Gate to Freedom

The memorial is located in close proximity to the state border with Austria, near the former "signal road" used by border guards during the monitoring of the border and the Iron Curtain in the totalitarian era. The site of the memorial is 1 km southeast of the former border crossing and customs office in Mikulov. The original signal road is currently a busy tourist path and cycle route. The memorial is designed as a free-standing object composed of 53 verticals - steles, which symbolize the number of victims of the Iron Curtain in this section of the border from 1948 to 1989. The vertical composition of the memorial significantly stands out in the flat, only slightly undulating landscape; the memorial is positioned along the axis of the signal road and is visible even from a distance. The verticals are arranged in an exact square grid within a square perimeter, creating a structure with an internal space for contemplation and meditation. Each of the verticals is made from four steel Corten strips welded in a cross, with the name and year of death of the victim cut into the surface. The steles rise directly from the ground with meadow grass. Opposite the memorial, a bench is designed for resting – a massive horizontal wooden beam under a group of trees.