From the “wall of shame”, built on the night of August 13 to 14, 1961 to avoid the escape of citizens of the GDR to the “free world”, there is not much left. Just a few ruins with fairly rusty metal structures and two museums. Small stroll in search of the last sections of wall.

A new spring without the Wall

Berlin in the spring! What better season to discover the German capital? Forgotten the frost of winter, the beautiful days return. Even if it continues to be two or three degrees lower than in France, you can nevertheless go in search of the Wall which made the reputation of the city at the time of the Cold War without finding yourself refrigerated in front of the Porte from Brandenburg, the starting point for our walk.

Of the famous “iron curtain” that ran along Ebertstrasse, there is not much left today. On the edge of Tiergarten park (from where Kennedy launched his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner”), two transparent plastic panels, alone, still bear witness to the layout of the wall.

It only took one night (the one from November 9 to 10, 1989) for the insurmountable border to open, in front of the same triumphal arch which saw the troops of Napoleon and Stalin pass! And only a few months (between 1990 and 1993) for the “wall of shame” to disappear body and soul. Today, the guards in khaki uniforms and the barking German shepherds have given way to postcard merchants, who also sell pieces of the Wall.

In the huge park that runs along the Reichstag, tourist coaches have replaced American Jeeps. And the buildings flourished in place of the minefields. Like this new Ministry of Foreign Affairs which adjoins the Parliament. Hard to imagine that there stood here a barrier of 4 to 6 meters high and 166 kilometers long, guarded by nearly 250,000 Russian soldiers.

The attentive passerby can nevertheless find the trace of the Wall by looking at his feet. A paved line, punctuated by very discreet metal plates, indicates here and there the old location of the “iron curtain”. At Postdamer Platz, where Hitler’s bunker stood yesterday, this “imaginary line” today runs at the foot of the skyscrapers stamped Sony and Mercedes-Benz. Two “pieces” of the Wall may still be hanging around on a neighboring construction site, it would be difficult to imagine the watchtowers in the middle of this giant shopping mall. To do this, it is better to go to the museum.

Two museums dedicated to the Wall

Two museums are indeed dedicated to the Wall. The first, located on the site of the former “Checkpoint Charlie” (highly guarded border between the American sector and the Kreuzberg district, formerly controlled by the Soviets), presents on two floors photos and press articles reporting most escape attempts that the GDR experienced in the last years of its existence. But also unusual objects: cars fitted out to “hide” fugitives with weapons installed along “no man’s land” (these automatic machine-guns under the fire of which 150 people perished or the stakes which carpeted the bottom of the river for avoid swimmers venturing onto the other bank).

The second museum is located a few stations further north (Nordbanhof underground). You have to walk a bit along the Bernauerstrasse to find the entrance, but the slideshow (free), like the news tapes of the time which loop in the room next door, justify the detour. It is also here that we can see the best-preserved section of the Wall.

On the other side of the memorial, a cemetery (whose dead had to be moved when the wall was built) Distills its sweet melancholy. On the neighboring ground, covered with wild grass, the children’s carousels at a standstill do not make us forget the barracks of soldiers who occupied the premises only ten years ago. This feeling of heaviness is also encountered on the side of the Ostbahnof station, where a section of the Wall (much larger and covered with artist frescoes) runs along the expressway of Mühlenstrasse. Or along the Eberswalderstrasse stadium which uses the wall as a palisade (again tagged on the entire route). But you can also get a glimpse of it by looking out of the metro window (line S Bahn 1 between Gesundbrunnen and Wittenau).

Haus Am Checkpoint Charlie, Friedrichstrasse 44, underground: Kochstrasse or Stadtmitte. Open daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Full price: 12 DM, 25% reduction with the Welcome Card.

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