Josef Altenburger lived at St Margarethen on the border of Austria Hungary border. During the Second World War he was interned as a prisoner of war at Camp Polk, Louisiana, USA.
Three years after he returned home, he found himself looking at barbed wire again, but this time he was close to home.
This picture gallery is his view of the strict border restrictions brought on by the onset of the Cold War.
Border with a reporter
There were very few visitors to the increasingly fortified border fences, and those who came were extremely careful to stick to Austrian territory marked by the artificial ditch and boundary stones. In the west, curiosity soon gave way to indifference, but in the east, anger over the mines and contempt for the system remained.