The Berlin Wall and the Cold War Tour

The Bernauer Strasse Berlin Wall Memorial is a good place to start your journey into the past. From the viewing platform, you can look across the former border complex to the nearby Chapel of Reconciliation. The Memorial’s exhibition focuses on the Wall’s construction and fall, offering a vivid insight into the division of the city and the dramatic events at the Berlin Wall.

Next stop, the German Spy Museum and espionage from antiquity to two World Wars, the Cold War and today’s whistleblowers. Discover the world of agents and the secret service – and find out just how secure your own password are! And if you’ve ever fancied yourself as James Bond, you can test how long you would really last on the laser-beam obstacle course!

In Erna-Berger-Straße, you can climb into one of the last original East German watchtowers – a panorama observation tower, to be precise. Manned by two border guards around the clock, the watchtower was part of a support camp forborder troops and the Ministry for State Security (Stasi). A little further on, at the corner of Zimmerstraße and Charlottenstraße, you find the Peter Fechter Memorial dedicated to the young man who was one of the Wall’s most tragic victims.

Checkpoint Charlie is just a few steps away – the most famous Allied border crossing, and the backdrop for any number of spy films and thrillers. In October 1961, this was where US and Soviet tanks directly faced each other in a border stand-off. Visit the nearby asisi Panorama to experience a window on everyday life at and with the Berlin Wall.

The Wall Museum traces a trajectory from the division of Germany and the construction of the Berlin Wall to the historical events culminating in the fall of the Wall. Above all, the crucial events in the tense weeks of summer and autumn 1989 are shown here as a multimedia experience.

If you have time left, the Stasi Museum in Berlin-Lichtenberg is highly recommended. The museum showcases many original exhibits, including the offices and conference rooms in the Minister for State Security’s head-quarters.