Editing Inner German border (section)

==Fortifications of the inner German border==
{{further|Fortifications of the inner German border}}
[[File:System of gdr border fortification.jpg|right|thumb|250px|alt=The border is marked on the western side by signposts saying "HALT HIER GRENZE" ("STOP HERE BORDER"). Behind the border, there is a marker pole and an anti-vehicle ditch crossing the road. Then follows a metal-mesh fence. To the left of the road, the fence forks to form a double fence, with a mined area in between. The road has another anti-vehicle ditch instead of a second fence. Next follows a flood-lit control strip; behind that, a guard patrol road running parallel to the border, then a strip of open territory with guard towers and an observation bunker, then a flood-lit signal fence curving around a village, excluding it from the border strip. Where it crosses the road, the signal fence has a gate; further away, the road is blocked by a horizontal barrier, with a little house next to it.|Annotated diagram of the third-generation inner German border system {{Circa|1984}}]]

The East German side of the inner German border was dominated by a complex system of fortifications and security zones, over 1,300 kilometres (810&nbsp;mi) long and several kilometres deep. The fortifications were established in 1952 and reached a peak of complexity and lethality at the start of the 1980s. The border guards referred to the side of the border zone facing the GDR as the ''freundwärts'' (literally "friendward") side and that facing the FRG as the ''feindwärts'' ("enemyward") side.<ref>[[#Ritter|Ritter; Lapp (2007)]], pp. 11, 92.</ref>

===Restricted zone===
A person attempting to make an illegal crossing of the inner German border around 1980, travelling from east to west, would first come to the "restricted zone" (''Sperrzone''). This was a {{convert|5|km|mi}} wide area running parallel to the border to which access was heavily restricted. Its inhabitants could only enter and leave using special permits, were not permitted to travel to other villages within the zone, and were subjected to nighttime curfews.<ref name="Rottman-20-21" /><ref>[[#Allinson|Allinson (2000)]], p. 125.</ref><ref name="Buchholz-57">[[#Buchholz|Buchholz (1994)]], p. 57.</ref> It was not fenced off but access roads were blocked by checkpoints.<ref name="Rottman-23">[[#Rottman|Rottman (2008)]], p. 23.</ref>

On the far side of the ''Sperrzone'' was the signal fence (''Signalzaun''), a continuous [[expanded metal]] fence {{convert|1185|km|mi}} long and {{convert|2|m|ft}} high. The fence was lined with low-voltage electrified strands of [[barbed wire]]. When the wire was touched or cut, an alarm was activated to alert nearby guards.<ref name="Rottman-29">[[#Rottman|Rottman (2008)]], p. 29.</ref>

===Protective strip===

On the other side of the signal fence lay the heavily guarded "protective strip" (''Schutzstreifen''), {{convert|500|to|1000|m|ft}} wide, which adjoined the border itself.<ref name="Rottman-23" /> It was monitored by guards stationed in concrete, steel and wooden watchtowers constructed at regular intervals along the entire length of the border. Nearly 700 such watchtowers had been built by 1989;<ref name="Rottman-29" /> the larger ones were equipped with a powerful 1,000-watt rotating searchlight (''Suchscheinwerfer'') and firing ports to enable the guards to open fire without having to go outside.<ref name="Rottman-28">[[#Rottman|Rottman (2008)]], p. 28.</ref> Their entrances were always positioned facing towards the East German side, so that observers in the West could not see guards going in or out. Around 1,000 two-man observation bunkers also stood along the length of the border.<ref name="Rottman-28" />

<div class="center">{{Gallery
|title=East German border watchtowers and bunkers
|width=180
|Ddr beobachtungsturm 11.jpg|The BT-11 (''Beobachtungsturm-11''), an 11 m (36 ft) high observation tower introduced in 1969. The top-heavy tower was unstable and vulnerable to collapsing.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}
|Ddr beobachtungsturm 9.jpg|The BT-9 (''Beobachtungsturm-9''), a 9 m (30 ft)-high observation tower introduced in the mid-1970s as a more stable replacement for the BT-11{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}
|Fuerungsstelle Behrungen.jpg|A ''Führungsstelle'' or ''Kommandoturm'', a tower 6 m (20 ft) high that doubled as observation tower and command centre{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}
|Schießbunker PA hinten.JPG|An observation bunker, known as an ''Erdbunker'', preserved at [[Observation Post Alpha]], which accommodated one or two guards
|DDR steel watch tower cropped.jpg|A metal observation tower manned by three GDR guards. Some watchtowers were semi-portable and could be moved to new sectors when needed.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}
}}</div>

Guard dogs were used to provide an additional deterrent to escapees. Dog runs (''Kettenlaufanlagen''), consisting of a suspended wire up to {{convert|100|m|ft}} long to which a large dog was chained, were installed on high-risk sectors of the border. The dogs were occasionally turned loose in temporary pens adjoining gates or damaged sections of the fence.<ref name="Rottman-25" />

[[File:Control strip hoetensleben.jpg|right|thumb|250px|alt=Strip of bare ploughed earth flanked by a concrete road on one side and a row of barricades and a fence on the other side, with buildings visible in the far background.|A preserved section of the border fortifications at Hötensleben. The patrol road is on the left; the primary control strip runs parallel in the middle; beyond it rise a row of ''[[Czech hedgehog]]'' barricades and the border wall.]]
The guards used an all-weather patrol road (''Kolonnenweg'', literally "column way") to patrol the border and travel rapidly to the scene of an attempted crossing. It consisted of two parallel lines of perforated concrete blocks which ran beside the border for around {{convert|900|km|mi}}.<ref name="Ritter-69">[[#Ritter|Ritter; Lapp (2007)]], p. 69.</ref>

Next to the ''Kolonnenweg'' was one of the control strips (''Kontrollstreifen''), a line of bare earth running parallel to the fences along almost the entire length of the border. There were two control strips, both located on the inward-facing sides of the fences. The secondary "K2" strip, {{convert|2|m|ft}} wide, ran alongside the signal fence, while the primary "K6" strip, {{convert|6|m|ft}} wide, ran along the inside of the fence or wall.<ref name="Rottman-17">[[#Rottman|Rottman (2008)]], p. 17.</ref> In places where the border was prone to escape attempts, the control strip was illuminated at night by high-intensity floodlights (''Beleuchtungsanlage''), which were also used at points where rivers and streams crossed the border.<ref name="Rottman-25" />

Anyone attempting to cross the control strips would leave footprints which were quickly detected by patrols. This enabled the guards to identify otherwise undetected escape attempts, recording how many individuals had crossed, where escape attempts were being made and at which times of day escapees were active. From this information, the guards were able to determine where and when patrols needed to be increased, where improved surveillance from watchtowers and bunkers was required, and which areas needed additional fortifications.<ref name="Rottman-17" />

Anti-vehicle barriers were installed on the other side of the primary control strip. In some locations, ''chevaux-de-frise'' barricades, known in German as ''Panzersperre'' or ''Stahligel'' ("steel hedgehogs"), were used to prevent vehicles being used to cross the border. Elsewhere, V-shaped anti-vehicle ditches known as ''Kraftfahrzeug-Sperrgraben'' (''KFZ-Sperrgraben'') were installed along {{convert|829|km|mi}} of the border and were absent only where natural obstacles such as streams, rivers, gullies or thick forests made such barriers unnecessary.<ref name="Rottman-23-24">[[#Rottman|Rottman (2008)]], pp. 23–24.</ref>

===Outer fence, walls and minefields===

The outer fences were constructed in a number of phases, starting with the initial fortification of the border from May 1952. The first-generation fence was a crudely constructed single barbed-wire fence (''Stacheldrahtzaun'') which stood between {{convert|1.2|and|2.5|m|ft}} high and was built very close to the actual border line.<ref>[[#Rottman|Rottman (2008)]], p. 16.</ref> This was replaced in the late 1950s with parallel rows of more strongly constructed barbed-wire fences, sometimes with [[concertina wire]] placed between the fences as an additional obstacle.<ref>[[#Rottman|Rottman (2008)]], p. 18.</ref>

<div class="center">{{Gallery
|title=East German border fences and walls
|width=200
|height=160
|Inner german border 1st generation.jpg|Reconstruction of the "first-generation" fence as erected in 1952, with control strip in the foreground
|East German border 1962.jpg|The "second-generation" fences in 1962, with derelict barbed wire in the foreground, a control strip, two rows of barbed wire further back and a watchtower at the rear
|Inner german border fence and pole.jpg|The third-generation fence, constructed from several overlapping horizontal tiers of expanded steel mesh fencing. A border marker pole is in the foreground.
}}</div>

[[File:Sm-70 schlagsdorf.jpg|thumb|250px|right|alt=Horn-shaped device mounted on the side of a metal fence, with trigger wires attached to it and running parallel to the fence into the foreground and background.|[[SM-70]] tripwire-activated directional anti-personnel mine mounted on the fence. The cone contained an explosive charge which fired shrapnel fragments when activated.]]
A "third-generation" fence, much more solidly constructed, was installed in an ongoing programme of improvements from the late 1960s to the 1980s. The fence line was moved back to create an outer strip between the fence and the actual border. The barbed-wire fences were replaced with a barrier that was usually 3.2–4.0 metres (10–13&nbsp;ft) high. It was constructed with [[expanded metal]] mesh (''Metallgitterzaun'') panels. The openings in the mesh were generally too small to provide finger-holds and were very sharp. The panels could not easily be pulled down, as they overlapped, and they could not be cut through with a bolt- or wire-cutter. Nor could they be tunnelled under easily, as the bottom segment of the fences was partially buried in the ground. In a number of places, more lightly constructed fences (''Lichtsperren'') consisting of mesh and barbed wire lined the border.<ref name="Rottman-25">[[#Rottman|Rottman (2008)]], p. 25.</ref> The fences were not continuous but could be crossed at a number of places. Gates were installed to enable guards to patrol up to the line and to give engineers access for maintenance on the outward-facing side of the barrier.<ref name="Rottman-25" />

In some places, villages adjoining the border were fenced with wooden board fences (''Holzlattenzaun'') or concrete barrier walls (''Betonsperrmauern'') standing around {{convert|3|–|4|m|ft}} high. Windows in buildings adjoining the border were bricked or boarded up, and buildings deemed too close to the border were pulled down. The barrier walls stood along only a small percentage of the border{{snd}}{{convert|29.1|km|mi}} of the total length by 1989.<ref name="Rottman-17" />

Anti-personnel mines were installed along approximately half of the border's length starting in 1966; by the 1980s, some 1.3&nbsp;million mines of various Soviet-made types had been laid.<ref>[[#Rottman|Rottman (2008)]], pp. 18–19.</ref> In addition, from 1970 the outer fence was booby-trapped with around 60,000 [[SM-70]] (''Splittermine-70'') directional anti-personnel mines. They were activated by tripwires connected to the firing mechanism. This detonated a horn-shaped charge filled with [[Fragmentation (weaponry)|shrapnel]] that was sprayed in one direction along the line of the fence. The device was potentially lethal to a range of around {{convert|20|m|ft}}<!-- (this distance conflicts with the lethal range indicated in the sm-70 article), it was about 20 m - maybe a typo-->. The mines were eventually removed by the end of 1984 in the face of international condemnation of the East German government.<ref name="Rottman-21">[[#Rottman|Rottman (2008)]], p. 21.</ref>

===Border line===

Until the late 1960s the fortifications were constructed almost up to the actual border line. When the third-generation fortifications were constructed, the fences were moved back from between {{convert|20|m|ft}} to as much as {{convert|2|km|mi}}. This gave the guards a clear field of fire to target escapees and provided a buffer zone where engineers could work on maintaining the outward face of the fence in East German territory. Access to the outer strip was very tightly controlled, to ensure that the guards themselves would not be tempted to escape. Although often described by Western sources as a "[[no-man's land]]", it was in fact wholly East German territory; trespassers could be arrested or shot.<ref>[[#Rottman|Rottman (2008)]], pp. 25–26.</ref>

<div class="center">{{Gallery
|title=The East–West border line
|width=180
|height=160
|Gdr border outer strip.jpg|The actual border: a West German pole with warning sign, a GDR marker and the fence and a watchtower beyond
|Freilandmuseum Behrungen 5.jpg|An East German boundary stone with the letters "DDR" (''Deutsche Demokratische Republik'') carved on the western-facing edge
|DDR Grenzpfahl 02.jpg|One of the distinctive East German "barber pole" border markers. The spike on the top deterred birds from using it as a perch.
}}</div>

The actual line between West and East Germany was located on the far side of the outer strip. It was marked by granite stones (''Grenzsteine'') with the letters "DDR" carved on the west-facing edge. Around 2,600 distinctive East German concrete "barber pole" (''Grenzsäule'' or ''Grenzpfähle'') markers were installed just behind the border line at intervals of about {{convert|500|m|ft}}. A metal East German coat of arms, the ''Staatsemblem'', was fixed to the side of the marker that faced West Germany.<ref name="Rottman-20">[[#Rottman|Rottman (2008)]], p. 20.</ref>

On the West German side, there were no fortifications of any kind, nor even any patrol roads in most areas. Warning signs (''Grenzschilder'') with messages such as ''Achtung! Zonengrenze!'' ("Danger! Zonal border!") or ''Halt! Hier Zonengrenze'' ("Stop! The zonal border is here") notified visitors of the presence of the border. Foreign military personnel were restricted from approaching the border to avoid clashes or other unwanted incidents. Signs in English and German provided notifications of the distance to the border to discourage accidental crossings. No such restriction applied to Western civilians, who were free to go up to the border line, and there were no physical obstacles to stop them crossing it.<ref name="Rottman-20" />