Bernauer Strasse Berlin Wall Memorial

Bernauer Strasse Berlin Wall Memorial (Berliner Mauer Gedenkstaette)

In between the areas of Gesundbrunnen and Mitte is Bernauer Strasse and what remains of the Berlin Wall in its original location. The Berlin Wall ran along the length of the street, and the effect of this barrier can still be seen today.

In amongst the new housing are remains of the wall, a documentation centre, a watchtower and a sense of how much the wall impacted on the lives of the residents of Berlin. The area here is symbolic of the inhumanity of the Berlin Wall. This is mostly due to the houses on the southern side of the street were in the Soviet sector, whilst the pavements in front of them belonged to the French sector. The site here at Bernauer Strasse is the only place in Berlin where visitors can still see a section of the border fortifications with all the various installations and barriers.

The Berliner Mauer Gedenkstaette building – Visitor centre of the Berlin Wall Memorial is open to visiting (free entry). This museum has lots of information as well as views over the wall giving you a “watchtower eye view” of Berlin.

Erected in 1961, the Berlin Wall on Bernauer Strasse was infamous as the site of escape attempts.

Church of Reconciliation in no man’s land.

You can visit the Chapel of Reconciliation and exposed foundations of a former residential building which was part of the border wall until it was demolished.

Berlin Wall Memorial Bernauer Strasse — Chapel of Reconciliation

On 22 August 1961 Ida Siekmann became the first casualty at the Berlin Wall. Ida died after she jumped out of her third floor at Bernauer Straße 48. Ten people are known to have died trying to escape. There is a memorial to these deaths at the entrance to Swinemünder Straße.

The underground station at Bernauer Strasse was a ghost station, that is the trains ran through without stopping at the station due to its position at the wall. The station re-opened on 12 April 1990.