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AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE IRON CURTAIN
are still referred to by the garden owners as Staatsdraht, or government wire
(Klausmeier and Schmidt 2004:35). Some traces of the electricity that was
required at the border strip have survived in Berlin (for examples see
Klausmeier and Schmidt 2004:62, 173, 230, 267). The electricity was particularly
important to keep the many floodlights in the border area going.
They made sure the border strip was always illuminated. Some of these
lights are still used today whilst others remain in the landscape without a
purpose (Figure 5).
Figure 5: Floodlight still present near the Bernauer Straße Berlin Wall Memorial no longer
connected or used. Photo: Anna McWilliams
Between the light strip and the hinterland wall were the control paths and
the dog runs. The long paths were often constructed in macadam or, more
commonly, asphalt. Many sections of these paths survive today and some
are reused for other purposes for example cycle paths (Klausmeier and
Schmidt 2004:60). These paths stretched along the border to facilitate patrolling
but also functioned as access roads to bring troops to and from their
posts as well as bringing provisions to the watch towers and command
posts. The watch towers are often part of the western view of what the Wall
looked like as they were clearly visible from the West. They were located
next to the patrol paths and as a clear, physical reminder of the wall great
care was taken to remove these as well when the wall was demolished in the
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