Peter Stegemann from the Zwickau region was suddenly torn from his life in the early morning of July 22, 1978 at Heinersgrün. He died trying to cross the inner-German border in Vogtland and flee to Bavaria. To this day, the Heinersgrün border tower in the immediate vicinity is a silent witness to his death. It survived reunification and has now been renovated for 278,000 euros. In the future, as one of the last relics of the GDR border security between Saxony and Bavaria, it should make a contribution to memory and historical processing.
The border tower had only gone into operation a few months before Stegemann’s death in January 1978. It is a so-called leadership position, explains Susan Burger from the German-German Museum in Mödlareuth. In the future, the museum will be responsible for designing the content of the tower.
The day-to-day work in the border sections was organized from the command posts, says Burger. “This is where the technology for the border signal fences came together and also the communication between the border guards and the commander on duty. There was also a connection to higher-level authorities.” The area around the towers could be illuminated with searchlights. The Grenzkommando Süd, III. Border Battalion, Border Regiment 10 Plauen “Ernst Grube”.
There were several incidents in the Heinersgrün border section, says Burger. This includes Stegemann’s attempt to escape in the immediate vicinity of the tower. The Ministry for State Security wanted to cover up his death by fragmentation mines.
Mödlareuth was also called “Little Berlin” because of its separation
The content of the border tower should belong to the German-German Museum Mödlareuth, which is a quarter of an hour away by car on the Bavarian-Thuringian border. Mödlareuth became known as “Little Berlin” because it was separated by a wall from the 1960s until the fall of the Iron Curtain – like Berlin. The small town used to be separated by the Tannbach, one half was in Thuringia, the other in Bavaria. But only after the Second World War, when the East became a Russian occupation zone and the West went to the Americans, did the people really feel the separation. With the construction of the wall, border traffic was no longer possible, families and friends were separated.
The museum is intended as a reminder that parts of the border fortifications are still intact, and the groundbreaking ceremony for a new building for the permanent exhibition was only recently. Now, with the border tower in Heinersgrün, a third federal state has been added, and then the museum deals with the history of Bavaria, Thuringia and Saxony.
Reiner Thiele from Heinersgrün can still remember the border tower and the light from the searchlights at night. “We saw the light regularly. The headlights were probably used when something had happened,” says the 66-year-old about life in what was then the border village below the tower. The people of Heinersgrün needed so-called passes to get to their own town. “We were only allowed to receive visitors from close relatives. On public holidays or at dance events in the area, when many people were out, we were constantly checked.”
Contemporary witness Reiner Thiele stands in front of the last GDR border tower on Saxon soil in Heinersgrün near the Bavarian border. The 66-year-old lives in what was then a border village, which is below the tower.
(Photo: Hendrik Schmidt/dpa)
In the 1970s, many people from Heinersgrün took care of another building that was also visible from afar, says Thiele. The chapel of Santa Clara with its onion-shaped dome stands at the upper edge of the village almost as a counterpart to the unadorned border tower. The church council and many helpers took over the renovation on their own back then, Thiele recalls. “The border guards didn’t like that at all, the bright white plaster of the church was visible from afar and could have been used as a landmark.” Interested parties can still pick up the church key from Thiele today and visit the small chapel.
The border tower should also open to visitors soon, says the spokeswoman for the Vogtland district, Madlen Schulz. Eight information boards in the outdoor area are intended to give a freely accessible brief overview of the history of the inner-German border. Inside, further information on the leadership positions at the time is being prepared. The renovated tower can be visited in the future, for example at seminars about the Mödlareuth Museum. “A coach will serve as a shuttle. And on historical and cultural anniversaries, the tower will be open all day.” An exact opening date has not yet been determined.