On the way back from Wernigerode we didn't take the autobahn but instead drove along the back roads so I could see where the border might have been between East and West Germany. The Germans call this border "the frontier".
After we left Wernigerode the typical East German construction was much more evident. With plain, boxy buildings. Paint was very expensive so the buildings are a depressing grey/brown color. To call it taupe or even greige would be too flattering.
We went to the old frontier at Eckertal (Ecker Valley). The Ecker River is a little river that formed the old geographical frontier. Soldiers and dogs patrolled along the eastern side of the river. The village on the East side is called "Stapelburg". There is a bridge now, but there wasn't then. There was a road on the western side, but it ended at the river. People would stand there and wave to their friends and family on the eastern side. In the GDR you had to have a permit to travel away from your town and Heidi said that if you didn't live in Stapelburg it would have been very difficult to get a permit to go there since it was on the edge of the frontier.
As soon as the reunification was announced soldiers on the western side built a pontoon bridge to allow passage until a permanent bridge could be built.
About 100 yards from the bridge is an old east German guard house with the driveway for the tanks.
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