Observation Post Alpha

Contemporary border fence and NATO observation tower monument, near Rasdorf, Germany.

Observation Post Alpha, OP Alpha or Point Alpha (50°43′26.15″N 09°55′54.68″E / 50.7239306°N 9.9318556°E / 50.7239306; 9.9318556Coordinates: 50°43′26.15″N 09°55′54.68″E / 50.7239306°N 9.9318556°E / 50.7239306; 9.9318556) was a Cold War observation post between Rasdorf, Hesse, West Germany and Geisa, Thuringia, East Germany. The post overlooked the Fulda Gap, which would have been a prime invasion route had the Cold War erupted into actual warfare. The "Point Alpha" memorial commemorates its forty-year existence, and was dedicated to keep it and a section of East German wall as reminders of German division and the confrontation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact in the Cold War.

Observation Post Alpha

East German wall near OP Alpha

Observation Post Alpha was one of four US observation posts along the Hessian German domestic border. Today, "Point Alpha" is the name of a museum on the road between Geisa (Thuringia) and Rasdorf village (Hesse). OP Alpha fulfilled NATO defence reconnaissance with its view of Geisa, then the western-most city of the Eastern Bloc; the Warsaw Pact had counterpart observation posts on their side of the Iron Curtain.

NATO Observation Post Alpha, watchtower

The OP overlooked the Fulda Gap from atop a 411-meter hill, lying in the centre of the NATO defence line — from where NATO expected a Warsaw Pact invasion. The name OP Alpha dates to its being the first such point; geography also allowed monitoring Communist radio traffic. At the first sign of an invasion the OP Alpha crew would have withdrawn, as the actual planned battlefields to meet a Warsaw Pact invasion lay a couple of kilometers to the west.

History

East German watchtower adjacent to OP Alpha

• 1962 A border incident occurred near the future location of OP Alpha. An East German border guard captain fired at a group of West German border policemen, and in turn was shot by one of the West German border policemen.^[1]
• 1965 Responsibility for border surveillance in the area was turned over from the German BGS to the U.S. Army. In the years following, construction of observation structures was accomplished.
• 1968 The first observation tower made of wood was established, replaced in 1982 with a steel tower and again in 1985 with the current concrete tower. It also became the base of the U.S. 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment.
• 1972 The U.S. 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment ("Blackhorse Regiment") assumed the post. Under normal circumstances, approximately 40 soldiers were stationed for four weeks at OP Alpha. In crisis situations the garrison strength rose to 200 men.
• 1991 The U.S. Army withdrew from the post following the fall of the German Democratic Republic ("East Germany").

Following reunification, the post was supposed to be removed along with the other remaining observation posts at the German border. However, a citizens initiative was formed to prevent its destruction. By the end of 1994, the camp was used as an accommodation for asylum-seekers and in 1995 it was placed under historical protection. That same year the border museum association Rhön Point Alpha was created and began the construction of the today's memorial with the support of the Thuringian state government.

The museum complex covers not only the NATO observation post on the Hessian side, but also a strip of the original border protection systems of East Germany, including a visitor's center on Thuringia side.

Citations

1. ^ Deutscher Bundestag, 14. Wahlperiode, Drucksache, 14/7234, 26. 10. 2001, Schriftliche Fragen mit den in der Woche vom 22. Oktober 2001, eingegangenen Antworten der Bundesregierung, Antwort des Parlamentarischen Staatssekretärs Fritz Rudolf Körper, vom 19. Oktober 2001 (Written questions of the 14th Voting Period of the German Federal Bundestag [house of government], answer of the Parliamentary State Secretary Fritz Rudolf Körper on October 19, 2001). On August 14, 1962, Oberjäger T.P. of the BGS shot and killed DDR Army Hauptmann R.A. when he observed R.A. preparing to fire again at a BGS officer. The border incident occurred at Setzelbach, Hesse. This document can be found on the web at [1] . An article from the Frankfurter Rundschau on August 9, 2002, further reports on this amazing story, identifying the BGS trooper as Hans Plüschke and the DDR border officer as Rudi Arnstadt. Plüschke's 1962 shot struck Arnstadt in the right eye, killing him instantly. On March 15, 1998, Hans Plüschke, who had become a taxi driver, was found murdered on Highway 84 between Rasdorf and Hünfeld, shot in the right eye. German authorities considered the possibility that this was a 36-year-delayed act of revenge by former DDR agents. The article can be viewed on the web at: http://www.stasiopfer.de/component/option,com_simpleboard/Itemid,/func,view/id,1029014251/catid,4/

See also

• Fulda Gap

External links

• www.pointalpha.com - Official website of the memorial

Notes

This article incorporates information from the revision as of July 30, 2006 of the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.