8 Nazi and Cold War Sites Near Checkpoint Charlie

The Topography of Terror in the centre of Berlin lies just a few kilometres from Checkpoint Charlie. It’s the former site of the Gestapo headquarters, and today, is an archive of photography and information documenting the horrors of the Nazi regime. A brutal but moving experience not to be missed on any visit to Berlin.

A stone’s throw from Checkpoint Charlie sits the Haus of the same name. This museum is housed in the last building standing on the west side of the border. Established in 1963 by human rights activists, the museum hosts exhibitions that relate to the topic of freedom and human rights.

This arresting memorial to Jewish victims of the Holocaust lies roughly 1.5 km (0.93 miles) away from Checkpoint Charlie. The monument, made from enormous concrete blocks, is simple yet powerful.

This memorial pays tribute to what is perhaps a lesser known tragedy from Nazi Germany. During the 1930s and 1940s, 96 members of the German parliament were prosecuted and eventually killed for disloyalty to the socialist regime. The memorial sits in front of the Reichstag, where the German Parliament meets today.

Not far from Checkpoint Charlie lies this small museum dedicated to the preferred vehicle of the East German state during the GDR-era, the Trabant – it was the only make of car you’d find on the streets of East Berlin.

Further west of Checkpoint Charlie, sits an imposing watchtower known in German as the Rundblickbeobachtungsturm. The tower is the last the last of its kind still standing, the others being later replaced with bigger versions. This particular tower dates back to the 1960s and was declared a historic monument in 2001.

Located on the Bürgersteig, this memorial site is honours Peter Fechter, the 18-year-old construction worker who was shot and killed on 17 August 1962, when he and a friend tried to escape over the Berlin Wall.

Situated a five-minute walk away from the checkpoint on Niederkirchnerstraße, right behind Prussian buildings and the Martin-Gropius-Bau, is a 200m (656 feet)- long original piece of the so-called Grenzmauer 75,the fourth generation of the Berlin Wall.