Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie was the best-known crossing point in the Berlin Wall, on Friedrichstraße at Zimmerstraße in central Berlin, Germany. Used from 1961 to 1990 by Allied staff, diplomats and foreigners, it is now a free street site with a replica guard hut, and it suits anyone tracing Cold War history in Berlin.

What was Checkpoint Charlie?

The Western Allies set up the crossing after the Berlin Wall went up in August 1961, between the American sector and East Berlin in the Friedrichstadt area. It was meant for Allied military personnel, diplomats and foreign visitors; West Germans and West Berliners normally used other crossings. East German authorities called it the Friedrichstraße border crossing.

Where the name comes from

Charlie is the word for the letter C in the NATO phonetic alphabet. Helmstedt-Marienborn and Dreilinden were Checkpoints Alpha and Bravo, so this was the third.

The 1961 tank standoff and Peter Fechter

In October 1961 East German guards tried to check the papers of American officials, and US and Soviet tanks lined up facing each other for several days before both sides pulled back on 28 October. On 17 August 1962 the 18-year-old bricklayer Peter Fechter was shot while trying to climb the Wall nearby and bled to death in the border strip in view of Western onlookers, which caused protests in the West.

What you see today

The crossing stayed in use until 1990. The American guard house was lifted away on 22 June 1990 and is kept at the Allied Museum in Dahlem; the checkpoint lost its function at reunification on 3 October 1990. A replica of the first guard hut, sandbags and the sign warning that you are leaving the American sector now stand in the road. Portraits of an American and a Soviet soldier hang on a light box above, and a double row of cobblestones marks where the Wall ran. Berlin banned paid photos with costumed actors posing as soldiers in November 2019. The BlackBox Cold War open-air display next to the crossing explains the history on panels.

The Mauermuseum

The privately run Mauermuseum, or Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, opened in 1963 and covers escapes from East Germany with original objects such as modified cars, a hot air balloon and a mini submarine. It is open every day of the year from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm and charges admission.