You can follow the path about 1/4 mile to see the old fences up close and even climb the watch tower. There is a piece of original road that the soldiers used as a pathway and larger items (gates, posts) as well as photographs and maps inside, but the real attraction is outside. Our group of teachers came to Point Alpha to speak with an education expert, but got so much more than a lecture! The museum is very well done and includes many different types of artifacts with explanations in multiple languages. This is a very special place, deeply thought provoking, and I am grateful to the curators, designers and artists who created this museum for exceeding all expectations! Youth hostels 30 years ago were more comfortable! Perhaps the highlight of my visit was walking past a visiting retired US soldier who was touring the barracks with a retired member of the NVA, the former East German army, whose duty apparently had been guarding the border from the other side, and witnessing the curiosity and respect between the two of them, as they were comparing notes. The barracks of the US observation point are well maintained, and the frugality of military accommodations impressed me. The brutality of the fortifications are described, but in a calm, serious manner that is engaging but never sensationalistic. My 9- and 12-year-old sons and I spent more than 2 hrs here, and talked a lot more about the experience. The exhibits in the museum are carefully chosen, well executed, and together illustrate vividly mutual fear, intimidation and determination that characterized the Cold War. Well designed memorial and museum of the menacing border between the former GDR and West Germany, and the US military observation point right next to it at this strategically critical location in Central Europe.
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