Between integration and (cross-)border patrimonialization: The territorial dynamics of the former inner German border
For forty years, the Inner German Border represented a major fracture line in German and European political environments. With German reunification, it shifted from a separative function to acting as an interface between the old and the new Länder. Integration tended to be seen as requiring the reality of the border be discounted to better achieve convergence between the physical and political dimensions of the new and previous Länder. However, partition is still widespread in the ways people think and act, and is today even more concretely illustrated in the context of a commemorative and environmentally-driven patrimonialization project for sections of the old border. To what extent does the former Inner German Border embody the complex dynamics of penetrability and frontierization? Drawing on the pioneering example of the “Thuringia Green Belt”, this article examines issues of physical space and identity surrounding the patrimonialization project for the former border, at both the local and European levels.