Observation Post Alpha

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NATO Observation Post Alpha, watchtower

Observation Post Alpha, OP Alpha or Point Alpha (50°43′08″N, 09°55′33″E) was a Cold War observation post located between Rasdorf, Hessen, West Germany and Geisa, Thuringia, East Germany. The post overlooked the Fulda Gap, considered a prime avenue of invasion during the Cold War. A memorial called Point Alpha commemorates the 40 years that the observation post existed and is dedicated to keep it and a section of East German wall as a reminder of the division of Germany and the Cold War confrontation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact.

1 Observation Post Alpha
2 History
3 Citations
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Observation Post Alpha

East German wall near OP Alpha

Observation Post Alpha was one of four US observation bases along the Hessian German domestic border. Today Point Alpha is the name of a museum on the road between Geisa (Thuringia) and Rasdorf village (Hessen).

The observation base OP Alpha fulfilled an important task of reconnaissance in the defense of NATO with its view of Geisa, once the western most city of the Eastern Bloc. There were similar Warsaw Pact observation posts on the opposite side of the border.

The base overlooked the Fulda Gap on a 411-meter hill, lying in the center of the NATO line of defense, where NATO expected a Warsaw Pact invasion to originate. The name OP Alpha traces back to the fact that it was the first of several points of observation. Geographical conditions at the outpost were also favorable for monitoring radio traffic from the east.

Its designation as a hot spot during the Cold War was a bit misleading since border observation posts served only to observe activity. At the first sign of an invasion the crew from OP Alpha would have withdrawn because forces manning the post were not intended for direct fighting.

[edit] 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 opened fire on a group of West German border policemen, and was shot by one of the West German border troopers when he returned fire.^[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.

[edit] Citations

^ 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 (another) round at a BGS officer. The border incident occurred at Setzelbach in Hessen. This document can be found on the web at http://dip.bundestag.de/btd/14/072/1407234.pdf . 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/