What does one do with an Iron Curtain, once it has been drawn back to let the light in? Turn it into a 4,500 mile heritage trail for tourists, hikers and cyclists, of course:
Spanning the strictly controlled Finnish-Russian border and winding through the former Soviet satellites of the Baltics, the trail will criss-cross the old front line between East and West Germany, and then follow the path of the Danube. Nothing like this has ever been tried and, though cycling its entire length would take more than two months, organisers believe sections of the Iron Curtain trail will become a magnet for everyone from hikers to historians.
The idea of keeping its memory alive comes from a German MEP and Green activist concerned that the watchtowers and barbed wire are disappearing, not just from the consciousness of Europeans, but from the physical landscape. Michael Cramer argues that action is needed to salvage the trail before it is lost. "Some parts of it are being recultivated, some has gone back to nature, some has been returned to former owners or sold off for real estate," he says, sitting in his office in the eight floor of the European Parliament.
[Hat tip: Candy at The Agonist]
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