Fulda Gap

A lowland corridor in central Germany between the Vogelsberg and Rhön mountains, regarded during the Cold War as a likely route for a Soviet-led invasion of Western Europe.

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Fulda: A town in Hesse, Germany, near the western end of the Fulda Gap. The town gave the corridor its name and anchored nearby defensive planning.
Division of Germany: The postwar separation of Germany into distinct political states and occupation zones. Germany's division placed the corridor near the boundary between NATO and Warsaw Pact forces.
V Corps (United States): A United States Army corps that served in West Germany during the Cold War. V Corps was responsible for defending a sector that included the corridor.
North German Plain: A broad lowland region in northern Germany extending toward the North Sea and Baltic Sea. It was another major avenue considered for a Warsaw Pact advance into West Germany.
Hessian Central Uplands: A region of uplands and basins in central Hesse, Germany. The corridor is a lowland passage through this broader terrain.
Occupation of Germany: The Allied military administration of Germany after its defeat in 1945. Occupation zones established the postwar geography that made central Germany a strategic frontier.
11th Armored Cavalry Regiment: A United States Army armored cavalry regiment stationed in West Germany during the Cold War. The regiment conducted surveillance and screening missions near the inter-German border.
Hof Gap: A corridor in northeastern Bavaria near the Czechoslovak border, considered a possible route into West Germany. It offered a southern alternative to the central German corridor.
Rhön Mountains: A mountain range spanning parts of Hesse, Bavaria, and Thuringia in Germany. The Rhön forms one side of the corridor's natural terrain barriers.
Berlin Blockade: The Soviet Union's 1948–1949 blockade of land access to West Berlin. The crisis sharpened Western concern about Soviet pressure in divided Germany.