--- In BoundaryPoint@y..., "Pepijn Hendriks" <pepijnh@b...> wrote:
> Jesper Nielsen wrote:
>
> >Well for me my interest in borders comes from that very thin line
that
> >means alot. I enjoyed travelling to the Danish-German border this
> >year. I drove along the border on the German side and just 5
meters or
> >so across the line I passed a German house, German flag waving in
the
> >wind, German number plates, a Deutche Post van entering the
driveway.
> >Shops were advertising their goods in DM. Looking back into
Denmark,
> >signs were in Danish. There is no Iron Curtain or any other big
> >divider, but yet the difference is clear.
>
> This gives me an opportunity to introduce myself as a new member of
> this fascinating group.
This also gives me an opportunity to introduce myself as a new
member! I live in England where I first got interested in borders as
a child when my parents bought me a jigsaw of a map of England and
Wales where each of the pieces represented a county. This was in the
late 1960s so the old pre-1974 county boundaries were still in place
including the exclaves of Flintshire which always intrigued me as I
did the puzzle (they were included in the Denbighshire piece!).
I think my interests in borders really took off when I explored
continental Europe for the first time in the 1970s and in 1977 I
visited Berlin. Yes of course I found the Wall fascinating, but what
really intrigued me were the strange areas on the West Berlin
streetplan with names as such as Erlengrund, Fichtewiese and Wüste
Mark. What was there? Why were they not part of the DDR? Thanks to
Boundary Point (and especially Mats Hessman's excellent photos!) many
of my questions have been answered, although I still have others
which I hope I'll be permitted to ask here!
Since then I have travelled across European borders many times, but
as I always prefer to travel by train I don't really get a chance to
stop and look closely at them! But I always watch out from the train
window ready to spot the border. My points of reference are usually
the metal support masts carrying the overhead wires for the trains
(assuming the line is electrified), for instance German ones are
usually green, Belgian ones grey, French ones unpainted metal, Danish
ones a sort of rusty colour (but Austrian ones are generally made of
concrete!). So once they change I know I've crossed the border! But I
also look out for other signs, e.g number plates of parked cars by
houses and farms.
About 4 years ago I travelled from Zittau to Görlitz by train
which
was fascinating as I crossed the German-Polish border 4 times. I'd
love to ride on the Vennbahn and maybe I'll get round to that one day
soon!
Best Wishes,
David (from Reading, England)