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A green belt now spans the continent where the Iron Curtain used to divide it: a unique ecosystem at the nexus of wilderness and cultivation.

The Iron Curtain divided Europe for over 40 years into two totally different worlds. Extending from the Russian-Norwegian coast of the Baltic to the Black Sea was a no-man’s-land in which human activities became impossible. During the Cold War, nature could remain largely undisturbed in this 12,500-kilometer boundary strip that became a refuge for endangered species. It ran from sub-arctic Lapland along the Baltic coast, across the mountains and through the river valleys of Central Europe down to the Bulgarian-Turkish border. Today, the European Green Belt is the continent’s most ambitious nature conservation project. Hundreds of associations, groups and agencies in 24 countries are currently at work implementing a vision of preserving what was once a death zone as a one-of-a-kind space in which life can flourish. Austria is playing an especially active role in this initiative.

The exhibition showcased this extraordinary project that seeks to assure the long-term preservation of these diverse landscapes and their natural and cultural value. The project also hosted a scholarly conference whose aim was to establish the direction in which these border regions in the very heart of Europe could and should develop in the future. The program of events accompanying the exhibition included two excursions for school classes to a nearby section of the Green Belt.

The European Green Belt exhibit ran from mid-2009 to January 2010. Attendance was excellent: approximately 90,000 visitors came to the Schlossmuseum.


WHAT // Exhibition
WHEN // July 4, 2009 – January 10, 2010
WHERE // Castle Museum Linz

IDEA / CONCEPT // Thomas Wrbka, Katharina Zmelik, Franz Michael Grünweis (University of Vienna), Checo Sterneck (exhibition architect)
ADVISORY PANEL // Gerhard Aubrecht, Peter Assmann, Stephan Weigl (OÖ Landesmuseen), Hannes Kunisch, Bernhard Schön (OÖ Umweltakademie), Josef Limberger (OÖNB) und Alois Lang (IUCN)