Border Crossing Friedrich-/Zimmerstraße (Checkpoint Charlie)
Checkpoint Charlie guardhouse, ca. 1963 © Berlin Wall Foundation, photo: private collection
Starting on September 22, 1961, Allied guards at “Checkpoint Charlie” registered members of the American, British, and French armed forces before they traveled to East Berlin. Foreign tourists could obtain information there about their stay in East Berlin.
Checkpoint “Charlie” was named after the NATO alphabet: Members of the Allied forces reached the center of Berlin via Checkpoint A (Alpha) near Helmstedt, the crossing from the Federal Republic of Germany into the GDR; Checkpoint B (Bravo) near Drewitz, the crossing from the GDR to West Berlin; and Checkpoint C (Charlie) on Friedrichstraße, the crossing from West to East Berlin.
Because it was designated as a crossing point for members of the Allied forces, the Friedrichstraße border crossing was the scene of the so-called tank standoff in October 1961. As a symbol of the conflict between the world powers, “Checkpoint Charlie” has become the most famous of the inner-city checkpoints.
Today, an installation by artist Frank Thiel, a panel from the History Mile, and a stele from the Berlin Wall Information and Orientation System commemorate the former border crossing. Starting March 6, 2026, the exhibition “Crossing the Iron Curtain”, conceived by the Berlin Wall Foundation, will be on display there.