Grenzwandler Project

Grenzwandler is a project by XR Anywhere, an agency specialising in immersive media and interactive projects, and Rocinante Film, a production company for documentaries and feature films.

The idea

Along the former inner-German border, visitors discover the Green Belt through the authentic accounts of eyewitnesses. Their smartphones bring these stories to life, bringing eyewitnesses, local residents and glimpses of the past into the present .

The Green Belt

The Green Belt along the former inner-German border is a 343 km-long nature reserve and home to 1,200 endangered species, designated as a National Natural Monument. At the same time, the aim is to keep historical memory alive.

The app has been developed with support by the state of Saxony-Anhalt with the goal to not only establish new walking routes through the Green Belt but also to enable engagement with its turbulent history. What makes it special is that the location-based tours are not merely a collection of information but stand-alone documentary formats in their own right. Each one explores new forms of ‘spatial storytelling’.

Publication

New Grenzwandler tours have been published on an ongoing basis since 2021.

Our partners

The project was made possible by cultural funding from the State of Saxony-Anhalt as part of the Green Belt cultural promotion programme. The project was also supported by Lotto Sachsen-Anhalt GmbH, the Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship, and the Foundation for Volunteering and Civic Engagement.

Special thanks go to our cooperation partner, the “Gedenkstätte Deutsche Teilung Marienborn”, which supports us both in terms of content and educational approach. We were also supported in the implementation by local partners, who are named on the respective tour pages.

A map visualisation by @TERENCE was used for the homepage.

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