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Berlin - Cold War & Division
Checkpoint Charlie
This spot represents the confrontation of two world powers like no other.
They say that WWIII almost started right here on October the 27th 1961 when US and Soviet tanks faced each other in a 16 hours standout.
At least the east and west was divided at this crossing for decades.
Today it is for me just a stop to grab a coffee on the way to work.
NSA Field Station Teufelsberg
A relic from the Cold War, visible from afar.
The former radar and listening station of the NSA.
It served as part of the worldwide espionage network Echelon.
With it the US American and British security services carry out surveillance far into the territory of the Warsaw Pact.
After the German reunification, the facility became useless due to the end of the Cold War.
Until 1999, the facility was used for civilian surveillance of air traffic.
Afterwards there were many ideas what can become of the facility, even the American director David Lynch supported one of the projects and wanted to establish a university there together with a foundation.
However, all these plans of the subsequent use fail.
In the meantime the facility is leased out and there are guided tours, events and Europe's largest Graffiti Gallery.
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I am glad you drop by!
I am Lars, constantly plagued by wanderlust and I do have a preference
for spontaneous individual trips, outdoor adventures and road trips.
...feel free to join me on my endless journey in the moments I like to share within...
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After the end of World War II, Berlin was a divided city for more than 40 years.
The place where the two superpowers, the USA and the Soviet Union, faced each other and made this city the centre of the Cold War.
During this period, Berlin was full of spies and characterized by competition between the East and the West.
Reunification in 1989 ended the division.
This short city tour takes you on a discovery of the places of the Cold War and the division of this city.
Stasi Prison Hohenschönhausen
A sad chapter of German-German history.
Emerged from a basement prison of the Soviet secret police, the Ministry for State Security took over the entire area in 1951.
From then on, the MfS used the facility as its central interrogation prison.
In its almost 40-year history, almost 10,000, mostly political, prisoners passed through the facility.
GDR opposition activists, escape helpers and political prisoners, all landed here.
They were isolated, disoriented, interrogated, put under considerable pressure and also were, at least psychologically, tortured, sometimes for years, until they were finally tried.
This place was, like hardly any other, an expression of the repression of the GDR state of injustice.
Today it is regarded as one of the most important places of remembrance for its victims and reflects the Cold War as much as the German division.
The prison itself was top secret and was not on any city map at the time. The prisoners were brought onto the grounds with neutral windowless transporters, after being driven in some cases through the area for hours, thus depriving them of any orientation.
After the reunion, the Federal Republic of Germany took over the area.
Since 1994 a memorial has been located there, which has made it its task to investigate the history of the Hohenschönhausen prison during the GDR period and to inform the public about the forms and consequences of political persecution during the communist dictatorship.
There are also guided tours of former prisoners in which these contemporary witnesses impressively report on their experiences during their imprisonment.
Visitors learn first-hand about the conditions of detention and the interrogation methods.
This is all the more impressive and authentic as the majority of the buildings and furnishings have remained almost intact.
Today, the Hohenschönhausen Memorial is regarded as one of the most important places of remembrance for the victims of the GDR regime.
Berlin Airlift
This view has attracted my attention so many times and I have never taken a picture.
That's because I usually drive a car here - but now I've been aboard a ship and had a lot of time.
The plane is a Douglas C-47 B "Skytrain" A veteran of the Berlin Airlift organized by the Western Allies between June 26, 1948, and September 30, 1949, to supply the enclosed West Berlin population through the air.
