Visit one of Berlin’s most famous relics of the Cold War. Once a place of chilling fear and dramatic escape attempts, it is now one of the city's big attractions.
At one time, Checkpoint Charlie was the main crossing point of the Berlin Wall for soldiers, foreigners and diplomats on the Allied side. The famous sign reading: “You are now leaving the American sector”, remains as a reminder of the Cold War that divided the city from 1961 to 1989. Towering over the site is a replica guardhouse, once a place of fear and anxiety for Berliners on a daily basis. The site can be found on Friedrichstrasse, a major street in central Berlin.
Back in 1961, hundreds of citizens were attempting to flee East Germany. To put a stop to this, their government built the Berlin Wall. At first, it was a basic barbed wire fence, but soon it evolved into a 155-kilometre-long wall of concrete. It was at Checkpoint Charlie in 1961 that a dramatic stand-off between Russian and American tanks took place. Today, you can still find guards wandering the scene, though they do not strike quite the same fear into those around – they are actors posing for photographs.
An array of souvenir stalls sell items including imitation Russian military caps and other Cold War items nearby. Visit the Haus Am Checkpoint Museum for a documented history of the checkpoint and the wall. It opened only a year after the wall was erected and offers visitors the chance to experience real life tales through personal stories and haunting photographs – including those of the daring people who attempted to escape over the wall. You will find various artefacts from the escapes, including plans of cars with secret compartments and even a hollowed-out surfboard.
There is café at Checkpoint Charlie, but there are also plenty of other places to eat nearby. If you want to take home a Cold War souvenir look no further than the museum shop, where you can even buy small chunks of the original wall.
Visit Checkpoint Charlie by getting the U-Bahn to Kochstrasse.
