Remembering the Border

For her book "Geteilte Ansichten" (Divided Views), Maren Ullrich visited some 300 places, memorials and museums along the former border between West and East Germany. It's the first comprehensive look at the ways Germans -- both before and after reunification -- have dealt with the border.

DW-WORLD.DE: What are the differences between West German and East German border memorials that were set up before the fall of the Iron Curtain?

Maren Ullrich: In West Germany, a variety of memorials were set up by different people for different reasons. Their role also changed over time. In 1961, the West German government supported a memorial for a journalist named Kurt Lichtenstein, who had been killed while reporting along the border. The dead man was used for political purposes and the cross erected in his honor became a destination for memorial services. During the policy of detente, this was no longer the case. Memorials from the 1970s that exposed the deadly potential were seen as disrupting the federal government's political successes of rapprochement.

In East Germany, memorials were very limited, because the border region was taboo. The only memorials that existed were those for border patrols that had been allegedly killed by the enemy of the West. They were meant to visualize the need for securing the border via military means for the border troops as well as the civilian population. After 1989, they were faded out. Some were dismantled or moved elsewhere as they had become an unwanted reminder. But it would make sense to keep them for historical reasons.

What memorials set up after 1989 work well in your opinion?

Many memorials build on metaphors of unification and enclosure that already existed in West Germany before 1989. But there are some that go a step further. One example is a so-called "tree cross" on the road between Kassel (in Hesse) and Eisenach (in Thuringia). A group of people planted several rows of trees across the former border to form a cross. They incorporated nature to create something new as if they meant to say: "Something existed here and something still exists here." I like that.

Another example is the so-called "Ring of Remembrance," which sits on the former border in the Harz region. It's built from fir trees and changes people's perspectives from the aisle left by the border to an enclosure. It's food for thought in a way that's different from a conventional foundling memorial, which is very limited in its message.

In your book you say that western views of the border dominate and limit knowledge and perception. Why?

It's a fact that an unrestrained view of the border fortifications was only possible from the West before 1989. In the East, the barricades and fences were hidden from the eye of the public. They could not been seen from up close, nor could they be photographed. Until today, there are masses of photographs from the West while there's a dearth of material from the East. The few pictures from the GDR focus on border patrols with blurry watch towers in the background. I think it would be important to juxtapose these images and the western view, which always shows the imprisonment and enclosure.

What do you think about condensing the border system, i.e. moving the individual fences closer together for display at museums?

The first fence was at least 500 meters (547 yards) from the actual border and was dismantled immediately after 1989. It's no longer there. People thought they could reconstruct it by moving the different parts of the border system closer together, but that's hard to explain to visitors. It would actually be interesting to see whether visitors understand it. I think it would be better to get a spatial idea of the border system in order to show that people also lived between the fences.

Do you think the state is giving enough support to border memorials?

I think there are actually too many memorial places. Thirty is a lot. I think it would be much better to give sound financial support to three good ones for both the northern and the southern stretch of the former border. They could all specialize on a certain aspect rather than always having to recount the entire world history. Some good examples of this already exist. Many of the smaller ones hinge on the enthusiasm of a single person. Once these people die, probably these places are bound to disappear.