The Border Museum Schifflersgrund is an exhibition in the area of the former east-west border between Hesse and Thuringia. It is located in Asbach-Sickenberg near Bad Sooden-Allendorf in the Werra valley.
getting there
In the street
- Coming from the north in the direction of Göttingen: Motorway A7 and A 38 to the Friedland junction. Via the federal road 27 then up Bad Sooden-Allendorf. Follow the local signs up to the museum.
- Coming from the south in the direction of Bad Hersfeld: Leave the A4 motorway at junction 32 (Bad Hersfeld). Then follow the B 27 via Bebra and Eschwege Bad Sooden-Allendorf consequences.
Parking spaces are available in front of the entrance.
By train
- The nearest train station is Bad Sooden-Allendorf on the route Goettingen - Bebra. There are continuous regional train connections from Göttingen (ICE connection) and Fulda (ICE connection) to Bad Sooden-Allendorf.
- From the train station in Bad Sooden it is an easy 4 km walk to the museum. On this route you cross the worth seeing Werra and the historic half-timbered town of Allendorf.
museum
The Schifflersgrund Border Museum was opened on October 3rd, 1991 and is one of the oldest for the memory of the former GDR border in Germany. The border museum is located in the original location where the German-German border system ran until 1989. The structure of the former border security systems can be viewed, as well as numerous military vehicles, but also helicopters, which were used on both sides for border security. In some exhibition containers, background information can usually be seen on collaged exhibition boards, some of which seem very improvised, newer boards are much more professional. A container serves as a cinema; here is a. to see a film about the wall, also in foreign languages. Escape attempts are also reported on the basis of individual examples. In 2009 the museum had about 45,000 visitors.
Some citizens founded Grenzinformation e. V., in order to secure parts of the border system so that the observation tower BT-9 and around 1,000 m of border fence with control strips and patrol path remained in their original condition. Here it is shown how over four decades an almost insurmountable border as the "Iron Curtain" separated Germany and Europe in west and east, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. It is explained that observation towers, barbed wire, expanded metal and mines were used over 1,378 km to prevent people from the GDR from entering the West. In the following years, the border museum was able to acquire further exhibits, such as original border control houses from 1990 and a large number of vehicles and helicopters. This technology was used for border security by border troops of the GDR and the Federal Border Guard (today Federal Police). Many guests from Germany and abroad, but also the many groups of schoolchildren, can be given a comprehensive overview of the inhumane system of border security in the GDR.
useful information
address
Border Museum Schifflersgrund
37318 Asbach-Sickenberg
Phone: 036087/98409
Fax: 036087/98414
opening hours
- November – February: closed on Mondays; Tue – Fri 10 am–4pm; Sat-Sun 11 am-4pm
- March-October: Mon-Sun 10 am-5pm
entry
- Adults: € 3.50; Reduction: € 2.50; Children up to 10 years free; Guided tours € 20 per group (as of 12-2009)
