Editing Inner German border (section)

==Views of the border==
{{multiple image
| align    = right
| image1   = Hier ist deutschland.jpg
| width1   = 150
| alt1     = Black, red and gold West German sign reading "Hier ist Deutschland nicht zu Ende. Auch drüben ist Vaterland!"
| caption1 = The West German view: "Germany does not end here! The Fatherland is over there too!"
| image2   = Grenzer nato attack.jpg
| alt2     = Outline map of Belgium, the Netherlands, West Germany, East Germany and Czechoslovakia with arrows indicating the direction of a hypothetical NATO attack from West Germany into East Germany and Czechoslovakia. An advancing tank is shown in the background behind the map.
| width2   = 240
| caption2 = The East German view: the border depicted as a defensive line against military aggression from NATO.
}}
The two German governments promoted very different views of the border. The GDR saw it as the international frontier of a sovereign state{{snd}}a defensive rampart against Western aggression.<ref>[[#Lapp|Lapp (1986)]], p. x.</ref> In ''Grenzer'' ("Border Guard"), a 1981 East German Army propaganda film, NATO and West German troops and tanks were depicted as ruthless militarists advancing towards East Germany. Border troops interviewed in the film described what they saw as the rightfulness of their cause and the threat of Western agents, spies and [[Agent provocateur|provocateurs]]. Their colleagues killed on the border were hailed as heroes and schoolchildren in East Berlin were depicted saluting their memorial.<ref>[[#Grenzer|Synopsis of Grenzer]] (2009)</ref> However, West German propaganda leaflets referred to the border as merely "the demarcation line of the Soviet occupation zone", and emphasised the cruelty and injustice of the division of Germany.<ref>[[#MFADPR|Ministry of Federal Affairs, Displaced Persons and Refugees]], Bonn. "[[:File:Attention demarcation line.jpg|Attention Demarcation Line!]]". Leaflet published ca. mid 1960s.</ref>{{primary source inline|date=March 2023}} Signs along the Western side of the frontier declared ''"Hier ist Deutschland nicht zu Ende{{snd}}Auch drüben ist Vaterland!"'' ("Germany does not end here: the Fatherland is over there too!"<ref>[[#Bailey|Bailey (1983)]] p. 143.</ref>)

Whereas the GDR kept its civilians well away from the border, the West Germans actively encouraged tourism, and locations where the border was especially intrusive became tourist attractions. One example was the divided village of [[Mödlareuth]] in Bavaria. The Associated Press reported in 1976 that "Western tourists by the busload come out to have their pictures taken against the backdrop of the latest Communist walled city [and] the concrete blockhouse and the bunker-slits protruding from the green hillock where a collective's cows were grazing."<ref name="Mulligan" /> At Zimmerau in Bavaria, a {{convert|38|m|ft|adj=on}} observation tower (the ''Bayernturm'') was constructed in 1966 to give visitors a view across the hills into East Germany.<ref>[[#Cramer|Cramer (2008)]], p. 162.</ref> The inhabitants of the East German village of [[Kella, Thuringia|Kella]] found themselves becoming a tourist attraction for Westerners in the 1970s and 1980s. A viewing point, the "Window on Kella", was established on a nearby hilltop from which tourists could peer across the border with binoculars and telescopes.<ref>[[#Berdahl|Berdahl (1999)]], p. 149.</ref> To the amusement of many, a nudist beach was opened on the Western side in 1975 immediately adjoining the border's terminus near the Baltic Sea port of [[Travemünde]]. Visitors often sought to have a nude photograph taken below a looming East German watchtower; the West Germans noted "a lot more movement on that watchtower since the nudist beach opened."<ref>[[#TheAgeNudes|''The Age'' (1975-08-18)]].</ref><ref>[[#LATimesBuff|''Los Angeles Times'' (1977-07-07)]].</ref>