We remember the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Wall in Berlin and of the Iron Curtain in Europe. The Wall around West Berlin was 3.60 metres high and 160 kilometres long. Its appearance and location changed over the course of time: the barbed-wire fencing was replaced by pre-manufactured Wall segments, which were in some parts reinforced with metal grid fences.

Between the ‘outer border wall’ facing west and the ‘inner border wall’ facing east was the brightly- lit notorious ‘death strip’, with the ‘patrol path’, on which GDR (German Democratic Republic) border troops guarded the frontier.

On the GDR side, only selected people were allowed to live in the neighbourhoods directly behind the Wall. Their friends and relatives had to be registered before any visits and needed to obtain a special permit. More than 300 guard towers, 30 headquarters, 20 bunkers, flood light systems, signal and alarm fences, as well as dog-running areas and tank traps were installed to prevent people from escaping to West Berlin.

Before the Wall was built, about four million people successfully escaped the GDR. Afterwards, people from the East continuously tried to cross the barricades. A total of 128 people lost their lives at the Berlin Wall. From the 80 responsible marksmen who were identified after the end of the GDR and brought before a court, 77 received a suspended sentence.

The Berlin Wall Trail is an exciting route, full of history. It takes cyclists past many important and famous landmarks. There are also many names that serve as a reminder of past events such as Checkpoint Charlie and Potsdamer Platz. The route also passes the Bösebrücke in Bornholmer Straße, which became famous on November 9, 1989, when the first people crossing the border were greeted with cheers and sparkling wine.

The ‘Berlin Wall History Mile’ continues on the outskirts of the Wall Trail with information boards. Historical photos and texts in German and English direct the attention of passers-by to certain places, which due to their former usage, specific deve­lopment or other special events, highlight in some way the different aspects of the city’s former division.

The steles – just like the signs Berlin Wall Trail – are 3.60 metres tall, as high as the Wall once was. Apart from the information boards there are also steles and commemorative crosses for the killed fugitives in order to remind the public of their fates.

The Berlin Wall Trail is an exciting route, full of history. It takes cyclists past many important and famous landmarks

People talking about the Berlin Wall usually refer to the inner-city border strip between East and West Berlin. However, the Berlin Wall is, in fact, much longer as it also includes the 120-kilometre-long border between West Berlin and the surrounding Land Brandenburg, which can also be ex­plored by bike.

Far away from the hustle and bustle of the big city, this stretch winds through pleasant countryside and woods.Of particular historical interest is the Glienicker Bridge, where Americans and Soviets once exchanged their spies.

Thanks to the positive media response, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the construction of the Wall, the Berlin Senate de­cided to put all of its remnants under monument protection and to develop the entire length of the route in a signposted and bicycle-friendly way.

It is an attractive combination of history workshop and bicycle tourism, of recreation and culture. The inner-city section bet­ween Bernauer Straße and the Oberbaumbrücke is especially very informative and historically interesting, making it not just an ideal spot for cycling but also for a historical and political walk.

The Berlin Wall Trail has become part of Berlin’s tourism programme and is the first pro­ject that connects city tourism with soft tourism. It has deve­loped into a tourist highlight in the last years.

Cycling over the Lindewerra Bridge in the district of Eichsfeld in Thuringia, Germany. The bridge replaced a World War II watch tower.

Today, even some five-star hotels advertise the route and offer bikes and guides to its guests. In Berlin it is possible to experience history by bike during the day and then enjoy the reunited city in the evening in concerts, the opera or in one of the many theatres.

It was not just Berlin but Germany as a whole that was divi­ded into East and West by a 1,400-kilometre-long death strip with 3,000 kilometres of fences, vehicle traps, 830 watch towers, flood light systems, walls and bunker complexes. To keep the memory of the former border strip alive, it is necessary to develop it for soft tourism.

Additionally, it was intended to protect the flora and fauna through the establishment of a European Green Belt in the former death strip.

In December 2004, the German Bundestag vot­ed unanimously in favour of this. It was initiated by the Foundation for Environmental and Natural Protection in Germany and sees the changing of the death strip into a living space for around 5,000 different animal and plant species. In it, there are today 150 nature reserves, numerous flora-fauna-habitat areas and biosphere reserves.

Besides Berlin and Germany, Europe was also divided for decades: the ‘Iron Curtain’ ran from the Barents Sea at the Norwegian-Russian border down to the Black Sea at the Turkish-Bulgarian border. Today, it does not divide us anymore but remains a symbol of a common past in the reunited Europe.

This is another reason why in the autumn of 2005, a big majority in the European Parliament from all the countries and all the political groups voted in favour of the motion that I had initia­ted to include the ‘Iron Curtain Trail’ in the report concerning ‘New perspectives and new challenges for sustainable European tourism’.

It is also intended to help build and strengthen a common European identity. The trail includes countless monuments, museums and open-air facilities, which remind visitors of the di­vision of Europe and how it was overcome by peaceful revolutions in east and central Eu­rope. Twenty countries form part of this project, 15 of which are today member states of the EU.

The route runs along the western border of the former Warsaw Pact states. It touches the Norwegian-Russian and the Finnish-Russian border and then passes the coastlines of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Kaliningrad, Poland and the former GDR.

The path then leads from the Priwall peninsula at Trave­münde until the state-trian­gle between Saxony, Ba­varia and the Czech Republic and follows the route of the former inner-German border strip. It then leads over the elevations of the Bohemian Forest, past Mähren and the Slovakian capital Bratislava, where it passes the Danube river.

After the Austrian-Hungarian border, the trail continues through Slovenia and Croatia. Between Romania and Serbia, the route mostly follows the course of the Danube, to then finally end at the Bulgarian Black Sea coast at the northern tip of Turkey, after having crossed Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Greece.

Under the slogan ‘Unbuilding Walls’, the Iron Curtain Trail and the Berlin Wall Trail in 2018 have been part of the Architecture Biennale in Venice. In 2019, the Iron Curtain Trail was certified by the Council of Europe as a ‘cultural route’.

Michael Cramer, former president of the European Parliament Committee on Transport and Tourism, wrote the Berlin Wall Trail and a five-volume bicycle guide about the 10,000-kilometre-long Iron Curtain Trail in English and German, which was published by the Austrian Esterbauer-Verlag.