Completed Research Project

Starting in the early 1970s, the Iron Curtain became increasingly porous: During the "Honecker era," the GDR authorities recorded several million entries from West Berlin, the Federal Republic, and other non-socialist countries each year. Based on tourist travel from West to East Germany, the project explored the reasons for and consequences of the GDR's (re)opening to the West. It analyzed the regime's goals and the numerous obstacles to establishing a successful tourism business. Furthermore, it examined the personal encounters of people from East and West and state attempts to regulate them.