Where exactly did the Berlin Wall stand? Where were the checkpoints? Are any parts of the Berlin Wall left standing, and if so, where are they?  These are some of the questions asked by anyone interested in the most recent history of Berlin. The answers are provided by the official 3D virtual city model published by the Land of Berlin, which documents the exact course of the entire Berlin Wall. The model shows the buildings currently standing in Berlin, highlighting the former course of the Wall through the city. It shows the high wall constituting the outside (Western) part of the Berlin Wall (Vorderlandmauer) and the low wall behind it to the East (Hinterlandmauer) as well as the border strip. The Brandenburg Gate is the starting point for a virtual 3D flight over Berlin that users can themselves direct. The menu allows users to locate fragments of the Berlin Wall and the former checkpoints. The documentation centers in Berlin and memorials are shown, as is the “Berlin Wall Historical Mile” and memorial sites designed by artists. Specially marked sites of the 3D presentation have been linked to further-reaching information.       The sites and views are shown using Google Earth technology. This requires a standard web browser and the corresponding plugin, which can be installed free of charge. For optimal performance, we recommend that you use a broadband internet connection (DSL).

Former border strip between the actual Berlin Wall (Vorderlandmauer) and the low wall behind it to the East (Hinterlandmauer) From August 13th, 1961 onwards, the regime of the German Democratic Republic had the boundary separating the Eastern and Western halves of Berlin expanded and upgraded to create barricades that were additionally secured in several different ways. The border walls and fences were up to 3.60 m high, and the death strip could be between five and several hundred meters wide. As can be seen clearly from the 3D model, large parts of the former border strip have been constructed upon by buildings in the meantime. In some parts, it has been preserved as a park or a memorial site in order to keep the memory of the Berlin Wall alive as part of the cityscape. The 3D model shows the actual Berlin Wall constructed along the boundary to West Berlin as a red line, while the lower wall behind it, to the East, has been marked in blue. Wherever the political boundary differed from the course of the front wall, it has been marked in yellow in the model – depending on where fugitives were standing, the course of this political boundary could decide on their lives. Remains / traces of the Berlin Wall 100 meters of the Berlin Wall (Vorderlandmauer) and of the lower wall behind it to the East (Hinterlandmauer) and three watchtowers have been listed as heritage sites. Former checkpoints between East and West Berlin Between August 22nd, 1961 and November 9th, 1989, there were seven inner-city checkpoints at the roads connecting East and West Berlin, and one railway checkpoint. Traffic between the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin passed along transit routes at which further checkpoints, were located. Memorials and memorial sites at the Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall Memorial (Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer), the memorial to the wall in the Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus and the Parliament of Trees as well as further memorial sites commemorate the victims of the Berlin Wall. The Wall Memorial and the memorial to the wall / Parliament of Trees were created following the fall of the Berlin Wall in November of 1989. Other memorials were created and put up already during the period between 1961 and 1989. They document the history of remembrance. Documentation centers and museums following the course of the Berlin Wall Background information on the political reasons for the division of Berlin, on attempts at fleeing the GDR, and individual life histories are provided in the Berlin Wall Documentation Center and in the Mauermuseum - Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie. They are located directly next to where the Berlin Wall once stood. Other documentation centers are distributed at various locations in the city of Berlin. Other key sites of the Berlin Wall Remnants of the Berlin Wall are to be seen on the site preserved by the foundation “Topography of Terror”. The lower wall behind the actual Berlin Wall (Hinterlandmauer) along Mühlenstrasse, painted by artists following the fall of the Wall, is known all over the world as the East-Side Gallery. At other sites, the wish to once again reunite the separated halves of Berlin to form one urban cityscape was stronger. Berlin Wall history mile / Berlin Wall trail The former course of the Berlin Wall has been marked in the ground by a double row of cobblestones and wrought-iron plates with the text “Berlin Wall 1961-1989”. The Berlin Wall history mile shows historical photographs. Signs in four languages record the events that transpired at 29 special locations along the history mile. Artistic markers Seven works of art mark the former checkpoints at the border between West and East Berlin. They were selected in 1996 in the course of a competition and were realized by the Land of Berlin between 1997 and 1999. Other places and installations This site shows other sites and installations such as the Chapel of Reconciliation at Bernauer Strasse or the Soviet Cenotaph in Treptow.