Anatomy of the Iron Curtain

Taken on border of Bavaria (in the American zone) to either Saxony or Thuringia (in the Russian Zone).

You can see a barbed wire fence very close to and behind the wooden fence at the right of the photo.  The fence then moves diagonally to the left at an angle of perhaps 45 degrees to the viewer.  Note the small clump of trees in centre of image.  In front of it is a tall wooden watchtower, accessed by a long ladder.  Just in front of the tower is a low shed, where the border guards will have been stationed and have taken turns to man the tower.  

Looking at the border fortifications in more detail, it can be seen on the right of the picture that there is another fence (or wall?) not very far behind the barbed wire fences.  Electricity posts and electric wiring also run parallel to the fences; in the centre it can be seen that there is a large light on one of the poles (perhaps there is one per pole).  In the middle distance there is a broad strip of open land - possibly land which has been cleared of trees.  The little hut in the middle of the trees, discernable only by its silhouette (for this you will need to view the larger version of the photo),  may be a further observation post, mainly covering the open land as the tower does not provide good 360 degree vision.

The official name of the system in East Germany was the "Anti-Faschist Protection Rampart"


This photo was taken in March 1966, I have no record of its precise date and have thus had to make a guess.


PHOTOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
Photo taken with Kodak Box Brownie Camera using black and white film

[This blip added in April 2014]

I have added another blip showing boundary features in 1989 [added in December 2018]