Checkpoint Charlie (Berlin)

Checkpoint Charlie is the most popular visitor attraction connected to the Cold war era, and is a fascinating piece of living history that still resonates with the older generation. Located at Friedrichstrasse, this was the notorious border crossing of the Berlin Wall between east and west, and is now a fascinating exhibition and museum detailing the complex history of the Cold War. On cheap city breaks in Berlin, you can explore a number of exhibits that depict life in divided Germany that have been immortalised in countless James Bond movies and spy thrillers over the years.

The original Checkpoint Charlie border hut is now on show at the Allied Museum in Berlin, but there is a replica here which faithfully recreates the scene. You can follow a line of cobblestones which outline where the Berlin Wall stood. Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie displays some fascinating personal effects of fugitives who successfully managed to escape to the west and details their personal stories in a colourful and atmospheric way. For short breaks in Berlin, it is a fascinating insight into the social and political history of the time and visitors too young to have lived through the Cold War will find it especially educational.

 

There is an iconic art installation by artist Frank Thiel depicting the two vastly different political philosophies in the east and west at the time and the Berlin Wall History Mile is an engaging photo montage of daily life from both divides of the Berlin Wall. Visitors on Berlin weekend breaks will see images of successful and failed attempts at freedom and the infamous standoff which brought the world to a standstill in 1961. Further intriguing Cold war exhibits can be found heading east to Charlottenstrasse. You can visit the memorial for Peter Fechter, the most famous victim of the Berlin Wall and the highly evocative Topography of Terror exhibition.