In 1989 history was made at this memorial park. The Pan-European Picnic was a peaceful demonstration at the Austrian-Hungarian border close to the town of Sopron (Ödenburg). With the agreement of both countries, the border crossing on the old pressburg road between St. Margarethen in Burgenland and Sopronköhida (Steinambrückl) in Hungary was to be symbolically opened for three hours.
Before the official planned start of the event at 3 o'clock p.m. on the 19th of August 1989, refugees from the GDR (former East Germany) arrived at the location and fled across the border in several waves. The Hungarian border police had received orders not to intervene in the events, which became the first significant milestone on the road to German reunification.
The memorial park with its attractive grounds, footpaths with informative displays, the peace bell and the vestiges of the Iron Curtain is well worth a visit.
