ETZ-Programm ETZ-Programm

Kultur Niederösterreich

Schauplatz Eiserner Vorhang

Association for the Documentation of Contemporary History
an exhibition of the Weitra Democracy Forum
May 1st- October 31st, 2020

The castle is closed for 2020, it will re-opened for your visits in 2021.

FROM STETTIN IN THE BALTIC TO TRIESTE IN THE ADRIATI, AN IRON CURTAIN HAS DESCENDED ACROSS THE CONTINENT" - with these words of warning, former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill in 1946 cautioned against the division of Europe.

The "Iron Curtain" was a European phenomenon and divided the continent over four decades in East and West. It was a direct result of the Cold War which kept the world over this entire period in its tight grip. Based on this global and European importance, which is explained at the very beginning of the exhibition, the actual impact of the "Iron Curtain" on the Lower Austrian-Czechoslovak border is brought closer to the visitors: illustrated by tangible phenomena, the differences between the East and the West, the influence of the "Iron Curtain" on political, social and economic development is demonstrated. The last section of the exhibition explores the overcoming of the "Iron Curtain" and the role of European integration to get over the former polar opposites step-by-step.

History is explained by means of graphs, numerous photographs and previously unpublished documents related to the fate of the people living at the "Iron Curtain" in a vivid way.

The exhibition is divided into eight geographic and into ten thematic areas.