Berlin Wall Memorial

The Berlin Wall Memorial, Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer, runs for about 1.4 kilometres along Bernauer Strasse, on the former border between the districts of Mitte and Wedding. It is the central memorial to the division of Germany and is run by the Berlin Wall Foundation.

The East German government built the Wall on 13 August 1961. The Church of Reconciliation, which stood inside the border strip, was destroyed in 1985. The Wall fell on 9 November 1989, the memorial was inaugurated on 13 August 1998, and a major expansion was completed in 2014.

The site preserves the last section of border fortifications with the hinterland wall, the death strip, a watchtower and the original patrol road. An outdoor exhibition with markers, photographs and audio stations explains the building of the Wall in 1961, escape attempts and the lives of people on both sides. The Window of Remembrance shows photographs of people who died at the Wall. The Chapel of Reconciliation stands on the site of the demolished church. The Documentation Centre opposite has a viewing tower over the preserved border strip, and the Visitor Centre near Nordbahnhof shows introductory films.

Entry is free. The outdoor area is open daily from 8 am to 10 pm, while the Documentation Centre opens Tuesday to Sunday. Nordbahnhof S-Bahn and Bernauer Strasse U-Bahn stations are at either end.

Why does Bernauer Strasse matter? The street became a symbol of division in 1961, because the house fronts on the south side stood in East Berlin while the pavement belonged to the West. In the first weeks after the border closed, residents jumped from upper windows into fire brigade nets, and the East German authorities then bricked up the windows and later demolished the houses. Several escape tunnels were dug under the street, including Tunnel 57 in 1964.

The section at Bernauer Strasse was a small part of a border of 155 km that surrounded West Berlin. Research by the Berlin Wall Foundation and the Centre for Contemporary History in Potsdam has documented at least 140 people who were killed at the Wall or died in connection with the border regime between 1961 and 1989. Their portraits fill the Window of Remembrance.

Planning a visit. Start at the Visitor Centre near Nordbahnhof for a short film, then walk east along the strip. Allow one to two hours for the open-air exhibition and the viewing platform. The Foundation's free digital guide covers the site on your phone, and it also manages the East Side Gallery and the Checkpoint Charlie exhibition elsewhere in the city. Steel rods along the street mark where the hinterland wall stood.