
in Germany, including the wild cat, black stork, otter and rare mosses and orchids. Most of Germany's red
kites – more than half the 25,000 that live in Europe – live along
the former border.[191] The Bund Naturschutz, one of Germany's
largest conservation groups, is campaigning to extend the area
within the Green Belt designated as nature conservation
zones.[193]

See also
The hiking trail at the Borderland
Berlin border crossings Museum Eichsfeld leads along the
Green Belt. The museum's exhibition
Billmuthausen – historic village destroyed by East
also provides information about the
Germany as it lay too close to the border, today a
Green Belt and the ecological impact
memorial
of the Iron Curtain.
Czechoslovak border fortifications during the Cold War
Erlebach – historic village destroyed by East Germany
as it lay too close to the border

Notes
1. Faringdon (1986), pp. 282–84. 28. Cramer (2008), p. 143.
2. Faringdon (1986), p. 284. 29. Berdahl (1999), p. 67.
3. McDougall (2004), p. 40. 30. The Times (1962-07-21).
4. Czuczka (2000-01-13). 31. Maddrell (2006), pp. 54, 56.
5. The Record (1990-07-02). 32. Rottman (2008), p. 20.
6. Cramer (2008), pp. 8–9. 33. Stacy (1984), p. 185.
7. Buchholz (1994), p. 56. 34. Stacy (1984), p. 189.
8. Faringdon (1986), p. 282. 35. Mulligan (1976-10-28).
9. Weinberg (1995), p. 804. 36. Stacy (1984), p. 176.
10. Shears (1970), p. 29. 37. Fulbrook (2002), p. 170.
11. Osmańczyk; Mango (2004), p. 77. 38. Jarausch (1994), p. 17.
12. Shears (1970), p. 36. 39. Müller-Enbergs (1988), p. 437.
13. Joint statement of the Allied powers, 40. Koop (1996), p.
3 October 1954, quoted in Kindermann 41. Buchholz (1994), p. 59.
(1994), pp. 220–21. 42. August (1999), p. 28.
14. Gress (1985), pp. 15–16. 43. Rottman (2008), pp. 20–21.
15. Loth (2004), p. 274. 44. Hertle (2007), p. 97.
16. Schweitzer (1995), p. 50. 45. "Britannica Academic" (http://academic.eb.
17. Stacy (1984), p. 6. com/levels/collegiate/article/Berlin-Wall/78
18. Stacy (1984), p. 9. 806). academic.eb.com. Retrieved
19. Stacy (1984), p. 8. 2017-04-18.
20. Stacy (1984), pp. 31–32. 46. Eckert, Astrid M. "'Greetings from the Zonal
21. Stacy (1984), p. 40. Border' Tourism to the Iron Curtain in West
Germany." Zeithistorische Forschungen 8
22. Stacy (1984), pp. 67, 69. (2011): 9–36.
23. Berdahl (1999), p. 144. 47. Lapp (1986), p. x.
24. Cramer (2008), p. 15. 48. Synopsis of Grenzer (2009)
25. Stacy (1984), p. 50.
26. Shears (1970), p. 37.
27. Manchester Guardian (1952-06-09)
49. Ministry of Federal Affairs, Displaced
Persons and Refugees, Bonn. "Attention
Demarcation Line!". Leaflet published c.
mid-1960s.
50. Bailey (1983) p. 143.
51. Cramer (2008), p. 162.
52. Berdahl (1999), p. 149.
53. The Age (1975-08-18).
54. Los Angeles Times (1977-07-07).
55. Ritter; Lapp (2007), pp. 11, 92.
56. Allinson (2000), p. 125.
57. Buchholz (1994), p. 57.
58. Rottman (2008), p. 23.
59. Rottman (2008), p. 29.
60. Rottman (2008), p. 28.
61. Rottman (2008), p. 25.
62. Ritter; Lapp (2007), p. 69.
63. Rottman (2008), p. 17.
64. Rottman (2008), pp. 23–24.
65. Rottman (2008), p. 16.
66. Rottman (2008), p. 18.
67. Rottman (2008), pp. 18–19.
68. Rottman (2008), p. 21.
69. Rottman (2008), pp. 25–26.
70. "Der Turm" (https://web.archive.org/web/20
110723233439/http://www.ostseegrenztur
m.net/derturm.htm). Grenzturm e.V,
Kühlungsborn (Baltic Border Tower in
Kühlungsborn [monument's website]).
Archived from the original (http://www.osts
eegrenzturm.net/derturm.htm) on 23 July
2011. Retrieved 24 October 2009.
71. "Geschichte" (https://web.archive.org/web/
20110723235022/http://www.ostseegrenzt
urm.net/geschichte.htm). Grenzturm e.V,
Kühlungsborn (Baltic Border Tower in
Kühlungsborn [monument's website]).
Archived from the original (http://www.osts
eegrenzturm.net/geschichte.htm) on 23
July 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2009.
72. Dennis (2000), p. 100.
73. Shears (1970), pp. 49–50.
74. Cramer (2008), p. 52.
75. Shears (1970), pp. 90–91
76. Shears (1970), p. 173
77. Shears (1970), p. 138
78. Cramer (2008), p. 51.
79. Rottman (2008), p. 42.
80. Rottman (2008), p. 43.
81. Kellerhoff; Banse (2007-08-11).
82. Rottman (2008), p. 48.
83. BBC (2001-08-07).
84. Rottman (2008), pp. 52–53.
85. Moncourt; Smith (2009), p. 22.
86. Shears (1970), pp. 96–97.
87. "Bundesgesetzblatt" (https://www.bgbl.de/x
aver/bgbl/start.xav?start=//*%5B@attr_id
=%27bgbl169s0041.pdf%27%5D#__bgbl_
_%2F%2F*%5B%40attr_id%3D%27bgbl1
69s0041.pdf%27%5D__1549015470152).
88. Shears (1970), pp. 90–92.
89. Shears (1970), pp. 94–95.
90. Stacy (1984), pp. 263–64.
91. Shears (1970), p. 100.
92. Stacy (1984), pp. 261–63.
93. "Grenzbewacher West". Zonengrenze-
Museum, Helmstedt
94. Stacy (1984), p. 22.
95. Stacy (1984), pp. 62–63.
96. Shears (1970), pp. 88, 98–99.
97. Bailey (1983), p. 61.
98. Bailey (1983), p. 48.
99. Gordon (1988), p. passim.
100. Shears (1970), pp. 164–65.
101. Based on: Appendix to § 18 of the Gesetz
über die Staatsgrenze der Deutschen
Demokratischen Republik (Law on the
State Border of the GDR) (25 March 1982)
102. Fowle (1981-02-08).
103. Shears (1970), pp. 131–39, 141.
104. Morris (1997), p. 71.
105. Shears (1970), p. 18.
106. Rottman (2008), p. 40.
107. Cramer (2008), p. 94.
108. Maguire (2009-10-20).
109. The Sunday Telegraph (2004-05-30).
110. "Flucht und Ausreise". Gedenkstätte
Deutsche Teilung Marienborn (Memorial to
the division of Germany in Marienborn).
111. Outline map. Gedenkstätte Deutsche
Teilung Marienborn (Memorial to the
division of Germany in Marienborn).
112. Cowell (1996-09-12).
113. Shears (1970), p. 15.
114. "The formalities to be carried out by
citizens of the GDR wishing to enter the
Federal Republic" Grenzmuseum
Eichsfeld (Border Museum Eichsfeld).
115. Childs (2001), p. 29.
116. Bailey (1983), p. 32.
117. McCartney (1988-04-16).
118. McAdams (1985), p. 148.
119. Dale (2005), p. 87.
120. Hertle (2007), p. 124.
121. Dale (2005), pp. 87–88.
122. Childs (2001), p. 44.
123. Hertle (2007), pp. 123–24.
124. Dale (2005), p. 89.
125. Buckley (2004), p. 104
126. Hertle (2007), p. 117.
127. Buschschluter (1981-10-11).
128. Shackley; Finney (2005), pp. 100–01.
129. "The number of escapees". Grenzmuseum
Eichsfeld (Border Museum Eichsfeld).
130. Ritter; Lapp (2007), p. 72.
131. Detjen (2006), p. 113.
132. Nothnagle (1990), p. 31.
133. Stokes (2000), p. 45.
134. Hooper (2001-08-07).
135. The Prescott Courier (1979-09-17).
136. Sunday Star-News (1987-08-28).
137. United Press International (UPI) (1971-08-
04).
138. The Associated Press (1987-09-03).
139. Cramer (2008), pp. 122–23.
140. The Times (1964-09-11).
141. The Associated Press (1963-07-07).
142. The Times (1959-07-11).
143. Walmer (1990-02-14).
144. Anderson (1964-06-14).
145. "The Use of Firearms at the Border".
Grenzmuseum Eichsfeld (Border Museum
Eichsfeld).
146. Hertle (2007), pp. 100–01.
147. Shears (1970), p. 84.
148. Deutsche Welle (2005-08-09).
149. Cramer (2008), p. 82.
150. Bild 175-P05-00002-0001 [Picture 175-
P05-00002-0001] Bundesarchiv
(Germany) (http://www.bild.bundesarchiv.d
e/archives/barchpic/search/_1256547571/)
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/201
80118064707/http://www.bild.bundesarchi
v.de/archives/barchpic/search/_125654757
1/) 2018-01-18 at the Wayback Machine.
Last accessed: 26 October 2009.
151. The New York Times (1976-08-07).
152. Mielke (2002-05-06).
153. Baker (2004), p. 29.
154. Neues Deutschland (1989-08-13/14), p. 9.
155. Thüringen Journal (2009-09-18)
156. Ladd (1998), p. 25.
157. Ladd (2004), p. 107.
158. Meyer (2009), p. 114.
159. Meyer (2009), p. 68.
160. Meyer (2009), p. 105.
161. Meyer (2009), p. 90.
162. Childs (2001), p. 67.
163. Childs (2001), p. 68.
164. Sebasteyen (2009), pp. 329–31.
165. Childs (2001), p. 75.
166. Childs (2001), pp. 82–83.
167. Childs (2001), p. 85.
168. Hertle (2007), p. 147.
169. Childs (2001), p. 87.
170. Childs (2001), p. 88.
171. Childs (2001), p. 89.
172. Jacoby (1989-11-08).
173. Bradshaw, Ben (orally). BBC News, 12
November 1989. Quoted in August (1999),
p. 198.
174. Deutsche Welle (2006-11-02).
175. Adam (2005), p. 114.
176. Rodden (2002), p. 5
177. James (1992), p. 10
178. Fröhling (2007), p. 183.
179. Childs (2001), p. 90.
180. Childs (2001), p. 100.
181. Childs (2001), p. 105.
182. Childs (2001), p. 140.
183. Rottman (2008), p. 58.
184. Jackson (1990-02-12).
185. Koenig (1990-04-22).
186. Rottman (2008), p. 61.
187. Freytag (1996), p. 230. 191. Paterson (2009-05-17).
188. The Week in Germany (1996-05-13), p. 13. 192. Cramer (2008), p. 9.
189. Thorson (1995-11-11). 193. Hall (2008-05-19).
190. Ritter; Lapp (2007), p. 179.

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Iron Curtain?". St. Petersburg Times.
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unrepentant". Associated Press.
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patrol". The Times.
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Times.
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Schusswaffe!" (http://www.morgenpost.de/politik/article1016576/Zoegern_Sie_nicht_mit_der
_Schusswaffe.html). Berliner Morgenpost. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
Koenig, Robert L. (22 April 1990). "Unity replaces fence – German social, economic barriers
next to fall". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
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news/europe/features/article_1508087.php/Leaving-East-Germany-as-easy-as-Alpha-Bravo
-Charlie-Feature). Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Archived from the original (http://www.monster
sandcritics.com/news/europe/features/article_1508087.php/Leaving-East-Germany-as-easy-
as-Alpha-Bravo-Charlie-Feature) on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
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Visits to West". The Washington Post.
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hiv/blickpunkt/article529008/Der_Fall_Gartenschlaeger.html). Berliner Morgenpost.
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any). The Bulletin. The Associated Press. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
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ermany). The Spokesman-Review. The Associated Press. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
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 Staff (21 July 1962). "Baltic Coast Made Border Zone". The Times.
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Other sources
Ephemera: Ministry of Federal Affairs, Displaced Persons and Refugees, Bonn. "Attention
Demarcation Line!". Leaflet published c. mid-1960s.
Film Synopsis: Synopsis of Grenzer (https://web.archive.org/web/20110719073512/http://ww
w.progress-film.de/de/filmarchiv/film.php?id=1936) (Filmstudio der Nationalen Volksarmee,
1981, dir. Reiner Bachmann, Jochen Hoffmann). Progress Film-Verleih, Berlin. Retrieved 6
August 2009.
Government archives: Bild 175-P05-00002-0001 (https://web.archive.org/web/20180118064
707/http://www.bild.bundesarchiv.de/archives/barchpic/search/_1256547571/) (Picture 175-
P05-00002-0001) in the collection of the Gesamtdeutsches Institut – Bundesanstalt für
gesamtdeutsche Aufgaben (All-German Institut – Federal Institute for All-German Affairs).
Photographer: n.a. Dated: c. 1961/7. Held in: Bundesarchiv Deutschland (Federal Archive of
Germany) Last accessed: 26 October 2009.
Law: Gesetz über die Staatsgrenze der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik (Law on the
State Border of the German Democratic Republic) (25 March 1982)
Museum Displays: Gedenkstätte Deutsche Teilung Marienborn (Memorial to the division of
Germany in Marienborn).
Museum Displays: Grenzmuseum Eichsfeld (Border Museum Eichsfeld).
Museum Displays: Zonengrenze-Museum Helmstedt (Zonal Border Museum Helmstedt)
Museum Website: Grenzturm e.V, Kühlungsborn (Baltic Border Tower in Kühlungsborn).
English (https://web.archive.org/web/20101230180455/http://ostseegrenzturm.net/com/inde
x.htm); German (https://web.archive.org/web/20101230180459/http://ostseegrenzturm.net/in
dex.htm).

External links

Images
Before-and-after pictures of the inner German border (https://web.archive.org/web/20081204
120102/http://www.grenzbilder.de/projekte/grenze/damals_heute/index.php)
Field research of the northern section of the former German-German border with photos and
maps. (https://web.archive.org/web/20071014194456/http://uwec.edu/Geography/Ivogeler/P
apers/German%20border/border/001.HTM)
Mauerkarte der Verlauf der innerdeutsche Grenze (http://www.mauerkarte.de/) Open street
map project with a complete projection of the inner German border. (in German)
Pictures of the former inner German border (https://web.archive.org/web/20041012142048/ht
tp://sambamarco.piranho.de/FotosGrenze.htm)
Photographs from a journey along the former border in August–September 2009 (https://ww
w.flickr.com/photos/54554580@N00/sets/72157622380631272/)
The Lost Border: Photographs of the Iron Curtain (http://www.brianrose.com/lostborder.htm)
Videos
Walled In (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwQsTzGkbiY) (2009). Deutsche Welle
animated documentary describing the border security systems. (In English)
Making of Walled In (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8d4gGOyhCs) (2009)
Deutsche Welle documentary describing the making of the documentary animation. (In
English)
Border Crossing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgSvfeU2t48) (2009). Deutsche Welle
documentary film about the preserved border installations at Hötensleben and Marienborn.
(In English)
Victim and Border Guard (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWdA6sjWh0Y) (2009).
Deutsche Welle documentary reuniting an East German border guard and an attempted
escapee who was seriously injured on the border. (In English)
Grenzalarm (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SofYD7dQ88c) (1970s). East German film
depicting how border guards responded to alerts on the border. (In German)
Grenzer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVgM0_-IU28) (1981). East German
propaganda film illustrating the work of the East German border guards. (In German)
Die innerdeutsche grenze (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxirm2iAl-I) (1970s). West
German documentary film about the inner German border. (In German)
DDR-Grenze: Vom Todesstreifen zum grünen Band (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg4
sofsBf4M) (2009). Focus Online documentary film about the greening of the inner German
border since 1989. (In German)
Drei Meter zur Freiheit – Grenzgänger (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GP1zbfMsbg)
(2009). ARD documentary about those who attempted to escape from East Germany. (In
German)
Grenzimpressionen aus den 70er und 80er Jahren (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pETz
ksH3-fg) (2009). Amateur footage of the inner German border in the 1970s and 1980s.
Fahrzeuge und beobachtende Personen auf westdeutscher Seite des Grenzstreifens (http://
www.stasi-mediathek.de/medien/fahrzeuge-und-beobachtende-personen-auf-westdeutscher
-seite-des-grenzstreifens/). Footage of the inner German border somewhere in the Harz
Mountains from the archives of the Stasi, the East German secret police.

Background information on the border

Grenzinnerungen (http://www.grenzerinnerungen.de/). Comprehensive overview of the inner
German border system with many photos. (In German)
Information on the GDR border system (in German, but with many pictures) (http://www.pass
kontrolle-ddr.de/)
Allied military trains crossed the zonal border at Marienborn (http://www.berlin1969.com/doc
uments-papiere/timetables/). Includes 1969 sound clip with guard dog barking incessantly.
Disturbed Ground: Journeys along the remnants of the Iron Curtain (https://archive.org/detail
s/Disturbed_Ground_Journeys_along_the_remnants_of_the_Iron_Curtain_by_EronWitzel).
A free book by Eron Witzel about a series of journeys along the remnants of the border in
2003. (In English)
Grenzer (https://web.archive.org/web/20090815070910/http://www.grenzer.com/).
Documents the soldiers on both sides who guarded the inner German border during the
Cold War. (In English)
The German Border Police BGS (http://www.grenzstreife.de/). (In German)
Other
European Green Belt (https://web.archive.org/web/20100814203532/http://www.europeangr
eenbelt.org/). An initiative to turn the length of the former Iron Curtain into an international
network of protected areas for wildlife. (In English)
Das Grünes Band (http://www.bund.net/gruenes-band/). Project of the conservation
organisation BUND to preserve the inner German border as a nature reserve. (In German)
An interactive map (http://www.elbruz.org/the-world/old-boundaries/deutsche-demokratische
-republik-ddr/). An interactive map of the inner German border in Openstreetmap.

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