Checkpoint Charlie

The 007 agent thriller “Octopussy” is a prototype for many films in which the border crossing appears. As the most famous inner-city border between West and East Berlin from 1961 to 1990, it was primarily the setting for Cold War films.

The border crossing on Friedrichstraße connected the US sector with the Soviet sector. It was one of the three checkpoints used by the Americans and was named according to the International Phonetic Alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie).

By the way, while the real Checkpoint Charlie can still be seen in the 1983 James Bond film, today on Wilhelmstraße/Kochstraße there is only a replica of the first control shack, decorated with concrete sandbags. The original checkpoint, however, can be visited at the Allied Museum.