From Iron Curtain to Schengen
This is the Görlitz-Zgorzelec border crossing, sitting right between Germany and Poland along the river Neisse.
In fact, the river divides two nations, but it also slices a single city in two: the town on the Polish side is called Zgorzelec, while the one on the German side is Görlitz
When I was young, this border was once a remote destination for a Western traveller: it lay on the easternmost side of almost inaccessible East Germany and linked it with an equally inaccessible Poland. Before the fall of the Wall, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was a mysterious place for most travellers because the Iron Curtain put it beyond reach. Yet, looking at this bridge today, it seems impossible that it was once far deeper inside the “Eastern Bloc” than the infamous Iron Curtain itself.
The sight of this open bridge brings back memories of a very different encounter.
Before the Görlitz-Zgorzelec Border Crossing: Memories of the Iron Curtain
I once stood before the actual Iron Curtain. Unintentionally.
It was 1978, during my school days, and I was hiking with some mates in a forest in the mountainous German region of Harz.
Right through the Harz ran part of the Inner German Border that separated the two German nations. Suddenly, in a small valley hidden among the trees, we saw it: a huge metallic fence. We were at the limit of our world. That was the Iron Curtain.
Sorry about the quality, but this is a 40-year-old scanned print!
We had no chance to cross it (unless we had a deep desire to test the aim of the snipers) but at least we saw it.
Back then, the Görlitz-Zgorzelec border and the river Neisse were many kilometres further East—far beyond our possibilities. Simply put: inaccessible.
History of the Görlitz-Zgorzelec Border Crossing
The Oder–Neisse line marked the border between the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and Poland from 1950 to 1990. It was officially designated as the “Border of Peace and Friendship”.
East Germany confirmed the border with Poland in 1950. West Germany, after a period of refusal, finally accepted the border (with provisions) in 1970.
In 1990 the newly reunified Germany and the Republic of Poland signed a treaty recognizing it as their official shared border.
At this point, the bridge of Görlitz lost its remoteness but still had customs officers at its edges.
The Schengen Agreement: A Border Vanishes
In 2004 Poland signed the Schengen Agreement. From that moment on there was no control anymore on the bridge. The barrier had truly vanished.
For the photo above, I was standing in Zgorzelec, in Poland, photographing the German town of Görlitz.
This lady just crossed the former border after a bit of “German” shopping, walking freely where history once stood still.
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