Hötensleben border monument
The Hötensleben border monument is a memorial that commemorates the time of German division . It includes an originally preserved section of the GDR border fortifications in Hötensleben in Saxony-Anhalt and is part of the European cultural heritage .
location
The monument is located immediately to the west of Hötensleben . Today's border between the federal states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony runs west of the monument . The monument is bordered to the south by state road 104, which leads west to Schöningen . However, some border fortifications have also been preserved south of the road. Immediately to the northwest is the Schöningen opencast mine , which was closed in 2016 . The border monument belongs to the Marienborn Memorial , which is located 18 kilometers further north near Marienborn .
History and layout
The facility was built in the course of the division of Germany as a border facility of the GDR. The motive for the strong expansion of the border by the GDR authorities was to prevent GDR citizens from escaping to the Federal Republic of Germany . The system that has been preserved is 350 meters long and covers a total area of 6.5 hectares . It shows the state of development of the border fortifications in 1989.
East in front of the border was on the territory of the GDR one about five kilometers wide restricted area in which the possibility of movement of the population was concentrated and passed more stringent controls. To the east of the border was a so-called "protective strip", usually 250 to 1500 meters wide, in which there were no settlements or businesses and in which any refugees were to be placed by the GDR border troops . However, since the built-up areas in Hötensleben had moved up to 80 meters to the limit, the distances could not be maintained here. The border was therefore expanded specifically for localities, which corresponded to the border in Berlin .
To the east, on the GDR side, the area is delimited by a three-meter-high screen wall, which was preceded by a light path to the east. West of the wall is a two meter wide strip of earth known as K2. It was used to detect footprints. The border security and signal fence connects to it. It is 2.40 meters high and consists of expanded metal and signal wires . This is followed by the dog route to the west, which is bordered by a wider field of vision and field of fire. Outside of the local situation, there was an area used for agriculture or forestry in this area. On its west side there is a light path illuminated by lamps, to which the column path made of perforated concrete slabs connects to the west . This is followed by a six-meter-wide strip of earth known as K6. It was also used to identify footprints. In a partial area, this is followed by a moat serving as a vehicle obstacle, which served as a supply of process water for a sugar factory. In addition, armored humps made of steel served as an obstacle to a possible breakthrough of motor vehicles. To the west of this is the actual 3.40 meter high border wall with a handle deflector tube. Instead of this, there is a border fence made of expanded metal outside the village. To the west of the border wall and fence was another area belonging to the sovereign territory of the GDR. The GDR border pillar is located on this upstream territory . The border itself runs in this area in the middle of the small stream Schöninger Aue . There were no border extensions on the part of the Federal Republic. To the west of the brook there is only a sign with the inscription "Bachmitte is border, Federal Border Guard".
In the northern part of the area of today's border monument stands a tower that was formerly used as a command post . This is where the command officer stayed. In the event of an alarm being triggered, he activated an alarm group, which hurried across the convoy as a double guard into the area in which the fugitive was suspected. He should then be arrested or "destroyed" in sight and in the field of fire. In the vicinity of the tower, the border system is, as is usual in the open landscape, in a state of pioneering development.
To the south of the road to Schöningen, a 15-meter-long piece of wall has been preserved at Schützenplatz. In addition, the stump of observation tower 4 and a bunker are also located there. Another 30-meter-long section of the wall and a cable duct have also been preserved. There are also remains of a former railway bridge with a telegraph pole and remains of the barn bridge .
With the opening of the GDR border on November 9, 1989, the border facility lost its importance. The small section near Hötensleben was placed under monument protection on January 12, 1990, while the GDR was still in existence . The Grenzdenkmalverein Hötensleben, founded in 1993, is committed to the preservation of the monument and was awarded the State Monument Prize in 2001. In January 2004, the state of Saxony-Anhalt took over the sponsorship of the border monument. It has been part of the Marienborn German Division Memorial. Since 2011, the facility with the memorial in Marienborn has been part of the European cultural heritage.
In the area south of the monument, where the border fortifications were mostly demolished, trees planted as part of a fundraising campaign mark the former course of the complex.
The border security system is listed in the local register of monuments under registration number 094 56155 as a monument .
Film documentation
- Frontier documentary by Holger Jancke . Germany 2003. Duration: 77:34 minutes.
literature
- State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt (Ed.): Monument Directory Saxony-Anhalt. Volume 15: Sabine Meinel: Borde district. Teilbd. 1: Old district of Oschersleben. Imhof, Petersberg 2011, p. 71. ISBN 978-3-86568-119-5
- Lutz Miehe: On the takeover of the Hötensleben border monument by the state of Saxony-Anhalt , in: Erinnern! Task, opportunity, challenge. Magdeburg: Saxony-Anhalt Memorials Foundation, 2005, pp. 5–10. ISSN 2194-2307
- Rossner, Christiane: Frozen: the German-German Ice Age; The division of Germany is documented in Marienborn and Hötensleben . In: Monumente 5 (1995), H. 5/6, pp. 44-46. ISSN 0941-7125
- Achim Walther; Joachim Bittner: Heringsbahn: the inner-German border at Hötensleben, Offleben, Schöningen between 1945 and 1952, ed. from Grenzdenkmalverein Hötensleben eV Hötensleben 2007.
- Achim Walther: "... the weapon is used" - arrests and border breaches on the inner-German border near Hötensleben , in: Erinnern! Task, opportunity, challenge. Magdeburg: Saxony-Anhalt Memorials Foundation, 2011, pp. 18–35. ISSN 2194-2307
Web links
- Hötensleben border monument
- Hötensleben at Geschichtsspuren.de
- Memorial of the division of Germany in Marienborn to the Hötensleben border monument
Individual evidence
- ↑ By Michael Strohmann: Last ton of coal promoted in the Helmstedter Revier. September 1, 2016, accessed on August 23, 2020 (German).
- ^ Günter Schwulera (ed.): Hötensleben. History of the place from 1016 to 2006 . Geiger, Horb 2007, ISBN 978-3-86595-224-0 , p. 62.
- ^ Günter Schwulera (ed.): Hötensleben. History of the place from 1016 to 2006 . Geiger, Horb 2007, p. 74.
- ↑ Answer of the state government to a short question for a written answer - Monument Directory Saxony-Anhalt , March 19, 2015, p. 362.
- ↑ Sven-Felix Kellerhoff: The film on the shooting order - "The border" , in: Welt from August 17, 2007 .
- ↑ border in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Coordinates: 52 ° 7 ′ 21.6 ″ N , 11 ° 0 ′ 47.7 ″ E