Bike the Iron Curtain

last updated 8 January 2015

Berlin

E.U. lawmakers this week approved the creation of a hiking and biking trail along the route of the Iron Curtain, the border that once divided the capitalist West from the communist East. First suggested by Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet president, the 4,250-mile trail will stretch from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea. “Only those who know the past will master the future,” said Michael Cramer, the German member of the European Parliament who sponsored the proposal. “Now we can have a ride through the history, culture, and politics of Europe.” Governments of the many countries along the route will be responsible for building and maintaining the trail.