The story of this place
On the inner-German border in the Rhön hills, the American observation post Point Alpha faced the 'Fulda Gap', the flat corridor through which NATO planners believed a Soviet armoured invasion of West Germany would pour toward the Rhine. For decades US soldiers watched from its tower, ready to trigger the alliance's defence — and, in the worst case, nuclear war. Directly opposite stood the East German fortifications: fences, minefields, automatic guns and a death strip. When the border opened in 1989–90, the two military worlds met peacefully. The tower, barracks and a preserved section of the fortified frontier are now a memorial and museum, one of the best-preserved stretches of the Iron Curtain that once split Germany in two.