Mauermuseum am Checkpoint Charlie

Where American and Soviet tanks faced each other in 1961, stands the Wall Museum at Checkpoint Charlie, founded in 1963 by Rainer Hildebrandt. On approximately 2,000 square meters, you'll find escape cars, hollowed-out surfboards, a hot air balloon, and a self-built mini-submarine. Hardly any Berlin Wall site displays so many original escape objects.

Wall Museum at Checkpoint Charlie: First-Hand Escape Stories

The Wall Museum at Checkpoint Charlie originated from a private initiative. On October 19, 1962, publicist Rainer Hildebrandt presented the exhibition “It Happened at the Wall” on Bernauer Straße, reopening it on June 14, 1963, in the last house before the border crossing. Since then, the museum has grown: today, approximately 2,000 square meters of exhibition space are spread across three levels at Friedrichstraße 43 to 45. Many exhibits were handed over to the museum by escape helpers and refugees themselves after they had made it across the border. This gives the objects a weight that is not easily forgotten.

In front of the building, American and Soviet tanks faced each other in October 1961, and just a few steps away, Peter Fechter bled to death in the death strip on August 17, 1962. Since 2004, Alexandra Hildebrandt has managed the museum, continuing the work of her late husband. In the same year, she launched the Dr. Rainer Hildebrandt Medal, an international human rights award.

Escape Cars, Hot Air Balloon, and a Mini-Submarine in the Exhibition

The tour leads past the vehicles and devices used by people to cross the border: a VW Beetle and a Mini Cooper with hiding places, hollowed-out surfboards, hot air balloons, a self-built mini-submarine, and an automatic firing device dismantled at great personal risk. Also on display is the map on which Winston Churchill drew the division of Germany in Potsdam in August 1945. Additionally, there are works by artists who deal with the division. The museum grew over decades: Friedrichstraße 43 was added in 1987, the second floor of number 45 in 1999, and the Allied control barracks were rebuilt in 2000.

The Wall Museum at Checkpoint Charlie extends its focus beyond Germany. It documents the non-violent struggle for human rights worldwide and makes publicly accessible lists of 43,000 names of those who died in Soviet special camps, which the German Red Cross received from Russia in 1992. Admission costs 18.50 Euros for adults, with an additional 5 Euros for the audio guide. Film screenings are included in the price.