Interzonal traffic

Inter-zonal traffic was the cross-border traffic between the four designated garrison zones in Germany between 1945 and 1973 that were created in 1945 by the victors of the Second World War.

Following the military occupation of Germany in May 1945, civilians were initially only allowed to leave their place of residence or its immediate vicinity with a permit from the garrison authority of their zone. By June 1945, the bus and train service within the respective garrison zones had been resumed on many stretches. However, the public train service did not run between the garrison zones. Nevertheless, there were numerous travelers who crossed the extensive uncontrolled boundaries between the garrison zones on foot, by bicycle or by hitch-hiking.

On June 30, 1946, the boundary between the Soviet garrison zone and the Western garrison zones (the American, British and French zones) was blocked. The Soviet military administration in Germany (SMAD) had previously asked the Allies to secure the line of demarcation to the Western zones. A special identification card, the Inter-zones Travel Passport (Germany), known as the inter-zones passport, was introduced by the Allies. This had to be applied for by citizens wishing to travel in occupied Germany.

The passport was valid for 30 days and only valid for travel between zones within Germany. On July 23, 1946, all restrictions on travel between the British and the American garrison zone were canceled (in preparation for the Bizone). In August 1948 the French zone joined the Bizone to become the Trizone. On July 13, 1948, the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (SMAD) issued a decree that travelers between the Western garrison zones and the Soviet garrison zone would also need a residence permit of the Soviet garrison zone in addition to the inter-zones passport.

As of November 14, 1953, the Federal Republic of Germany agreed with the Western Allies to abandon boundary inspection controls for inter-zone traffic. On November 25, 1953, the inter-zones passport was abolished because the GDR government also stopped checking it. GDR inhabitants now had to apply for a departure permit if they wished to leave the zone's boundary. About 4% of GDR citizens traveled into the West with permission but did not return again.

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