It has been more than 30 years since the restriction one ceased to exist, and the government has decided the long scar of 870 miles will be designated a nature reserve.
One person to be an East German border guard, and the other one grew up west German border and started to birdwatch in that area.
Kai Frobel, the one-time twitcher, stated that ‘You might have seen me here along with my big binoculars’ and he is thinking back more than 30 years.
The former guard Mario Wenzel laughs and says, ‘There were quite a few of those here then’ before guessing that no one remembers the border of Germany’s reality.
The militarized border splits Germany for about 38 years, which has disappeared more readily when compared to the political differences and the persistent economy between the two parts.
About the Green Part
There is a running battle between the government authorities, landowners, and the federal government announced last month that the whole former border zone would be labeled a nature reserve.
Frobel, an ecologist who has worked for the BUND, says that it is considered to be a national nature monument, and it is similar to the Liberty Statue.
Once, the crossing is treated as an obstacle, particularly for the people who are living in the East region, and now it becomes a literal walk onto the park.
There have been thirty years of the border between the west and east Germany, and it ceased to exist by October 3 in the year 1990, and it becomes one of the prominent psychological dividers which is present in the country.
The jagged line, which was drawn by the Allied and Soviet forces after World War II, tore apart families and lives in the villages and thus created competing narratives of nationhood and liberty, which Germany is still working in order to overcome.
In case if the former guard, Wenzel, had noticed the ecologist Frobel was observing birds back in the 1970s, he would definitely not have been permitted to talk with him.
It is because German guards of the East region were prohibited from speaking with anyone who is from the west region.
They were all compelled to patrol behind a 10-foot fence for preventing them from escaping.
It is a fact that only the trustworthy soldiers of the border are allowed to the buffer zone, which is a wild stretch of nature, and it is generally 200 yards wide that belongs to the east part of Germany.
It is set aside for giving time to the guards to shoot escapes.
Death Strip of Germans
Since Frobel was young, he used to keep out of that west German area where he would have been arrested if he wandered away and thus relying on a binocular for spotting the birds.
Over them, he found the death strip was heaving with life.
Foresters, as well as farmers on both sides, have been ordered to leave the zone alone and thus allowing the plants and animals life to flourish.
Currently, there will be around 5,200 different kinds of species living and 1,200 of the species are very rare to find since they are present in the extinction list.
Nowadays, the swaying gold of wild grasses contends with the bushes and trees. The side of the eastern side border is dense with trees, and still, the concrete sentry path is visible.
The grass has been grown from the cracks of the concrete sentry.
Frobel used his binoculars for watching the birds of prey sailing above, and he pronounces it as ‘Red Kites.’
He remembered his childhood bedroom view, which is the direct view of the border.
He firmly believed that the monster is built for eternity, and he would never see anything change. Reunifications were beyond his imagination.
The Wider View
A physical border was built between the west and east in the year 1952, which is nine years before the Berlin Wall.
Eventually, the border will not cover only the death strip but the barbed wire fences too.
It also has watchtowers and a ditch made of concrete in order to stop the vehicles.
The Peaceful Place
It is really hard to trust that such a peaceful place was once the war zone between the Warsaw Pact and Nato.
Environmentalists in East Germany is one of the less known driving forces, which is behind the revolution that leads to reunification 30 years ago.
In the last legislative session that has ended with the voting of parliament for dissolving itself, the lawmakers have chosen most of the land as the national park, and they need to protect nature and the species.
After three decades, the creek still splashes softly.
Before the reunification happens, Frobel will like to come here counting the green snake tails, which is a rare dragonfly, and the other thing is freshwater pearl mussels.
