In desperation, people jumped out of the windows of apartments bordering West Berlin and paid with their lives. Some of the Bernauer Strasse escape attempts succeeded, however. Cameras and film crews brought these scenes to a watching world.
The construction of the Berlin Wall put an abrupt and violent end to daily life, leaving traces visible even today on Bernauer Strasse. The former “no man’s land” is still largely undeveloped, and between Ackerstrasse and Gartenstrasse visitors can get a good impression of the width of the border fortifications. The Berlin Wall Memorial is also found here.
It was established in 1998 by the Federal Republic of Germany in memory of the city’s division from 13 August 1961 to 9 November 1989 and of the victims of communist tyranny. The design by the Stuttgart architects Kohlhoff & Kohlhoff preserves sixty meters of the former border strip in their original depth as a physical reminder of the Wall and, at the same time, adds an artistic interpretation and shape.
The Berlin Wall Memorial, the Berlin Wall Documentation Center, the Chapel of Reconciliation, and the original sections of the Wall along the cemetery Sophien-Friedhof and on the grounds of the S-Bahn station Nordbahnhof form an ensemble that is to be developed into a “commemorative landscape” over the next few years.
Corner of Bernauer Strasse and Ackerstrasse, 13355 Berlin-Mitte
Tours and admission free
S-Bahn station Nordbahnhof (S1, S2, S25), U-Bahn station Bernauer Strasse (U8), Bus 245
www.berliner-mauer-dokumentationszentrum.de
(See also "Berlin Wall Memorial")
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