Death Strip to Green Belt: Memory and Conservation in Germany

Realms of Memory

For decades the Cold War border between East and West Germany was one of the most militarized places on the planet. Hundreds of East Germans died and thousands more were imprisoned in their attempts to cross it. How did this former death strip become Germany’s largest conservation zone, known as the Green Belt? How did memory become a core feature of the Green Belt and how can mnemonic, or memory strategies, found in the Green Belt help make conservation work more meaningful and lasting? This is the focus of Bates College Environmental Studies Professor Sonja Pieck’s book Mnemonic Ecologies: Memory and Nature Conservation Along the Former Iron Curtain. Episode logo courtesy of Thomas Stephan ©/Thomas Stephan/[e-mail]