Biking Through Cold War History

[世岩 최삼송]

NYT

Biking Through Cold War History

 

The Iron Curtain Trail, a network of bicycle paths, follows the old Warsaw Pact-NATO border, from northern Finland to the Black Sea. In central Germany, intensive fortification of this border zone during the cold war depopulated large swaths of the region, but today the route cuts across pristine farmland, picturesque villages and nature reserves filled with wildlife. Left, the Unity Bridge over the Werra River.
 

 

At Point Alpha, an old East German guard tower stands beyond the fence that separated East and West Germany.

 

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•   Riding the R3, one of five rural bike trails created by the Hessen government out of 200 miles of disused railroad track. It passes through wheat and corn fields, dairy farms and lush pastures.
  
  
  
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  Signs along the R3 trail.

  Photo: Mark Simon for The New York Times
  
  
  

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  The medieval village of Geisa, which was once in the 3.1-mile-wide security zone that ran along the border with West Germany
  
  

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  •   Situated on the main road between Leipzig and Frankfurt, the village of Vacha has been a commercial crossroad for 11 centuries.
    
    
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    Peaceful now, Schleid was once in the East German security zone.
    
    
    

    The Iron Curtain Trail, outside of Schleid. Most traces of the cold war era have vanished.