Observation Post Alpha || Fulda Gap

The wall, the Soviet tower, and Thuringia (previously DDR/GDR). The town was within the 5km mark, so it didn't exist back in the day.

The program had a seminar in Frankfurt last month.  We shared a lot of stories, met with GIZ at their headquarters (International Aid // Leaders of the program), saw 'Ghost' the musical, and heard from the Consulate General.  The greatest part of the week was a day trip we took to Observation Post Alpha.

Observation Post Alpha was a small barracks built on the German inner border during the Cold War.  NATO suspected that a Soviet attack on Europe would take place via the Fulda Gap (a natural break in mountains, near the town of Fulda), if one were to ever take place.  The location was speculated because through Fulda, Soviet troops could quickly control Frankfurt, a pivotal airport, and prevent NATO reinforcements of western Germany. 

[Documents released in late 1990's and 2000's by former Soviet countries (especially Poland) corroborate NATO's theory, which at the time was only a theory. See 7 days on the Rhine]

Our group broke up into two groups and were led through the area by local Germans who had a story to tell about a divided Germany (and Europe) and life on the border.

From this point I am standing on the Thuringia and Hessen, looking west towards Hessen:

The field in the foreground is the property of my tour guide, who grew up working this land with his parents.  The town in the distance is where he had family and school.  Long before the border of the DDR and Germany existed on the edge of his field, it marked the border of Prussia.  For our guide, demarcation stones had always been a part of their lives, but it was only in the 50's that a wall was built and people were actually separated.

I had always known about the Berlin Wall, and had assumed that the Iron Curtain was more figurative than literal.  Maybe if there was a fence, I thought it would be in "hot spots" like Germany or near populated areas. It seemed unlikely that an entire continent could be separated by an iron wall - too much money and resources would be required, I thought.  I found out I was very wrong.

The wall near Camp Alpha evolved with time.  When he was young, the wall was a wooden fence and travel between East and West was possible.  But, too many East Germans fled the Soviet block.  That is when the DDR started building an actual wall and banning travel.  People within 5km of the border were relocated to prevent migration.  Our guide was cut off from cousins and other family during this period of fortification- a separation that lasted nearly 40 years.

Camp Alpha talked about the evolution of the inner German border in the "house on the border" exhibit.  It contained a timeline of fortification as well as information concerning migration and escape, as well as the propaganda the DDR circulated.

The wall was officially a DDR creation- it existed meters from the actual border between countries on the DDR side.  Furthermore, its "strong side" was the side that faced the DDR.  The picture below is what the fence looked like to the west Germans- all of the nuts for the metal plating could easily be loosened by people on this side:

Despite the design and location of the wall, it was marketed by propaganda as a defense against the west, which sought to invade the Soviet Union.  This may have had some truth, but information on migration from East to West supports the belief that the wall was meant to keep DDR citizens in.

The wall, as I said before, was continuous and extensive:

With every attempt to pass through the border, the defenses increased.  For example, after a car was used to batter part of the wall down, the DDR installed a small cement barrier meters in front of the fence to prevent autos from busting through.  The shear amount of money and resources required to build the cement barrier along thousands of hundreds of kilometers is astounding- but the point was a show of strength.  How many dollars were spent per person prevented from escape?

(The author can't help but note similar comparisons made for TSA or the US Mexican border- despite apples to oranges, there is a lot of money at play)

Here is a random propaganda poster, which is unfortunately 'cool' looking:

The original wall:

The wall was anything but humane. The DDR illegally (Geneva convention) employed the use of mines to deter escapees.  Here is a section of fence, from the second version of the wall, which used to have mines between:

The DDR strongly denied the use of mines, until one day a German was able to pull some from the DDR and show the world.  West Germany offered a lot of DMs for the DDR to remove the mines, which they did.  With that money, they built more defenses, and put trip mines (claymores?) on the vertical wall.  It was at this point that our guide got impassioned as he talked about the folly of doing business with the evil regime.  He believes that the DDR was so poor, that without the money that was given to the DDR from west Germany for this and other humanitarian projects, the regime would of collapsed sooner.  His talk (and the timing) made me think of the US and its decision to increase diplomacy with Cuba.  I do not believe our guide would support this decision.

Here is a shot of the final version of the wall and Camp Alpha in the background:

Cement Car stop seen; guide wire for patrol dogs not seen.

Our guide continually referred to the wall as a crime against humanity.  It separated families, it killed people who tried to pass through, and it demoralized the people who defended it.  He talked about how hundreds of German Shepherds, which were used to guard lengths of the wall by a system of guide-wires and leashes, had to be killed after the fall of the DDR because there was no other option for them.  (Point of the story is that it affected everything and represented death).

A fun fact: nobody saw the fall of the wall coming.  Parts of Camp Alpha were renovated (costly) just a short time before the wall fell.

Here is the flag of Camp Alpha:

The flag pole symbolically does not touch the ground because 'the Americans were not here as conquerors or rulers, and had no intention of remaining here longer than necessary' (paraphrased from sign).

Apparently life at Camp Alpha was relatively tough, because your mission was essentially suicide.  The camp was tasked with surveying the border and alerting Frankfurt should anything happen.  The Soviet Union was heavily armed in the DDR- the US was not in West Germany.  The plan was, should the Soviets attack, the military units in place would be able to fight for 3 days until they would be overrun.  In these three days, the world would mobilize (through Frankfurt) and defend Europe.

From the camp, the cavalry would fly to Frankfurt and pickup weapons to slow the Soviet advance.  This involved detonating explosives (potentially nuclear) in tubes built into the foundations of every major bridge in the region.  Everyone would then disrupt the attack for as long as possible, retreat, and wait for reinforcements.

Here is the camp, which was relatively tiny:

This is where our tour ended and our docent left us.  We ate and then got in a bus to visit an old town on the DDR side of the wall.