Border crossing Eußenhausen / Meiningen

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Former border crossing Eußenhausen / Meiningen with watchtower and unfinished brick building

The border crossing Eußenhausen / Meiningen was from 1973 to 1990 a border crossing on the federal highway 19 between the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany in the eastern Rhön between Eußenhausen near Mellrichstadt in Bavaria and Henneberg near Meiningen in Thuringia .

history

Golden Bridge ( Jimmy Fell )
Old border barrier on the Bavarian side

In the first post-war years, the dividing line at Reichsstrasse 19 was initially still permeable; farmers, artisans, traders and workers could pass through small border traffic. But as early as 1946 the Soviet Union set up German border troops in its zone and had the first forest aisles cut, in the summer of 1947 barbed wire obstacles and the first roadblocks were erected. On April 30, 1948, the Eußenhausen crossing point was initially closed.

The new border crossing Eußenhausen / Meiningen on the now F 19 (GDR) / B 19 (FRG) highway was opened on June 21, 1973 and served the small border traffic (day and two-day trips) between the two German governments to improve the border contacts had been agreed. This regulation applied both to visits and to tourist stays and organized bus trips. He also served trips for long-term stays in the GDR (so-called exchange traffic). The difference was in the different registration procedures. Transit traffic to West Berlin and third countries was not possible via this border crossing. The border crossing had two watchtowers, a vehicle battering ram, a covered handling facility with nine lanes and an Intershop in the direction of Henneberg .

After the opening of the inner-German border on November 9, 1989 (the first vehicle from Meiningen, a Trabant 601, crossed the border on November 10, 1989 at 3:40 a.m.) and German reunification on October 3, 1990, the extensive blocking and Clearance systems eliminated. The federal highway 19 was expanded extensively on both sides of the former border due to the now very high volume of traffic. After the opening of the federal highway 71 it was downgraded to the state road.

Today, on the Thuringian side, "Auf der Schanz" near Henneberg, only a watchtower and an unfinished brick building for the planned office space for passport control, customs and border troops remain. On the Bavarian side there is a collection of border barriers in a parking lot opposite the West German border clearing point that is no longer in existence. A sculpture park and the "Golden Bridge" were built on the former death strip.

Peace way

This former border crossing point is also the starting point for the Friedensweg , which describes German-German history from 1945 to 1990. With the support of the districts of Schmalkalden-Meiningen and Rhön-Grabfeld as well as the neighboring communities, an association succeeded in providing 40 information boards on this 40-kilometer route between the former border crossing point and Birx .

literature

  • Hiking guide for the Friedensweg , self-published by the association “Citizens for gentle tourism in Hermannsfeld e. V. “, Sorghof 62, Hermannsfeld, 1st edition 1999.
  • Gerhard Schaetzlein, Bärbel Roesch, Reinhold Albert , Hans-Jürgen Salier : Borderline experiences , volumes 1 to 3, Verlag Frankenschwelle, Hildburghausen.
  • Ten years of the opening of the border in 1989/1990 , Main-Post newspaper group, Würzburg, 2000.

Web links

Coordinates: 50 ° 29 ′ 2.4 ″  N , 10 ° 20 ′ 11.4 ″  E