An East/West Road Trip

An East/West Road trip

Unlike the citizens of East Germany living behind the Iron Curtain, West Germans traveled extensively throughout the Cold War. By 1970, West Germany’s Hallstein Doctrine had ended, meaning West Germans were free to interact liberally with nations that had recognized the DDR. Road Trip German Passport

Ostpolitik Road Trip German Passport

The early 1970s also saw the rise of Détente and West Germany’s ‘Ostpolitik,’ which also relaxed tensions between the East and the West. This era of Détente was formalized in 1975 by the Conference on Security and Cooperation (CSCE), which led to the signing of the Helsinki Accords. Interestingly, President Ford of the USA was seated next to the DDR’s leader, Erich Honecker.

 

The Trips of a West German Student

The 24-year-old West German student explored Europe and North Africa with travel freedom, documenting road trips and border crossings. In 1978, he drove from West Germany to Calais and took a ferry to Dover, UK.

Eastern Europe

He also moved extensively throughout Eastern Europe, going to the DDR, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. He obtained a visa from the Czechoslovak commercial representation in Frankfurt (West Germany) to enter Czechoslovakia. Furthermore, he later got a Polish visa from Poland’s embassy in Bonn. Road Trip German Passport

He drove through Podkoren (Austro-Slovenia border) on his way down to the beaches of Yugoslavia. In 1974, he went to Spain, then took a ferry to Ceuta, a Spanish territory in North Africa, before entering Morocco at Bab-Sebta checkpoint.

Détente eased Cold War tensions, but those behind the Iron Curtain saw exotic journeys as impossible luxuries. They would have to wait until 1989 to travel and discover the world.

 

 

The article was written by my friend Mat.