Who would have thought that in the end the Iron Curtain would be brought down not with a bang, but with basketfuls of sandwiches and hot dogs?

And yet that is what happened. On August 19, 1989, at the instigation of the Austrian Euro MP Otto von Habsburg (a name of some resonance in these parts) and the reformist Hungarian Minister of State Imre Pozsgay, it was agreed to hold a “Pan-European Picnic” just outside the Hungarian town of Sopron, right on the border with Austria.

The idea was to open the border for about three hours and allow participants to cross unchecked into Austria, taking a step further a process started two months earlier when the foreign ministers of Hungary and Austria, Gyula Horn and Alois Mock, had picked up some clippers and symbolically cut through the barbed wire.

The picnic organisers reckoned on a crowd of several thousand (it was over 10,000) who would come to enjoy a bite to eat and the removal, albeit temporarily, of the once impregnable Iron Curtain.

What they hadn’t reckoned on was the presence of about 600 canny East Germans who, hearing what was planned, thought they would seize the moment to escape to the West.

The Hungarian border guards turned a blind eye and let the East Germans through. Although the border was subsequently resealed, a chain of events had been set in motion that led, less than three months later, to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Today the site of those dramatic scenes is an international tourist attraction. The Pan-European Picnic Park, as it is now termed, covers a large area of wild woodland (given how close it was to the border it was largely uncultivated). A solitary watchtower – from which soldiers were at one time authorised to fire – is a reminder of how things once were.

In addition to a gate and some stretches of the old barbed-wire barrier, the site contains photographic reminders of what happened here (with good explanations in English). There are also memorials, including a pagoda presented by the Japanese-Hungarian Friendship Society, some cherry trees and plaques containing weighty words on the joys of freedom from politicians such as the then West German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl.

Interesting though all this is, it is not quite enough to justify a visit for any but the keenest of modern-history students.



An exhibition about the opening of the borders in 1989 in Sopron (Photo: Alamy)

The same cannot be said, however, for Sopron – a delightful town dating back to Roman times that contains a wealth of medieval, baroque and rococo architecture second only to that found in Budapest itself.

Just south of Sopron, the Lovérek district is a lovely spot for fresh air and bracing walks in pine-forested hills followed by spa indulgences. To the east, the reedy marshland on the banks of Lake Ferto, a sanctuary for white egrets, great crested grebes and wild geese and a Unesco World Heritage site, is another popular place to relax – and sample the local wines.

Sopron has another unique selling point. The town has some 300 dentists and, while much of the trade comes from nearby (much more expensive) Austria, many of the practices now cater for English-speaking clients. There are worse places you could check in to get yourself a new crown.



The border in 1989 (Photo: Reuters)

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