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3: THE MATERIALITY OF THE BERLIN WALL<br />
allowed to enter. There were also signs in German, English, French and<br />
Russian stating “Frontier area – Passage not allowed” (Klausmeier and<br />
Schmidt 2004:22). Although no signs were recorded in the archaeological<br />
survey many of the pillars and railings were found still scattered along the<br />
border landscape. Some of these have been reused, for example incorporated<br />
into fencing to adjoining properties (Klausmeier and Schmidt<br />
2004:229).<br />
The so called ‘perimeter defences’ were located in connection with and<br />
to reinforce the hinterland wall. This was the most eastern facing wall,<br />
constructed with prefabricated concrete sections with a white oblong surrounded<br />
by a grey frame. The side of the hinterland wall facing westward<br />
was painted white to make it easier to spot any unauthorised persons within<br />
this restricted border strip. In some places already existing walls or sides of<br />
buildings were incorporated into the hinterland wall. The perimeter<br />
defences were located to reinforce the hinterland wall where the topography<br />
was particularly difficult and consisted of extra walls, fences and various<br />
obstacles such as the so-called flower bowl barricades, large concrete flower<br />
pots placed so that it would be impossible to drive into the wall with a heavy<br />
vehicle. There were also metal grids on windows located near the hinterland<br />
wall and anti-climb features such as spiky objects.<br />
Much of what remains of the wall in the townscape today is related to<br />
either the perimeter defences or the hinterland wall. Large sections of hinterland<br />
wall can be seen in several places (for examples see Klausmeier and<br />
Schmidt 2004:62 and 91). As this wall was not of interest to the so called<br />
Wallpeckers, who with their pneumatic hammers chipped away at the border<br />
following its fall in 1989, many sections or remains have survived.<br />
Although they may be harder to spot there are also many of the perimeter<br />
defences still located throughout the former route of the border. As these<br />
were much less obvious they also became less important to remove during<br />
the clean-up operations in the early 1990s. These remains such as the steel<br />
arrows located on top of a gate near the border defences by Ostbahnhof<br />
Station in the area Mitte (Klausmeier and Schmidt 2004:188) or the metal<br />
rods barring the windows at a power station at Kopenhagener Strasse in<br />
Pankow (Klausmeier and Schmidt 2004:55) are important to show the<br />
extent and the variety of the border fortifications.<br />
The signalling fence was the next hurdle to get over after the hinterland<br />
wall for anyone trying to escape this route. The signalling fence was more<br />
elastic than other fences making it harder to climb (Klausmeier and<br />
Schmidt 2004:22). These fences have been reused as garden fences and they<br />
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