Berlin-Mitte Travel Tip:
Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin
Checkpoint Charlie, along with Glienicker Brücke (Glienicker Bridge) was the best known border-crossing of Cold War days. The sign, which became a symbol of the division of Cold War Berlin and read like a dire warning to those about to venture beyond the Wall – YOU ARE NOW LEAVING THE AMERICAN SECTOR – in English, Russian, French and German - stood here. It is today an iconic marker of territorial boundary and political division. Until the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, it signified the border between West and East, Capitalism and Communism, freedom and confinement. The spot remains a must see sight in Berlin with huge historical and emotional resonance, even accounting for the fact that there is remarkably little left to recall the atmosphere of pre-1989 days. An enormous amount of debating went into deciding what should be left here and preserved for Berliners and visitors to see in the future.
The wooden barrack where visitors to the Russian Sector (East Berlin) were once obliged to pass through for vetting was removed. Reconstruction has included a US Army guardhouse and a copy of the original border sign. The original white booth which served as the official gateway between East and West can be seen in the Allierten Museum in Berlin-Dahlem. The Museum, known as Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, contains the best documentation available on the many escape attempts from East to West. The original Checkpoint sign is exhibited here.
[ Source: http://www.berlin.de/orte/sehenswuerdigkeiten/checkpoint-charlie/index.en.php ]
Address: Friedrichstraße 43-45, 10117 Berlin
Tags: Berlin, Berlin-Mitte, Checkpoint Charlie
Location of Checkpoint Charlie
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Mitte is a central locality of Berlin in the homonymous district (Bezirk) of Mitte. Until 2001 it was itself an autonomous district. It is the seat of the berliner city hall (Rotes Rathaus) and of the main tourist attractions of the city.
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