Katharinenberg border tower
The Grenzturm Katharinenberg (also the Grenzturm memorial ) is a former command tower of the GDR border troops in the municipality of Südeichsfeld in the Unstrut-Hainich district ( Thuringia ).
The former border tower was converted into a small museum . The actual building fabric was retained. The museum is looked after by the Wendehausen Heimatverein. The former border installations and the living conditions of the population in the former restricted area are shown . It is a memorial to those who died trying to escape . Forced resettlement and devastation during the GDR era are also discussed .
location
The tower is located southwest of Katharinenberg and northwest of Wendehausen Auf der Delle (461 m), the highest elevation of the limestone plateau of the Karnberg . From the mountain and the tower, you not only had a good view of the border installations at Katharinenberg, but also of the landscape in the southern dike field up to the Hainich , the Inselsberg and the nearby Hesse. A few hundred meters to the east was the former Scharfloh estate , which was demolished because of its proximity to the border.
The border tower can be reached via hiking trails from the direction of Katharinenberg, from the "Grenzblick" car park on federal road 249 , from Wendehausen and via the Kolonnenweg on today's Green Belt.
building
The former border tower (leadership tower) has a footprint of four by four meters. It has a full cellar. The supply lines for the signal fences and the power supply were located in the basement. On the ground floor there was a toilet and three holding cells for possible prisoners who wanted to escape from the GDR, but whose attempt was prevented by the border troops. Camp beds for six soldiers were on the first floor. The tower had small shooting shafts.
The command post, which was responsible for a certain border section, was housed on the second floor. The upper floor was generally always manned by an officer / NCO and a soldier. Among other things, the signal wires of the signal fences converged here and indicated when a refugee wanted to pass the border installations. Animals also triggered an alarm when the signal wires were touched. From the second floor you could see far along the border fortifications. A floodlight system was installed on the roof with which the border installations could be illuminated.
Such a command post also included a car park covered from the west, from which the entire border section could be reached by vehicles in a short time via the convoy .
memorial
The community of Südeichsfeld and the local history association Wendehausen want to keep the memory of the former border fortifications alive and also inform future generations about the history of the place. The memorial is open on Sundays between Easter and the Day of German Unity on October 3rd. A pavilion with information about the area is located on the former vehicle stand.
Other relics of former border fortifications in the area are the concrete slab column path from the B 249 over the entire Karnberg to the Heldrabach , and for the most part also the vehicle lock ditch, another observation tower southwest of the command post and an agent lock on the Mainz river Minds. In addition to the historical boundary stones, there are also some boundary pillars and boundary stones of the GDR.
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 10 ′ 33.5 ″ N , 10 ° 14 ′ 5 ″ E