Berlin Wall Border Crossings

As an important travel hub between the West Berlin sectors, despite it being located entirely in the Soviet occupied West Berlin, its underground U and S-Bahn facilities were only open to West Berlin travelers, for transferring, or to access the border crossing on the ground floor. Nearby: Tränenpalast (Reichstagufer 17), a permanent exhibition of daily […]

The northmost checkpoint within the city stretched from Bösebrücke bridge to Malmöer Straße. This border crossing was the first to be breached after the fall of the wall. It was opened by the border guards after crowds amassed on either side, and they had no choice but to open the border. Nearby: A 200m section […]

A low-profile border crossing, at the intersection of Chausseestraße and Liesenstraße, it was the location of an escape attempt on 8 April 1989, during which shots were fired. Nearby: Berlin Wall History Mile, “Kaninchenfeld” (Rabbit Field), Memorial: “Wiedervereinigung”

The Allied checkpoint on the transit motorway between West Berlin and West Germany. All vehicles travelling the Autobahn corridor to Helmstedt passed through here, making it the counterpart to Checkpoint Alpha at the other end. The East German side at Drewitz was heavily fortified, processing thousands of vehicles daily.

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 designated crossing for foreigners and Allied Forces. Many notable historical incidents took place here, including the intense standoff of Soviet and US tanks in 1961, and the fatal escape attempt […]

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 clearly down the center of nearby Sebastianstraße. The nearby Heinrich-Heine-Straße U-Bahn station was closed and skipped by trains during the wall years.

A former border crossing at Sandkrugbrücke bridge over the Berlin-Spandau Shipping Canal (Spandauer Schifffahrtskanal). Numerous escape attempts took place here, including that of Günter Litfin, who was shot dead. A memorial stone was erected to commemorate him. Nearby: Memorial stone for Günter Litfin, “Sinkende Mauer”, Berlin Wall History Mile

Crossing the River Spree, this beautiful double-decker bridge is well-known Berlin landmark. It became a pedestrian border-crossing for West Berliners. The entire width of the river here was in East Berlin, which meant that West Berliners could not intervene to save the life of a 5 boy who fell into the water and drowned. Nearby: […]

This was one of the quieter border crossings. It became better known after the 1999 comedy movie with the same name. Today it is marked with a double line of cobble stones, and a Berlin History Mile information board. Nearby: Memorial plaque for the fall of the Wall in 1989, Berlin Wall History Mile, Memorial […]

Staaken, on the west-most outskirts of West Berlin, was home to several different rail and road crossings during the cold war years. Albrechtshof rail crossing was closed in 1961 after possibly one of the most dramatic GDR escapes: East German engineer Harry Deterling crashed a whole train through the barriers towards Gartenstadt Staaken in West […]

The Stolpe border crossing, opened in 1982, holds the distinction of being the last checkpoint built before the Berlin Wall fell. Located at the northern edge of Berlin on Route 96, it served travellers heading to Scandinavia and the Baltic coast.

The Waltersdorfer Chaussee Crossing was a unique transit checkpoint created specifically for West Berliners travelling to Schonefeld Airport in East Berlin. Opening in 1963, it served a purely practical function in the otherwise rigid border system.