Divided Landscapes, Divided Peoples: An Archaeology of the Iron Curtain Between Czechoslovakia and Western Germany

The Iron Curtain served as a physical barrier that divided Europe and separated people living in Soviet-controlled countries from the West. In this chapter, we examine the impact of the Iron Curtain on the district of Tachov, in the former Czechoslovakia. Using the evidence of archaeological survey and excavation, we identify three chronological phases in the development of the Iron Curtain from the 1950s–1980s, mapping changes in wire barriers and high-voltage fences, mine fields, observation towers, and the barracks used by the former border guards and military garrisons. Although ostensibly long gone, we suggest that the idea of the Iron Curtain as a boundary is still present in the landscape and in the minds of local residents today.