Berlin Wall Cold War Sites — Inner City

This Prenzlauer Berg church became the centre of Berlin’s peaceful revolution in autumn 1989. From 2 October, opposition groups held a round-the-clock vigil here, with a contact telephone relaying arrest reports to Western media. On 7 October, police and Stasi units beat and arrested hundreds of demonstrators around the church in the last mass use of force against protesters in Berlin. Today a memorial plaque, Karl Biedermann’s relief “Resistance” and Ernst Barlach’s bronze “Geistkämpfer” (Spirit Fighter) commemorate the autumn of 1989. The Blessing Christ statue outside the west portal was rescued from the demolished Versöhnungskirche that once stood on the death strip.

Schöneberg Town Hall served as West Berlin’s city hall from 1949 to 1991, after the historic Rotes Rathaus fell within the Soviet sector. It is best known as the site of President Kennedy’s famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech on 26 June 1963, delivered to a crowd of over 120,000 on the square now named John-F.-Kennedy-Platz. The tower houses a replica of the American Liberty Bell, donated by 16 million Americans in 1950 and rung daily at noon. Today the building serves as the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district hall.

An artificial hill built from 26 million cubic metres of World War II rubble in the Grunewald forest. The US National Security Agency built a listening station on its summit to intercept Eastern Bloc communications during the Cold War. The abandoned geodesic radomes are now a street art destination and offer panoramic views of Berlin.