"Marienborn – Former Checkpoint and Border" Marienborn by MikeAtSea

Not a long time ago Marienborn was infamous for the iron curtain that separated East and West Germany. Here was the entry point into the German Democratic Republic and its transit routes to West-Berlin.
The border installations were constantly expanded and perfected. Border guards were trained like military troops and equipped with machine guns. Parallel to the construction of the Berlin Wall, security was intensified and increased along the entire border. Beginning in 1970, treaties between the two German states increased travel possibilities for certain citizens of the German Democratic Republic. At the same time, security measures in the hinterland were tightened to prevent the need to use weapons directly at the border, thus avoiding the bad publicity caused by dramatic escape attempts. By the end of the German Democratic Republic the barrier security had developed into a high-tech system and plans to further improvement of the “Border 2000” were on the way. Imagine that more then 1000 employees worked at this checkpoint.
Marienborn today is just another town right in the heart of Germany. The past and its infamous border check point can only be seen in the Memorial to the Division of Germany. With the change in 1991 most of the border installations along the Inner-German border were removed, yet some were left as a memory to generations to come of what the cold war and separation of the German country meant to its people.
I remember the border clearly at times when we transited through the GDR to West Berlin, with stiff and very precise East German Officers who checked everyone and everything. Massive installations to prevent its citizens from escaping, yet the official tone was to protect the country from a possible invasion from West Germany.
Today the highway is connected through and the few installations of the border control and a museum can be found right along the highway.