Guide to the Berlin Wall: Things to Do, Construction, History

This is our complete guide to the Berlin Wall, one of the city's most popular landmarks.

People from all over the world come to Berlin to explore the remains of the world-famous wall that divided the city in two for decades. In the process, they also go in search of traces of the former German Democratic Republic, GDR.

In this article, you will find our itinerary for a day at the Berlin Wall. We give you explanations and directions to the remains of the Wall as well as the most important sights, museums and memorials located along the former course of the Wall.

Also read about the history, facts and construction of the Berlin Wall, as well as answers to frequently asked questions.

Let's go!

What is the Berlin Wall?

The Berlin Wall is not, as its name suggests, a single wall. It is a border fortification system that the GDR government had built in August 1961 to prevent GDR citizens from fleeing to West Berlin.

The 156.4-kilometer-long wall separated East and West Berlin for 28 years until it finally fell on the evening of November 9, 1989.

Things to Do at Berlin Wall

On your way along the former course of the Berlin Wall, you will discover many important sights of the city that shed light on this tragic chapter of the German capital.

These include remains of the Berlin Wall, impressive buildings, and important museums and memorials.

Wall Remains & Places of Interest: A day at the Berlin Wall

This is our itinerary for a day exploring the Berlin Wall, which will take you to the most important remnants and sights along the former course of the Wall.

We have laid out the route so that you can walk them in the given order. In addition, you will find short directions under each sight, which will lead you to the next location.

To get a first, comprehensive picture of the Berlin Wall, the search for traces begins at the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse.

• How to get to the first sight: To get to the memorial, it makes the most sense to drive or walk to Nordbahnhof. You can get there by S-Bahn lines S1, S2, S25 and S26, streetcar lines 12, M5, M8 and M10, or bus line 247. It takes half an hour to walk from the Brandenburg Gate or Museum Island.

1. Berlin Wall Memorial

This is the central memorial to the division of Germany and the victims of the Wall. It is spread over several sites along the road, all of which you can visit free of charge.

During the time of the inner-German division, the Berlin Wall ran along Bernauer Strasse. Over time, the former border strip was the scene of numerous escape attempts and dramatic events. Until the fall of the Wall, many escape tunnels were dug here, some of which were successfully used.

The Berlin Wall Memorial stretches over a length of 1400 meters. Below you will find in chronological order, starting with the North Station, what to expect at the memorial:

• Permanent exhibition: The Nordbahnhof is home to the permanent exhibition Grenz- und Geisterbahnhöfe im geteilten Berlin (Border and Ghost Stations in Divided Berlin), which shows the absurdity of Berlin's division using three subway and commuter rail lines as examples.
• Visitor Center: When you leave the station building, you will find the memorial's visitor center, where you can get information about what the memorial provides as well as orientation about the entire memorial grounds. Videos about the history of the Berlin Wall and the border system are shown on the upper floor.
• Documentation Center: About 250 meters further along Bernauer Strasse is the Documentation Center, a multimedia exhibition with numerous objects, biographical documents and audiovisual media that takes a historical look back at the events on Bernauer Strasse.
• Lookout Tower: There is also a five-story lookout tower here. As soon as you climb it, a clear view of the preserved wall segments on the opposite side of the street opens up, as well as a view of the Vorderland Wall, known worldwide as the Berlin Wall, a sandy area, a column road illuminated with lanterns, a signal fence and finally the Hinterland Wall. The barbed wire elements are no longer included. The border fortification has been listed since 1990 and cannot be entered.
• Tower: The original watchtower was removed when the wall was dismantled. A tower in its original condition was subsequently erected in its place.
• Wall segment: The approximately 70-meter-long wall segment has been almost completely preserved in its depth gradation. It is enclosed on both sides by two 70-meter-high steel walls. They are the memorial to the victims of the construction of the Wall and the division of Germany. The inscription "In memory of the division of the city from August 13, 1961 to November 9, 1989 and in memory of the victims of communist tyranny" is embedded in the steel.
• How to get to the next sight: After your sightseeing tour, return to Nordbahnhof and take the S-Bahn lines S1, S2, S25 or S26 in the direction of Berlin-Mitte just one stop to Bahnhof Friedrichstraße. Your destination is right there.

2. Palace of Tears

The check-in hall at Friedrichstraße station, built in 1962, was used for departures from East to West Berlin. This meant saying goodbye to friends and family, and many tears were shed. The place of painful separations was soon christened the Palace of Tears (Tränenpalast) in the vernacular.

The permanent exhibition "Place of German Division" documents the history and fates at the Palace of Tears through interviews, biographies and 570 original objects. Admission is free.

• Read more details about this sight in our article Palace of Tears.
• How to get to the next sight: The fastest way to reach the next sights is all on foot. Now walk along the left bank of the Spree for ten minutes to your next destination. This bank belonged to West Berlin at that time, the Spree itself was already East Berlin territory.

3. White Crosses Memorial

There are different figures about the number of deaths at the Berlin Wall. Most likely they amount to 139.

The memorial features eight places for crosses, seven of which are occupied. The crosses are inscribed on both sides with the names of Wall victims and the corresponding dates of death. The empty place, also in the shape of a cross, is dedicated to the unknown victims of the Wall.

• How to get to the next sight: The GDR border fortifications continued from here behind the east portal of the Reichstag building, which you can see on the right. Just walk straight ahead, you are on the former course of the Wall.

4. Reichstag Building

The magnificent Reichstag building, built between 1884 and 1894 in the neo-Renaissance style, is one of the most important sights of Berlin and the most significant landmark of Germany.

During the German division, however, it was meaningless and degenerated into a warehouse, among other things.

• Tip: Even though the Reichstag building doesn't have much to do with our topic, you might want to take a closer look at this beautiful building. You can take a guided tour of the plenary hall and visit the glass dome, from which you have a breathtaking view of Berlin. At the very least, you should go to the front of the building to experience all of its splendor.
• Read more details about this landmark in our guide to the Reichstag building.
• How to get to the next sight: Just stay on the path you took to get to the Reichstag building. In just five minutes of walking you will come across the next sight.

5. Brandenburg Gate

"Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!". This is how U.S. President Ronald Reagan put into words what Germany and the world ardently wished for in his famous speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate on June 12, 1987.

After the Berlin Wall was built in 1961, the landmark stood on the restricted area and could not be crossed. On the evening of November 9, 1989, the day the Wall came down, moving scenes took place here. People tried to climb the Wall from the west. Many carried sparkling wine bottles or hammers and chisels and shouted, "The Wall must go!"

• Read more details about this sight in our main article Brandenburg Gate.
• How to get to the next sight: Follow Ebertstrasse in a southerly direction. Passing the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, you will reach your next destination in ten minutes.
• Tip: Take a short break at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the so-called Holocaust Memorial. 2711 cuboid concrete stelae on an area of around 19,000 square meters commemorate the six million European Jews murdered by the Nazis.

6. Potsdamer Platz

After the end of World War II and the occupation of the city by the Allies, the demarcation lines between the Soviet, British and American sectors met at Potsdamer Platz.

The Berlin Wall ran through Potsdamer Platz. An inner-city wasteland, a no man's land, was created. From a high stand at the Wall, curious West tourists could catch a glimpse across to East Berlin.

After reunification, the largest construction site in Europe was built here. You can see the result with your own eyes here.

The wall segments on the square were subsequently rebuilt here and are a very popular photo motif, as the background with the modern buildings is a stark contrast. On the ground you can see the former course of the wall.

Tip: Directly on the square, in the Kollhoff Tower, is the Panoramapunkt Potsdamer Platz viewing platform at a height of 100 meters. Ride up in Europe's fastest elevator and enjoy the spectacular view over the rooftops of Berlin. Here you can also visit an exhibition on the history of Potsdamer Platz.

• Read more details about this sight in our main article Potsdamer Platz.
• How to get to the next sight: Your next destination is only 300 meters away. Just walk to the neighboring Leipziger Platz.

7. German Spy Museum

KGB, Stasi, CIA, MI6 and MAD! At the German Spy Museum on the former death strip, you will get an insight into the world of East-West spies in Berlin.

This is where you will discover the traces of the international spies whose activities ranged from exchanging agents to tapping enemy communications.

• Read more details about this sight in our main article German Spy Museum.
• How to get to the next sight: When you leave the museum, go left and immediately turn left again into the passage. On its other side, turn right until you reach Stresemanstraße and then turn left again into Niederkirchnerstraße. Your destination is a little further on, on the right side of the street. The walk takes about eight minutes.

8. Wall Remains in Niederkirchnerstraße

You can see here a piece of the Berlin Wall about 200 meters long. The wall segment suffered significant damage. This is mainly due to souvenir hunters, so-called "Mauerspechte" (wall woodpeckers), who worked the concrete wall with hammers or similar after the fall of the Wall in 1989 in order to get hold of crushed parts of the Wall as souvenirs.

In some places, only the steel reinforcement of the Wall is still visible.

• Tip: Behind the Wall is Berlin's most visited museum, the Topography of Terror. The documentation does not have anything to do directly with the Berlin Wall, but indirectly it does. This is because the division of the German capital was a consequence of events following World War II, which was sparked by the Nazis under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. In the museum, the horror period under the Nazis is reviewed, especially between 1933 and 1945. The entrance is free.
• How to get to the next sight: Walk straight ahead for four minutes on Zimmerstraße. The next sight is on the left side of the street.

9. The Wall - Asisi Panorama Berlin

The Asisi Panorama is a monumental 360-degree circular image showing the Berlin Wall on a scale of 1:1. Look from West Berlin to East Berlin on a fictional autumn day in the 1980s and get a glimpse of what everyday life was like for Berliners.

• Read more details about this sight in our main article The Wall - Asisi Panorama Berlin.
• How to get to the next sight: The next destination is just across the street from the Asisi Panorama, on the corner of Zimmerstraße and Friedrichstraße.

10. Black Box - Cold War

The Black Box is the only exhibition in Germany on the subject of the Cold War and provides information at a historical location about the so-called tank confrontation of 1961 at the Checkpoint Charlie border crossing in the context of world politics from 1947 to 1989, the period of the so-called Cold War. Admission is free.

• Read more details about this sight in our main article Black Box - Cold War.
• How to get to the next sight: Walk just a few meters south into Friedrichstraße. The next sight is already in your field of vision.

11. Checkpoint Charlie

The military checkpoint Checkpoint Charlie is the most famous and most photographed former border crossing at the Berlin Wall.

Checkpoint Charlie became world famous on October 27, 1961, when, after the construction of the Wall, American and Soviet tanks took up positions here and faced each other with live ammunition. However, it did not come to open confrontation.

• Read more details about this sight in our main article Checkpoint Charlie.
• How to get to the next sight: The next sight is further south, diagonally opposite the checkpoint on the left side of the street.

12. Wall Museum - House at Checkpoint Charlie

At the Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, you can take a closer look at the countless escape attempts from the GDR and the prevailing injustice during the time of the SED regime. See extremely inventive escape objects as well as many props from nearly 30 years of Wall and escape history.

• Read more details about this sight in our main article Mauermuseum - Haus am Checkpoint Charlie.
• How to get to the next sight: Now we continue by public transport again. The Kochstraße subway stop is just to the left of the museum. Take the U6 in the direction of Alt-Tegel to Friedrichstraße station. There you change to one of the S-Bahn lines S3, S5, S7 or S9 and travel to Ostbahnhof. The next sight is a three-minute walk from there.

13. East Side Gallery

The 1300 meter long East Side Gallery is the most famous, still preserved part of the Berlin Wall. 118 artists from 21 countries painted and spray-painted 106 works on this section in the months following the fall of the Wall. 

The socialist brotherly kiss of Honecker and Brezhnev and the Trabant seemingly breaking through the concrete are among the most photographed paintings.

• Read more details about this sight in our main article East Side Gallery.
• How to get to the next sight: Your next destination is at the end of the East Side Gallery.

14. The Wall Museum

Located in the former death strip, The Wall Museum spans an audiovisual arc from the division of Germany after World War II and the construction of the Berlin Wall to the memorable events that finally brought about the fall of the Wall.

• Read more details about this attraction in our main article The Wall Museum.
• How to get to the next sight: After you leave the museum, turn right. Then look towards the Spree River and spot the next attraction.

15. Oberbaum Bridge

The Oberbaum Bridge (Oberbaumbrücke) played an important role as a border crossing point during the division of Berlin. After the sector borders were drawn, it connected the Soviet sector with the American sector.

After the division of the city into East and West Berlin, the first fatal border incident occurred here in 1948, during the Berlin Blockade. After the wall was built, it was only allowed to be used by pedestrians.

• Read more details about this sight in our main article Oberbaum Bridge.
• How to get to the next sight: With the bridge behind you, walk down Warschauer Strasse for about eight minutes to the train station of the same name. There you take one of the S-Bahn lines S3, S, S7 or S9 into the city until Hackescher Markt. From there it will take you about six minutes to your final destination.

16. DDR Museum

The last attraction is not located on the former course of the Berlin Wall. However, it is of particular importance in the context of the topic, because here you can go on a journey through time to the former GDR.

In this museum you will learn everything about life in the German Democratic Republic. You are encouraged to expand your knowledge in an entertaining way and to experience history up close. Authentic originals and worldwide unique interactive installations are waiting to be touched and tried out.

• Read more details about this attraction in our main article DDR Museum.

History of the Berlin Wall

Why was the Berlin Wall built?

In 1952, the GDR began to secure the inner-German border with fences and alarm devices. However, the almost 44-kilometer-long sector border between West and East Berlin as well as the border to the Berlin environs could not be completely controlled.

From 1945 until the construction of the Wall in 1961, approximately 3.5 million people fled the Soviet occupation zone, later the GDR, and East Berlin. More than half of the refugees were under 25 years of age, including well-educated people. Even one day before the Wall was built, more than 3,000 refugees were counted.

The resulting labor shortage significantly threatened the economic strength of the GDR and ultimately the continued existence of the state. During the night of August 12-13, 1961, the National People's Army began to seal off the roads and railroads at a depth of about 1,000 meters behind the border to West Berlin. Construction of the Berlin Wall began during the night of August 17-18, 1961.

Structure of the Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall is not, as the name suggests, a single wall. Rather, the Wall is only the part of an enormously fortified border installation, which was not visible from the former West Berlin.

In front of this wall ran the demarcation line between the occupation zones of West and East Berlin. The border fortification itself was located on the territory of East Berlin. Seen from there, it had the following structure:

1. The border area, which could only be entered with a special permit.
2. The so-called Hinterland wall as the first barrier.
3. The border signal fence, which triggered an alarm when touched.
4. The hump barriers.
5. The area barrier called "Stalin lawn" with steel needles and running facilities for dogs.
6. The command posts and observation towers.
7. The so-called "Kolonnenweg" with patrolling border guards.
8. The light line for daylight illumination of the entire "death strip".
9. The evidence protection strip.
10. The motor vehicle barrier for vehicles coming from the GDR.
11. The Vorderland wall, the part of the border fortifications known worldwide as the Berlin Wall.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

"We live on Bornholmer Strasse in the East. I was already in bed, the old lady was still walking the dog, came up and said, "Hey, they're all going west! I' m like pulled up and went over." That's how it read in issue 46/1989 of the news magazine Spiegel. What had happened?

On the evening of November 9, 1989, at around 7 p.m., Günter Schabowski, the GDR's secretary for information, declared in front of running cameras that GDR citizens would be given the freedom to travel. When asked, he adds that this is valid with immediate effect.

GDR citizens quickly gather at the border crossings to get to West Berlin. The head of the Bornholmer Strasse border crossing, Lieutenant Colonel of the passport control unit, Harald Jäger, repeatedly asks his superiors what is to be done, but receives no or meaningless instructions.

Only at 9:20 p.m. is he ordered to allow "the biggest screamers" to leave the country, but more and more GDR citizens crowd in front of the border crossing and demand to leave. The situation intensifies.

At 11:29 p.m., Harald Jäger, acting on his own authority and contrary to orders, orders the border crossing to be opened and all passport controls to be suspended. Nearly 1,000 GDR citizens storm across the Bösebrücke bridge to the West.

The lieutenant colonel reports the situation to the Ministry for State Security. As a result, the other border crossings also receive instructions to open the barriers at around midnight. Citizens from West Berlin also crossed into East Berlin "just like that" without a pass.

Facts about the Berlin Wall

• During the night of August 12 to 13, 1961, the GDR government had the sector border in the inner city area of Berlin and the border around West Berlin sealed off with barbed wire. Construction of the Berlin Wall began on the night of August 17-18, 1961.
• The Berlin Wall was 156.4 kilometers long.
• The Berlin Wall ran around West Berlin. 43.7 kilometers of the Berlin Wall ran along the sector border between West and East Berlin.
• The Berlin Wall was called the "anti-fascist protective wall" by the leadership of the GDR.
• The construction of the Berlin Wall probably cost 120 million East Marks.
• It is not known what the extension and repair of the Berlin Wall cost until 1989.
• At least 5,075 GDR citizens managed to escape over the Berlin Wall to West Berlin.
• The number of failed escape attempts over the Berlin Wall is not known.
• At least 136 people were killed at the Berlin Wall.
• The Berlin Wall was opened after 28 years, two months and 28 days, on November 9, 1989 at 11:29 p.m. at the Bornholmer Strasse border crossing at the Bösebrücke.
• The demolition of the Berlin Wall lasted only a little more than a year and officially ended on November 30, 1990.
• There were two main reasons for the rapid demolition of the Berlin Wall: On the one hand, Berliners hated the monstrous structure very much, and on the other hand, there was great interest in selling vacated land in prime locations for a profit.
• After its demolition, most of the Berlin Wall was broken up in concrete plants and used as a substructure for new roads.
• Selected segments of the Berlin Wall were sold all over the world, for example to the US secret service CIA for its new building in Langley, Virginia, or to the Vatican Gardens.