Helmstedt Support Detachment (Source: Jan Willem Kooistra, the Netherlands) Checkpoint "Alpha," 1976 - The photo was taken on an agricultural study trip organized by a Dutch rural organization. Taken from the back of the bus, the camera is looking towards the West German side. The reason for taking the picture at the time was basically an act of defiance of the signs "NO photographs!" I was pretty scared. Once I'd taken it, I hid my camera hoping no one had seen me taking the picture (as there were watchtowers all over). But 35 years after the deed it has sort of become a momento of a lost world. From what I can remember the "Western" part of the border crossing went pretty smoothly, maybe a soldier coming into the bus to check/glance at passports. I can't quite remember but it couldn't have been much more than that. Getting into the DDR proper took the better part of two or three hours though.