Further Media
In the weeks following the fall of the Berlin Wall, Burkhard Strelow witnessed the first "signs of disintegration" in his unit. Armament was reduced to prevent incidents involving crowds of people in the former border strip. The superiors could hardly explain to the young soldiers the purpose of their continued service at the Wall:
“I don't remember what the new orders were. Border security, yes. But that was also questioned: What for? For whom or against whom? They tried to justify it very briefly by saying it was to prevent smuggling. [...] They told us such nonsense. Only very briefly, and then it was all over very quickly.”
Burkhard Strelow began photographing his everyday life as a border guard during this time. This photo with his motorcycle in the border strip would have been unthinkable before the fall of the Wall and taking it would have been severely punished. Now he began to document how he and his fellow soldiers passed the time.