Abstrakt
This article follows how environmental processes enabled contacts between the border regions of South Moravia and Lower Austria in the 1980s. The paper analyzes three cases: pollution of the border river Dyje (Thaya) by an Austrian citric acid factory, events and processes leading to the institutionalization of environmental protection of the unique natural area Podyjí (Thayatal), and the damage caused to Austrian farmers by the extensive use of pesticides by Czechoslovaks.
This paper demonstrates that the natural processes between the long-time interconnected regions were not hindered by the systemic border between the East and West. These regional environmental issues enabled cross-border contacts of the local population and municipalities, but they also led to discussion at an international level.
Thus, they contributed to the ongoing rap-prochement between Austria and former Czechoslovakia.