Open Access

Abstract At the outset of this dissertation, the Bavarian–Czech border region appeared to be a rather unremarkable case in the European context. Unlike at other internal EU borders, renewed border controls had barely been introduced, and there were indications of increasing crossborder integration. Given the region’s complex and historically burdened background, however, it remained unclear how far this process had actually progressed and which factors continued to hinder it. The Bavarian spatial planning instrument of designating cross-border central places was of particular interest in this regard. It suggested close ties between neighboring municipalities along the border. This formed the starting point for two of the three empirical investigations presented here. First, a focus group with local mayors was conducted to discuss the state of cross-border relations and the role of the planning instrument in their cooperation. This was complemented by qualitative interviews with residents to place their everyday lives in relation to the planning postulations. The Covid-19 pandemic, however, partly obscured the initial assumptions. The Bavarian–Czech border region quickly became a pandemic hotspot, which required adjustments to the original research design. The role of cross-border commuters in the ongoing negotiation of the border regime was included as a third relevant topic. As all three approaches address similar localities, their results can be viewed as complementary empirical spotlights and analyzed as part of the social production of a cross-border space. To do so, the dissertation develops a heuristic framework that highlights both the interaction between bordering processes and cross-border integration, and the ways in which local dynamics are embedded in wider developments of European integration. The findings point to two broad modes in the social production of the Bavarian–Czech cross-border border space, each marked by its own ambivalences. They show that cross-border integration is not a linear process, but one that is open, multi-layered and at times contradictory. Localities situated directly at the border emerge as key sites where these tensions become visible. It is in these settings that current debates on overcoming border obstacles and strengthening the resilience of border regions intersect with the everyday lives of the population.