Die Grenze

Since time immemorial, we have been grappling with them: children test their limits; national borders are contested; medicine postpones death, the ultimate boundary, further and further away. Yet the more we try to dissolve boundaries, the more they return: the EU strengthens its external borders; our lifestyle forces us to think in terms of limits to contain the consequences of our actions. In a paradoxical jumble, the drawing of boundaries and their dissolution seem to overlap. Some lament the fall of state borders as a cultural extinction; others advocate for barrier-free access in every respect as a forward-looking approach. In such a situation, critical reflection is necessary to discern which boundaries are meaningful and which are not. In a tour through our culture, the author explores how boundaries are established, what they mean, and.