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Picture: Preserved GDR border Hötensleben - inner wall and fence (bw) » Filename: DdrHoetWallBw7825.jpg

We are looking north along the inner wall (right) and the inner fence (left) both of which are topped with barbed wire. Over the wall on the right is the village of Hötensleben, which was just inside the GDR.

Anyone attempting to escape across the border would have to climb over the inner wall, cross the track in front of us, climb the fence, which was alarmed, cross the 'death strip', and vehicle column path. Guard dogs and self-shooting devices also posed the threat of injury or death. The final barrier was the outer fence or wall, beyond which was the remaining section of GDR territory before the border with West Germany. Many people tried but few succeeded. Hundreds were shot dead on the East German border trying to escape to the West. It was abolished in 1990 when Germany was reunified and the GDR came to an end.

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