Dramatic reading and panel discussion on the former inner-German border: “Infrastructure—Interrupted Paths and Life Stories, a Divided Country.” Followed by informal conversation over soup and drinks.
Where the Border Once Ran: A Scenic Reading and Discussion at the Green Belt in Dömitz
Dömitz, November 9, 2026: Exactly 37 years to the day after the fall of the Berlin Wall, BUND, in cooperation with the German Cultural Council (DKR), invites you to a special evening. At 7:00 p.m. at KADE—Kulturort an der Elbe—the focus will be on how the inner-German border transformed paths, landscapes, and life stories.
“On the Path to World Heritage: The Green Belt—A Natural and Cultural Landscape” is the name of the event series advocating for the recognition of the former border strip as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In Dömitz, the focus will be on “Infrastructure—Interrupted Paths and Life Stories, Divided Land.”
The event kicks off with a staged reading accompanied by music. Two narrators known from radio and theater will read texts from the Green Belt app. Stories that took place along the Green Belt: from flight and escape attempts to razed villages and the crossing of the border. A guitarist accompanies the reading live, lending the words space and weight. In the background, historical and current photos, films, and archival materials about the Green Belt are displayed.
This is where the past and present converge: the death strip of yesteryear and the landscape it has become today. Following the event, panelists will discuss the traces the division has left on the landscape and society to this day. And what does the Green Belt mean today for remembrance, nature conservation, and our shared future?
