Innerdeutsche

Innerdeutsche Grenze, commonly translated as the inner German border, referred to the fortified boundary and security system between the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) during the Cold War. It existed from the establishment of two German states in 1949 until German reunification in 1990. The border stretched roughly 1,400 kilometers from the Baltic Sea in the north to the border with Czechoslovakia in the south and also encompassed the ring around West Berlin.

The system consisted of multiple layers of defenses, including fences or walls, watchtowers, tripwires, minefields, vehicle barriers, and a no-man's land known as the death strip. It was patrolled by the East German border guards, later the Grenztruppen der DDR, with tens of thousands of personnel at peak. Crossing points were established for transit, trade, and travel, but free movement was tightly restricted.

A notable component was the Berlin Wall, erected in 1961 to prevent East Germans from fleeing via West Berlin. The Wall and related barriers were gradually dismantled after 1989 amid political changes and popular protests.

Following the peaceful revolution in East Germany and the political process of reunification, the border largely ceased to exist on 3 October 1990. The fortifications were removed, and the former border area was integrated into a single German territory. The legacy of the inner German border remains a central symbol of the Cold War.