Paneuropean Picnic Facts for Kids

Border crossing which was the site of the Pan-European Picnic

Pan-European Picnic monument by Miklós Melocco

The Paneuropean Picnic (also spelled Pan-European Picnic) was an event that took place on the border between Austria and Hungary near Sopron, Hungary. The event took place on August 19, 1989.

The event
- Problem
- Result
Remembering the event
- Memorials
Images for kids
See also

The event

The event was planned to be a peaceful demonstration. Both countries agreed to open a gate in the border fence, between Sankt Margarethen im Burgenland (near Eisenstadt), and Sopronkőhida (Steinambrückl) on the Hungarian side of the border.

The leaders of the time were Otto von Habsburg and the Hungarian minister, Imre Pozsgay. The person who did the actual cutting of the border fence was the general secretary of the International Paneuropean Union, Walburga Habsburg Douglas. The gate was to be symbolically opened for three hours.

Problem

More than 600 citizens of the German Democratic Republic took the chance to cross into the west once the Iron Curtain was opened. They had been told about the event by its organizers. At that time, the Hungarian border police still had orders to shoot anyone trying to cross the border illegally. However, they acted carefully and did not shoot at the fleeing people, this time.

Result

The number of people who actually crossed the border to enter the west was only a few hundred on that first day. On the following days, the border was watched more closely, due to orders by the Hungarian government. Therefore, a smaller number of people managed to flee then. Hungary opened its borders to citizens of East Germany on 11 September 1989.

Remembering the event

Today, the Paneuropean Picnic is seen as one of the important events that led to the end of the German Democratic Republic and the Cold War, the fall of the Iron Curtain, and the unification of the two German states.

The event is celebrated every year on 19 August on the spot where the border was opened.

Memorials

Today, artwork made by Hungarian artists is at the place where the fence was cut. It shows a partly opened door.

In 1996, a 10 meter statue was built in Fertőrákos near Sopron. It was made by Gabriela von Habsburg. It shows a piece of barbed wire. From far away, it looks like a cross.