Berlin und Berliner Geschichten

After World War 2, the Allies divided Berlin half. The Americans, British, and French all took the West side of the city. The Soviets took the East. In the middle of the cold war, August 13, 1961, the Berlin Wall was built by the soviets effectively cutting the city in half. Residents both sides of the city were forced to have to go through checkpoints to be able to enter and leave these portions of the city — if they could at all. Most people are familiar with Checkpoint Charlie, now a museum in downtown Berlin. However, there were other checkpoints throughout the area. This is Checkpoint Bravo, in the Southwest of Berlin. The West (American) guard checkpoint area has been saved. Unlike its counterpart, however, only the East German (Soviet) command tower at checkpoint Bravo still stands, and is badly in need of restoration. When this command post was originally built, it sat looking out over a huge concrete area that was the checkpoint for those wishing to leave East Berlin (soviet side) and head into West Berlin. Cars would pull in here from one direction or the other and guards would search vehicles and belongings and check the papers before allowing entry and/or exit. Vehicles going to West Berlin then drove about 500 meters (about 1.5 miles) were stopped and went through it all again before being able to enter the west (American) side of the city. Vehicles entering East Berlin (soviet side) had already gone through the other checkpoint before exiting. The concrete …