Berlin Wall

Looking for traces of the Berlin Wall

In the center of Berlin, the Berlin Wall cut the city in half over 43 kilometers. Another 112 kilometers of wall separated West Berlin from the communist part of the city.

Contains Background Information

You can still find this watchtower along the Puschkinallee in the Schlesischer Busch in the Kreuzberg district (photo above). But you will also encounter the remains of the Cold War elsewhere in the city.

East Side Gallery

East Side Gallery, a 1.3-kilometer-long stretch of the Berlin Wall along the Spree, has become a tourist attraction.

The graffiti and paintings at East Side Gallery were refurbished in 2009 to mark the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Wall.

Bernauer Strasse

The relics on Bernauer Strasse have grown into an impressive, kilometer-long memorial, which starts at the (former ghost) Nordbahnhof station and continues to Mauerpark.

Access to the Nordbahnhof metro station was on East German territory but through which a West German metro line passed. The trains passed here without stopping.

In the shadow of the church, a memorial has been erected for the victims who dared to cross.

The Versöhnungskirche in Bernauer Strasse, which was a little too close to the Wall for the taste of the GDR, was blown up in 1985. In 2000, the Chapel of Versöhnung was built there.

Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie works like a magnet for tourists, but is the least appealing place. There is not much to see besides a waiting booth at the former border crossing.

One thousand sixty-five crosses at Checkpoint Charlie commemorated the victims who did not survive their attempt to escape to the West. In 2005, the monument was removed (despite protests).

Topography of Terror

Remains of the wall along Niederkirchnerstraße (near the impressive Topographie des Terrors museum).

Bornholmer bridge

The Bornholmer Bridge was one of the border crossings between West and East Berlin. This was the first place where the wall began to crumble on the evening of November 9, 1989.

Rabbit field

The art installation "Kaninchenfeld" (rabbit field) on Chausseestrasse between the Mitte and Wedding districts recalls the abandoned border strip, which provided an ideal habitat for the rabbits.

Kieler Strasse

On Kieler Strasse, not far from Hauptbahnhof, this watchtower is a reminder of the division of the city. Now the tower is surrounded by apartment blocks and is a monument to the first death under the GDR dictatorship: Günter Litfin.

No man's land

A piece of undeveloped no man's land in Voßstraße that was unused until well into the 21st century. In 2014, the grotesque shopping center Mall of Berlin opened its doors.

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