4.5You can gain an emotional understanding of Berlin's division at the memorial to the Berlin Wall. Bernauer Straße in August 1961 was depicted in images seen worldwide as people jumped out of windows and into sheets that West Berlin firefighters held out. What formerly served as the border line is now a memorial.
A visitors' center, an observation tower, and four areas with historical audio and visual materials make up the expansive outdoor exhibition on the former border strip. On Bernauer Straße, there is a 70-meter section of the Berlin Wall with a border strip and watchtower.
The exhibit provides visitors with a lasting impression of the structure that once divided a country by demonstrating how the border was established at the end of the 1980s.
On the other side of Bernauer Straße, in the documentation center, an exhibit chronicles the history of the wall's construction beginning in 1961. From a five-story observation tower, you can see what's left of the border crossing.
It is located where the wall destroyed the intersection of Bernauer Strasse and Ackerstr. There are displays about the division of Berlin's history. Biographies, audiovisual materials, and first-person witness accounts of what it was like to live here at the time are all available. The observation tower can be found inside the documentation center. You can view a portion of the Berlin Wall that has been preserved by taking a few flights of stairs or the elevator.
Before the Wall divided Berlin, the city was one, so the transportation system undoubtedly served both sides. As a result, East Berlin's authorities began to have issues, and stations there were patrolled and/or boarded up to stop escapes.
The Nordbahnhof Station's Border and Ghost Stations Exhibit details the histories of these stations' train operations. You can also learn about failed escape attempts and the underground defenses built to try to prevent these kinds of escapes.
The outdoor exhibit covers the length of Bernauer Strasse at the Bernauer Strasse Wall Memorial, which depicts various facets of the Wall's history. This includes accounts of those who attempted to leave East Berlin, some of which were unsuccessful. Some of the most well-known escape tunnels are marked by metal stakes in the ground, and other metal markers mark the locations of homes before being demolished to make way for the Wall.
This monument honors an East German border guard who decided to leap over it on a whim a few days after the barbed wire was put in place. His escape was documented on camera and in the media. At least 140 people lost their lives or were killed at the Berlin Wall between 1961 and 1989, according to the Window of Remembrance for Berlin Wall Victims. The 140 known victims of the Berlin Wall are commemorated on this photo wall.
A church that once stood on Bernauer Street pays tribute to the Wall's victims. One biography of a Wall victim is read here every day at noon from Tuesday through Friday, and the church is essential in helping people remember the tragedies that took place here.
Duration RequiredBernauer Strasse 111, 13355 Berlin, Germany
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