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Between 1972 and 1974, the GDR erected a new control portal on a 35-hectare (86-acre) field situated on a hill near
Marienborn, about 1.5 km (1,600 yards) east of the border. The control portal was staffed with as many as 1,000 passport control, customs, and border police employees. The
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The restrictive East German controls and the ever-increasing amount of traffic soon resulted in notable waiting times on the West German side. Therefore, the West German government added extensive
365:, the border crossing was expanded extensively and security was increased during the following years. However, the original checkpoint was eventually regarded too unsafe to operate efficiently.
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On the grounds of the former East German border control buildings, the "Gedenkstätte
Deutsche Teilung Marienborn" was opened on August 13, 1996. The memorial is operated by the state of
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322:. The connection between these checkpoints gained its importance from being the shortest connection between the western zones and Berlin, at 170 km (110 miles). During the
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had assumed control of the operative controls on the western side of the border crossing, where the buildings were notably smaller compared with
Marienborn.
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during late 1989. The crossing was dismantled at midnight on June 30, 1990, exactly 45 years after its first opening. The former GDR buildings have been a
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The
Helmstedt-Marienborn checkpoint was one of three checkpoints used by the Western Allies. Its western side (in the former British zone) was labeled
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and features exhibitions and guided tours. The memorial site is accessible via the nearby rest stop's exit and can only be explored on foot.
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buildings were linked with a tunnel system, through which military or police units could reach the control portal quickly and secretly.
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military traffic to and from West Berlin. Due to the increasing tensions between the
Western Allies and the Soviet Union during the
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road was expanded to six lanes. A rest stop with a motel has now been built on part of the old GDR control portal's area.
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also used this crossing. The border crossing existed from 1945 to 1990 and was situated near the East German village of
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The West German buildings near
Helmstedt have either been demolished or are now used for other purposes.
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A checkpoint was established on the site on 1 July 1945, which was on the demarcation line between the
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357:) performed the border control on the eastern side of the checkpoint while the Soviet Army escorted
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The
Western Allies kept control of their checkpoint on the western side, with small garrisons of
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since
October 1990, however the former GDR departures area was demolished when the
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476:. The Allied side of the checkpoint for entry into West Berlin was named
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Looking down on
Helmstedt–Marienborn from the West German side in 1967
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as a state. That changed in 1973, when the GDR was admitted to the
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The nomenclature of "checkpoint", as opposed to the East German
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Former control point, passport control booths at GDR immigration
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Halt! Hier Grenze - Auf den Spuren der innerdeutschen Grenze
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Helmstedt–Marienborn from the Soviet
Occupation Zone in 1949
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was the Allied checkpoint for entry into (and exit from)
312:. Its counterpart in the Berlin southern borough of
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Defunct border checkpoint at the Inner German border
553:Friedrich Christian Delius and Peter Joachim Lapp,
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Helmstedt–Marienborn border crossing within Germany
49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
636:The Berlin Wall : a world divided, 1961-1989
300:The most important inner-German checkpoint, the
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377:East German stamps in a West German passport
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335:Group of Soviet Occupation Forces In Germany
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109:Learn how and when to remove this message
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413:stationed in Helmstedt. The West German
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446:Border controls were relaxed after the
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58:"Helmstedt–Marienborn border crossing"
337:. From 1950 onwards, the East German
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151:Helmstedt–Marienborn border crossing
47:adding citations to reliable sources
681:Grenzübergang Helmstedt-Marienborn
165:Grenzübergang Helmstedt-Marienborn
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748:1990 disestablishments in Germany
216:(A 2) between the junctions
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557:Berlin: Ch.Links Verlag, 2000.
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728:History of transport in Germany
639:(1st U.S. ed.). New York:
212:. The crossing interrupted the
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541:Die Autobahn Berlin-Helmstedt
519:Entrance of the memorial site
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704:52.215514°N 11.081044°E
543:, Reimer-Verlag 1984,
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184:during the
722:Categories
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620:References
441:rest areas
316:was named
314:Dreilinden
206:Marienborn
69:newspapers
437:car parks
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176:) by the
168:), named
156:‹See Tfd›
659:76481596
603:See also
363:Cold War
333:and the
302:Autobahn
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