Berlin Wall Sites Near Zimmerstraße Escape Tunnels
Two escape tunnels were dug on Zimmerstraße, close to Checkpoint Charlie. In summer 1962, a tunnel from an empty lot in the West to Zimmerstraße 56 in the East enabled an East German family to escape, but during the attempt 20-year-old border guard Reinhold Huhn was shot dead by an escape helper. In January 1972, three young East Berliners dug their own tunnel at Zimmerstraße 8–9 and reached the West with a great deal of luck. Bronze memorial plaques donated by Berliner Unterwelten mark both sites.
15 Berlin Wall Sites Within Walking Distance
Zimmerstraße Escape Tunnels
Two escape tunnels were dug on Zimmerstraße, close to Checkpoint Charlie. In summer 1962, a tunnel from an empty lot in the West to Zimmerstraße...
Peter Fechter Gedenkstele
A memorial cross marks the spot where 18-year-old Peter Fechter was shot by border guards on 17 August 1962 while trying to escape to the...
Mauermuseum – Haus am Checkpoint Charlie
Founded in 1962 by human rights activist Rainer Hildebrandt, this museum documents the ingenuity and desperation of escape attempts from East Berlin. Exhibits include a...
Checkpoint Charlie
At Friedrichstraße, and featured in many cold-war era spy movies and books, this was the most famous of the border crossings. It was the only...
U-Bahnhof Stadtmitte (U6)
Like Alexanderplatz, Stadtmitte was a split station. The U2 platform operated normally for East Berliners (as "Otto-Grotewohl-Straße"), while the physically separate U6 platform was sealed...
Internationales Pressezentrum
The GDR's official press centre for foreign correspondents, where Günter Schabowski held his historic press conference on 9 November 1989. Asked when new travel regulations...
Topographie des Terrors
Built on the site of the former Gestapo and SS headquarters, this documentation center features a 200m section of the original Berlin Wall along Niederkirchnerstraße....
Niederkirchnerstraße Wall Remains
A 200-metre preserved section of the Berlin Wall running along Niederkirchnerstraße, between the Martin-Gropius-Bau and the Topography of Terror documentation centre. This is one of...
U-Bahnhof Französische Straße
After serving as a U6 ghost station from 1961 to 1990, this station operated normally for 30 years before being permanently closed on 4 December...
S-Bahnhof Potsdamer Platz
One of the best-known ghost stations. The Wall ran directly through Potsdamer Platz above, turning what was once Europe's busiest intersection into empty wasteland. Below,...
Ausstellung zum Mauergedenken
This open-air exhibition at Potsdamer Platz features informational displays mounted between original segments of the Berlin Wall. Created in 2005 to mark the 20th anniversary...
Wachturm Erna-Berger-Straße
One of the very few surviving Berlin Wall watchtowers, this BT-11 type observation tower stands near Potsdamer Platz. Originally part of the border fortification system,...
Heinrich-Heine-Straße
A former border crossing between the Russian and US sectors. There isn't much to see here today. The route of the Berlin Wall is marked...
S-Bahnhof Brandenburger Tor
Originally named "Unter den Linden" when it opened in 1936, this S-Bahn station sits directly beneath the Brandenburg Gate. During the Cold War, Western trains...
DDR Museum
An interactive museum dedicated to everyday life in East Germany. Visitors can sit in a Trabant, explore a reconstructed East German apartment, and learn about...
