Mahnmal Bodesruh, Memorial tower on the former inner German border near Kleinensee, Germany.
Mahnmal Bodesruh is a concrete observation tower roughly 17 meters tall standing directly at the former inner German border near Heringen. From the top, visitors look out over the Gerstunger Basin and Werra Valley extending toward the Thuringian Forest.
The tower was built in 1963 by the municipality of Kleinensee and the state of Hesse, then inaugurated in 1964. It was erected where returnees from prisoner-of-war camps once waited near the line dividing east from west.
The monument honors those who returned from prisoner-of-war camps after the war and waited at the border. It became a place of remembrance for the division of Germany and the hardships it caused.
Access to the observation platform is via an external staircase with views in all directions. The site is located away from major settlements, so plan accordingly for travel time.
After reunification, plans existed for a second identical tower on the Thuringian side to create a connection across the former border. The plan never came to fruition, leaving the tower as a one-sided memorial.
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