Federal German border warning sign

• enamelled sheet iron
• around 1980
• width: 48 cm

The signs were generally attached to white plastic posts with a red top or a blue one in Bavaria. The boundary marked with boundary stones ran directly behind them. The signs initially bore the inscription “Stop/ Here/ Zonal border/ German border police” and from the 1970s “Stop/ Here/ Border/ German border police.” Yet the exact wording varied.

The Federal Republic of Germany did not erect any barriers or security installations on the inner German border. From a West German perspective the inner German border held a particular legal status and was viewed as an open border. Residents and visitors had the opportunity to move freely within the exclusion area. They were averted to the border by warning signs.