Penn State Altoona News

Friday, October 16, 2009 - 509 hits

The Fall of the Berlin Wall - 20 years: From the "Iron Curtain" to a "European Green Belt"

What happens to borders once they are deemed irrelevant? What became of the Berlin Wall, the structure that encircled the entire city of West Berlin? Moreover, what became of the boundary that divided not only Germany, but all of Europe for almost 40 years: the infamous “Iron Curtain” with its guard towers, walls, metal fences, land mines and watch dogs? Nature has provided a surprising answer, taking over the deserted border areas so that “today a string of beautiful habitats with rare plants and animals connects European landscapes and forms a living monument of European history.” The European Green Belt Initiative tries to convert the former Iron Curtain into a trans-boundary ecological zone that runs right through the center of Europe.

Boris Erg, director and project coordinator for the European Green Belt, will give a lecture on this topic titled "From Division to Cooperation: Converting the former ‘Iron Curtain’ into a trans-European Ecological Network for the Future" on Monday, November 9, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. in room 150 of the Hawthorn building on the Penn State Altoona campus. The event is free and open to the public.