We got there just in time to join the English language tour, and I am so glad that we did. Our tour guide was awesome!! She showed us quite a few cool things that we would have never seen by ourselves. Like...
Where they processed the passports
The guard tower
And even the tunnel that runs under the entire complex!
She also told us stories, like the one about "fifi" the concrete/steel wall that with the push of a button, could close down the autobahn in 3 seconds.
She also told us a story about a young married couple who went to visit one of their grandmothers in the East, because she couldn't come to the wedding. after sitting in the line for a while, they changed their minds and turned around. The barrier was closed and they were killed instantly.
She also told us about how if a family was caught trying to sneak across the border, the mother and father were taken to separate jails and the children were put in to foster homes. The children were sometimes put up for adoption so that they could have a "good socialist education."
After we left the border, we went to Hötensleben, which is a town on the border of the former BRD and DDR. They have preserved part of the wall, fence, towers, etc, so you can see what it was like.
Like the towers that the guards sat in.
The electrified fence that also had dogs running the length of it.
Or the wall.
After that we went to the town of Zicherie. apparently, the village was split down the middle by the wall.
More pictures from our day here.
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