Checkpoint Charlie (or “Checkpoint C”) was the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War (1947–1991).
The wall was erected very quickly as a way to try and reduce the ‘brain drain’ of people leaving East Germany after the second World War.
Between 1949 and 1961, over 2 and a half million East Germans fled to the West.
It was the only checkpoint on the wall designated as a crossing point for foreigners and members of the Allied forces.
Checkpoint Charlie was not only an important Cold War site, but also witnessed numerous attempts to escape from East Berlin, sadly many ending in capture and in some cases even death.
Soon after the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961, a dangerous stand-off occurred between US and Soviet tanks on either side of Checkpoint Charlie.
This incredibly tense situation was eventually resolved with the tanks gradually withdrawing.
We pop into the informative open air museum on the corner of Schützenstraße and Zimmerstraße to learn more about the Berlin Wall, plus have a quick snap of some of the few remaining pieces of the wall still in existence.
Even though Checkpoint Charlie is a reproduction and not even in the original spot, it’s still an evocative place to visit.
Time for a a brief break and to indulge in my favourite German tradition- Caffè un kuchen!!!
Some of the destroyed wall has been turned into artistic expression with chunks of painted wall mounted along the street.
