6 Locations
Bernauer Strasse is one of the most poignant addresses in Berlin, the street where the Wall divided a neighbourhood overnight in 1961. Today Bernauer Strasse is home to the Berlin Wall Memorial, the most complete surviving stretch of the border with its watchtower, death strip and documentation centre. This tag collects Berlin locations along this historic road.
The open air memorial runs for more than a kilometre, marking escape tunnels, the Chapel of Reconciliation and the spots where people fled or died trying. Information panels and a visitor centre explain how the division worked, and the preserved section shows the border in sobering detail. The area sits on the edge of Mitte and Wedding, easy to reach by tram.
Browse the venues below to explore Bernauer Strasse and its memorial landscape.
On Bernauer Strasse, the border ran straight through a row of houses, from whose windows people jumped into West Berlin. Today, the Berlin Wall Memorial stretches over 4.4 hectares and 1.4 kilometers, featuring the only section of border fortifications preserved in full depth. The Window of Remembrance names the 132 civilian victims.
On Bernauer Strasse, the Berlin Wall Memorial stretches over 1.4 kilometers of former border strip. Between two steel walls, 70 meters of the original border installations with a hinterland wall, watchtower, and death strip are preserved. For German-German history in Berlin, this is the place where the division becomes physically comprehensible.
Princess Dreams on Bernauer Straße in Tegel boasts one of Berlin's largest bridal fashion retail spaces, spanning approximately 500 square meters, and a private, spacious fitting room. They carry Justin Alexander, Madi Lane, and Modeca in sizes 34 to 52, as well as their own line for civil ceremonies and an outlet with dresses available for immediate purchase.
The Berlin Wall Memorial is the central place of the German division and is in the historical site of Bernauer Strasse.
In Mauerpark, orange ash containers at the corners mark the extent of the permitted barbecue area. It is located near the Bernauer Straße entrance, costs nothing, and requires no reservation. Only stand-up barbecues with charcoal are allowed, and because the entire park is car-free, everything for grilling must be carried in on foot.
Behind the East entrance of the Reichstag, seven white wooden crosses hang in the Spree's riverbank railing, erected in 1971 by the Berliner Bürger-Verein. They name thirteen victims of the Berlin Wall, from Günter Litfin to Chris Gueffroy. The water at that time belonged to East Berlin; whoever jumped here was immediately in GDR sovereign waters.