History of the Iron Curtain Trail
The Berlin Wall Trail as a model for the German-German Border Trail...
Not only was Berlin divided, so was all of Germany, for decades. It was therefore necessary to preserve the memory of this along the 1,400 km former border. For that reason the national caucuses of the SPD and the Greens proposed on June 30th, 2004 to transform the former “death strip” along the German border into a “living space”.
According to the proposal it would be developed for “soft” tourism“, and be a part of a European Green Belt along the former “Iron Curtain”. The Bundestag voted for this unanimously in December 2004.
...and for the Iron Curtain Trail
But not only Berlin, not only Germany, Europe was divided for decades. The Iron Curtain ran from the Barents Sea on the Norwegian-Russian border to the Black Sea. Today it no longer separates us.
Today it is a symbol for a common and total European experience in a reunited Europe. And for that reason, the European Parliament voted with a large majority for a proposal by the author to create the Iron Curtain Trail in its report on “New Perspectives and Challenges for a sustainable European Tourism”.
It is a component of a European collective memory, with which a European identity can be formed, something frequently called for. Using the Berlin and German experiences as a model, a bicycle and wandering path will develop, all along the trace of the former Iron Curtain, and this will help us find the traces of the common history of our continent.
The member states realize the project in conjunction with the European Parliament and the EU-Commission, we will be able to experience European history, politics and culture at close range.
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