On Site
Detail of the rebuilt allied control booth © Alamy
The Berlin Wall Foundation has been commissioned by the Berlin Senate to prepare a new educational and memorial site at the former Checkpoint Charlie. This is to be built directly at the intersection of Friedrichstrasse and Zimmerstrasse and will be dedicated to the historic site and the Cold War.
The reconstructed Allied guardhouse and the sector sign currently define the memorial site. But Checkpoint Charlie is a place in transition. At present, there are still various temporary displays: In addition to the exhibition by the Berlin Wall Foundation, there is currently a gallery wall offering insights into the history of this historic site and its connections to the history of the Cold War. In addition, the Asisi Panorama of the Berlin Wall depicts the inner-city border fortifications in the Kreuzberg district from a West Berlin perspective.
The new "Forum Checkpoint Charlie" will transform the temporary offers into a modern, high-quality and long-term memorial site. In the meantime, the Berlin Wall Foundation offers a variety of opportunities to learn more about this world-famous site. An audio walk allows you to discover the historic site and its immediate surroundings. You can read a gripping story of an escape from the border crossing at Friedrichstrasse on the project website "Message from Micha" and follow the escape route of 13-year-old Micha (German only). We also offer guided tours and live speaking on site at irregular intervals. You can find out the dates for these in our events calendar.
Checkpoint Charlie at the corner of Friedrichstrasse and Zimmerstrasse is probably the most famous border crossing between West and East Berlin and a world-famous site of the Berlin Wall. Its name refers back to the checkpoint of the Western Allies, which they set up in response to the border crossing that the GDR had established immediately after the Wall was built in 1961. Only members of the allied armed forces, diplomats and foreign nationals were allowed to cross the border here.
Today, the traces of the historic site have been almost completely erased. There is still a control booth and a sector sign. However, these are reconstructions built by the neighbouring private Wall Museum around the turn of the millennium. As far as is known today, all that remains of the GDR border crossing is a side wall, cobblestones and cable ducts. The remains of the foundations of a watchtower and anti-tank obstacles are thought to be buried in the ground.
Only one building remains from the border crossing: the house at Mauerstrasse 93. Built at the beginning of the 20th century, it served as a service building for the GDR border crossing during the time of the Wall. At the end of the 1960s, the GDR State Security Service built a window into the firewall facing the crossing to monitor the border. This can still be seen today.
