Photographs of a former border region
A place of passage.
A place of control.
A place between arrival and onward journey.
Before 1989, the route to West Berlin was via the transit route.
Helmstedt was on the western side,
Marienborn on the GDR side.
Today, the cars drive past unhindered.
Or stop briefly at the service area.
What remains is architecture,
traces of order
and a peculiar calm.
No silence.
The highway roars in the background.
Memory of the transit
The memory of this place is not loud.
Long queues.
Waiting.
Inspection.
One vehicle after another.
People spoke little.
The situation had something subdued,
almost reverent about it.
Not out of calm,
but out of tension.
Transit was regulated.
Breaks were only possible to a limited extent,
departures from the transit route were prohibited.
Sometimes it only went a few meters further.
The engine stopped.
The car was pushed.
At some point it was done.
Finally there was the stamp.
Today’s place
Today the place is open.
The border no longer controls movement here.
Traffic flows past,
almost naturally.
What remains,
are roofs, cabins, doors,
lanes, signs,
remnants of an order,
that once determined the course of events.
The photographs do not seek the spectacular.
They follow the empty spaces in between.
Places,
that were built for movement
and today tell of standstill.
Photographic view
What interests me about this place is not only its historical traces,
but also its spatial effect.
The strict symmetry.
The covered roadways.
The small control rooms.
The empty doors.
The signs of an order,
which is still visible,
although its function has disappeared.
The place is not quiet.
But it is discharged.
The pressure is gone.
What remains is a peculiar tension
between memory, everyday life
and the roar of the highway.
Context
The Marienborn German Division Memorial is located on the site of the former GDR border crossing point at Marienborn on the Berlin-Hanover highway.
The site was part of the GDR’s border security system.
Transit between West Germany and West Berlin was controlled here.
Today, Marienborn is a place of remembrance.
The preserved buildings and outdoor areas make it clear
how closely movement, control and political power were linked at this location.
What remains
Transition areas no longer show border traffic.
The photographs show
what remains,
when control has disappeared
and the place still tells of it.
Between transit and memory.
Between highway noise and historical heaviness.
Between movement and standstill.