| As
the political barriers fell between the two countries, so did the
physical barriers. So eager
was the reunified German government to erase the reminders of the former
border, that very little was left standing on the Landesgrenz and in
Berlin. Only the farsightedness of a few prevented the complete
destruction of the border barrier system. Today, border museums dot the
former Iron Curtain chronicling the history of the Cold War to future
generations.
The pictures below depict the destruction of the world's most despised border system. |
||
 |
 |
|
| Members of the BGS remove the Bavarian border markers from along the former East German border. - Erwin Ritter | The border fence comes down at the Eussenhausen - Meinnigen border crossing point. - Erwin Ritter | |
 |
 |
|
| With help from a winched cable, a border tower comes down in the 2/11 ACR border sector. - Erwin Ritter | Something we all wanted to see during the Cold War! - Erwin Ritter | |
 |
 |
|
| A picture of the crushed tower top. - Erwin Ritter | A Grenztruppen officer oversees the destruction of the border fence near Helmstedt. Today, the only small sections of fence remaining are at these historical sites. - photo by Guenter Mach | |
 |
 |
|
| Destruction of the Berlin Wall began June 13, 1990 and was completed by November 30. The wall segments were crushed into 900,000 tons of gravel; much of which was used for road construction in the East after reunification. About 250 sections of the wall were auctioned off. | A guard tower is demolished as the border system is dismantled. This type of tower of was prone to topple in high winds. - photo by Guenter Mach | |
|
|
||
| For an excellent photo account of the fall of the border system and the dismantling of the barriers, visit Guenter Mach's photos at www.grenzen-los.de/deutsch/foto-001.html | ||