Open the door and gate
Closed gates divide, open gates connect. Visible from afar, two twelve-meter-high oak trunks rise into the sky like a gateway, offering a hopeful view across the Green Belt from both sides: Since 2002, "Das WestÖstliche Tor" has stood on the Kutschenberg between Teistungen and Duderstadt south of the Harz Mountains.
It was erected by the two artists Anka Förster and Robert Schätzle. Mikhail Gorbachev, the former President of the Soviet Union, traveled to the inauguration of the artwork in person. The mighty trunks are connected to the ground with a stainless steel band. Its halves are welded together in the middle - just as East and West are growing back together into a single unit. This is also symbolized by the young trees that frame the installation and remind us to treat the natural treasures of the Green Belt with care.