Editing Inner German border (section)

==Economic and social impact==
[[File:Bardowiek transformatorenhaus.jpg|left|thumb|270px|alt=A small four-storey brick electrical tower with a red tile roof standing next to a road, with trees in the background. There is a wooden door to the right, and a window at first-floor level; the second storey and loft have no windows. The brickwork of the second floor bears a handwritten inscription, daubed with paint: "BARDOWIEK: SEIT 1292 URKUNDLICH ERWÄHNT 1977–'89 IM "DDR"-REGIME WIDERRECHTLICH ZERSTÖRT."|All that remains of the East German border village of [[Bardowiek]], razed in the 1970s. The inscription on the lone transformer tower reads, "Bardowiek: mentioned in historical records since 1292; illegally destroyed between 1977 and 1989 by the 'DDR' regime."]]The closure of the border had a substantial economic and social impact on both countries. Cross-border transport links were largely severed; 10 main railway lines, 24&nbsp;secondary lines, 23&nbsp;[[autobahn]]s or national roads, 140&nbsp;regional roads and thousands of smaller roads, paths and waterways were blocked or otherwise interrupted.  The tightest level of closure came in 1966, by which time only six railway lines, three autobahns, one regional road and two waterways were left open. When relations between the two states eased in the 1970s, the GDR agreed to open more crossing points in exchange for economic assistance. Telephone and mail communications operated throughout the Cold War, although packages and letters were routinely opened and telephone calls were monitored by the East German secret police.<ref name="Buchholz-56" />

The economic impact of the border was harsh. Many towns and villages were severed from their markets and economic hinterlands, which caused areas close to the border to go into an economic and demographic decline. The two German states responded to the problem in different ways. West Germany gave substantial subsidies to communities under the "Aid to border regions" programme, an initiative begun in 1971 to save them from total decline. Infrastructure and businesses along the border benefited from substantial state investment.<ref name="Buchholz-59">[[#Buchholz|Buchholz (1994)]], p. 59.</ref> East Germany's communities had a much harder time because the country was poorer and their government imposed severe restrictions on them. The border region was progressively depopulated through the clearance of numerous villages and the forced relocation of their inhabitants. Border towns suffered draconian building restrictions: inhabitants were forbidden from building new houses and even repairing existing buildings, causing infrastructure to fall into severe decay.<ref>[[#August|August (1999)]], p. 28.</ref> The state did little but to provide a 15% income supplement to those living in the ''Sperrzone'' and ''Schutzstreifen''; but this did not halt the shrinkage of the border population as younger people moved elsewhere to find employment and better living conditions.<ref name="Buchholz-59" />

The GDR bore a huge economic cost for its creation of the border zone and the building and maintenance of its fortifications. The zone consumed around {{convert|6900|km2|sqmi}}{{snd}}more than six&nbsp;per&nbsp;cent of the East's territory,<ref name="Rottman-20-21">[[#Rottman|Rottman (2008)]], pp. 20–21.</ref> within which economic activity was severely curtailed or ceased entirely. The actual cost of the border system was a closely guarded secret, and even today it is uncertain exactly how much it cost to build and maintain. The BT-9 watchtowers each cost around 65,000&nbsp;[[East German mark]]s to build and the expanded metal fences cost around 151,800&nbsp;marks per kilometre. The implementation of the "modern frontier" in the 1970s led to a major increase in personnel costs. Total annual expenditure on [[Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic|GDR border troops]] rose from 600&nbsp;million marks per annum in 1970 to nearly 1&nbsp;billion by 1983. In early 1989, East German economists calculated that each arrest cost the equivalent of 2.1&nbsp;million marks, three times the average "value" to the state of each working person.<ref name="Hertle-97">[[#Hertle|Hertle (2007)]], p. 97.</ref>