The accommodation, catering and vehicle site with a red line marked on the road.
In normal times, no armoured vehicle must pass forwards of this line or it could be construed as an aggressive move.

Point Alpha was an American base that watched a particular stretch of the border......most of the border was not observed in this way.

From inside the American tower you can see the East German watch tower.

The US tower gives a clear view over the whole border system....but why?

Point Alpha is the area where it was believed a Soviet invasion of West Germany would pass through........the Fulda Gap.

The museum has examples of the original defences in their actual position.

There are also examples of earlier versions of the border but these are just displays.

The location of the actual border line is some distance from the western fence.

This image shows East German border guards on the western side of the fence but still in DDR territory.
They were obviously trusted troops!

The museum is spead over a large area with a number of exhibition halls.