Border Crossing Marienborn Was The Biggest Inner German Border

MARIENBORN, GERMANY - OCTOBER 07: A country symbol of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR, also DDR) is pictured inside a eastern German car, Trabant, at the border checkpoint Helmstedt-Marienborn memorial on October 7, 2009 in Marienborn, Germany. The Border checkpoint Helmstedt-Marienborn was the largest and most important border crossing on the Inner German border during the division of Germany. Due to its geographical location, allowing for the shortest land route between West Germany and West Berlin, most transit traffic to and from West Berlin was handled by the Helmstedt-Marienborn crossing. Most travel routes from West Germany to East Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia also used this crossing. The border crossing existed from 1945 to 1990 and was situated near the East German village of Marienborn at the edge of the Lappwald. Germany will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which preceded the end of communist rule across Eastern Europe, on November 09, 2009. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)