Sites

The memorial extends along 1.4 kilometers of Bernauer Strasse. It is situated on the former border strip between East and West Berlin. Bernauer Strasse acquired sad notoriety when the Berlin Wall was built in 1961 because the Wall here divided not only the city but also the street. The memorial site contains the last section of the Berlin Wall that has been preserved along with the border grounds behind it. The stories of events that took place here in combination with the presentation of preserved historical relics and traces of border obstacles help make the history of Germany's division comprehensible to visitors.

The museum provides information about flight and emigration from the GDR: It is located at a historical site in the former main building of the refugee center that opened in 1953. Between 1949 and 199, some four million people left the GDR for the Federal Republic, with 1.35 million passing through the Marienfelde refugee center in West Berlin.

The longest preserved piece of the Berlin Wall, standing between Ostbahnhof and Oberbaumbrücke, is known worldwide as the East Side Gallery. After the Wall fell, 118 artists from 21 countries redesigned 1.3 kilometers of the former border into the longest open-air gallery in the world. The East Side Gallery stands both as a symbol of joy over the end of Germany’s division and as a historical reminder of the inhumanity of the GDR border regime. Today it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the capital.

The memorial at Kieler Eck is situated in a former command post of the GDR border troops on the Berlin-Spandau shipping canal. After the Wall fell, it was established as a memorial to Günter Litfin, one of the first victims of the Berlin Wall. It is both a document of the border regime and a testament to a vibrant remembrance culture.

Visible traces of border installations, the GDR border crossing or the Allied checkpoint no longer exist at this world-famous historical site. The former GDR border crossing was demolished and almost completely built over. The Berlin Wall Foundation is currently developing a concept to establish an educational center and memorial at this central location.

A living memorial against war and violence in Berlin’s government quarter created by Berlin nature and art activist Ben Wagin in 1990. The site has undergone frequent redesign since then. It commemorates the victims of the Berlin Wall while also condemning all forms of war-related violence. Ben Wagin secured original pieces of the Wall and planted trees in the former border strip as a message of peaceful coexistence. The result is a dynamic ever-changing site of nature, remembrance and art.