Berlin East German Checkpoint Bravo Tour

After World War 2, the Allies divided Berlin half. The Americans, British, and French all took the West side of the city. The Soviets took the East. In the middle of the cold war, August 13, 1961, the Berlin Wall was built by the soviets effectively cutting the city in half. Residents both sides of the city were forced to have to go through checkpoints to be able to enter and leave these portions of the city -- if they could at all.

Most people are familiar with Checkpoint Charlie, now a museum in downtown Berlin. However, there were other checkpoints throughout the area. This is Checkpoint Bravo, in the Southwest of Berlin. The West (American) guard checkpoint area has been saved. Unlike its counterpart, however, only the East German (Soviet) command tower at checkpoint Bravo still stands, and is badly in need of restoration.

When this command post was originally built, it sat looking out over a huge concrete area that was the checkpoint for those wishing to leave East Berlin (soviet side) and head into West Berlin. Cars would pull in here from one direction or the other and guards would search vehicles and belongings and check the papers before allowing entry and/or exit. Vehicles going to West Berlin then drove about 500 meters (about 1.5 miles) were stopped and went through it all again before being able to enter the west (American) side of the city. Vehicles entering East Berlin (soviet side) had already gone through the other checkpoint before exiting.

The concrete parking lot is now gone, and the A115 freeway has been modified to run just on the far side of the Bravo command post. There is an office park where the freeway once stood, filled with many international businesses. Portions of the Berlin wall in this area are just up the street and have been turned into art. If you go into the woods, you can still see fences and barbed wire set up to keep people from leaving secretly.

This is a brief tour of the Checkpoint Bravo East German command post -- which had sat in disrepair since 1989, when the Berlin wall fell. It was covered in graffiti, rusting, and had all of the windows broken out, among other things. Efforts are now underway to try and preserve it as a part of local history, though funding is still needed. The goal is to provide a history of the area through the eyes of the East Germans and provide a political education center for youth coming through this area.

For more information and how you can help preserve this site, please see:

http://checkpoint-bravo.de

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• World
• War
• WW2
• checkpoint
• charlie
• bravo
• east
• german
• soviet
• american
• cold
• wall
• tourist
• history
• Germany
• tower
• save

[Kronamalasa]

It will be good to see this restored.

[PhoenixesRose]

Agreed. At this point, they've repainted the outside, but the graffiti artists are battling against them. They have repainted twice now, but it's been re-covered with various graffiti things. I am not sure how the fund raising has gone - they didn't have alot of money for re-doing the inside.

[romeo9k]

Interesting video. One factual point: the highway crossed from West Berlin into a suburb in Brandenburg (DDR), probably Kleinmachnow (my "map" is Google Earth, not the easiest to make out borders with). One of the big corporate HQ's very close to the this site is Ebay Europe. Something slightly twisted about that. One other note: hitchers lined up just before the checkpoint to get rides through the DDR back to the BDR.

[PhoenixesRose]

Yep - Quite well aquainted with the offices ;-) See my other videos.

[Temmo]

Hello! i may say that this is really a good thing to see... i mean that people who ar not from germany i mean young people do take an interesst in that kind of history things! i'm very happy to have such people around the world! Rock on ;)

[PhoenixesRose]

Thanks - it's really amazing because where I work is right on the border. If you go one direction (into Berlin) you see signs in both German and English. The other - and you see signs in German and Russian - and Soviet era monuments. It really makes one think about how the differences politically (but not in any other way) affected this country for so many years.

[TheFraggle78]

This is not Checkpoint Bravo seen on the video, but Checkpoint Drewitz, or Grenzübergangställe Drewitz -the east german border crossing south of Berlin, not the allied one.

[megatwingo]

@bruno2260

The East Germans did not only "physically" build it. They invented it and planned it. Of course they wouldn´t have been able to do that against the will of the Russians. But that is all, what the Russians had to do with the idea, planning and building of the wall.

You asked for our economy:

We have a record growth over three months now. The unemployment is shrinking in a never expected pace.

The first people are talking about a realistic full-employment in Germany.

[bruno2260]

@megatwingo Ok, the East Germans did actually "physically" build it, but the Russians had the ultimate power deny original construction, or to remove it at anytime.

But it's gone now, all it really was is a big jail, keeping people against their will. I could understand a wall to keep people out, not in.

Anyway how is it over there? Here in the U.S. unemployment is at a all time high, and not looking better anytime soon. I know people who haven't worked in 2yrs. Foreclosed houses everywhere.

[megatwingo]

@bruno2260

I´m not shure if you got the message right from me and the other user.

The Russians didn´t build the wall. They didn´t even planned it.

The Idea for the wall and the building came from the east German Government and was backed by the Russians, of course.

The Russians only came into the game, when their east German allies weren´t able to handle the things allone anymore. Like the uprising in the 1950´s. Then they came out of their barracks. But not for the wall.

[bruno2260]

@megatwingo Yes, I knew the correct answer. I was trying to be sarcastic in a very polite way... I was wondering how a guy could live in Germany and not know who built the wall.

I know it was an old post, but still, when I read that, and saw where you were from, I was like WTF!?

[megatwingo]

@bruno2260

The right reply was already posted by the user Chimera three years ago.

[bruno2260]

@megatwingo But wasn't East Germany Soviet occupied?

[koolkatjazz]

its now for sale

[krazygrrrl]

Demokraten1 - I can only agree with you!!

[michaelAurban]

No its a good thing. The fall of the Berlin wall, symbolizing the fall of communism.