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Exploring the other half of the city, Berlin, 1990: At Checkpoint Charlie [11/13]

OBJECT INFORMATION

Info

June 1990
Berlin, Friedrichstraße border crossing (Checkpoint Charlie)
Created By: Gottfried Schenk

License: Not Creative Commons

View of the East side of Friedrichstraße border crossing (Checkpoint Charlie), one of the seven road border crossings between East and West Berlin (Soviet and American sectors, respectively) during the time of the Wall. Checkpoint Charlie was designated for use by foreign nationals, affiliates of the Allied Forces and diplomats.

Depicts

group of people, guard room, rain, traffic sign

Context

deterioration, visit, Workers'-Peasants' Red Army

Places

Checkpoint Charlie, Karl-Marx-Allee, Treptow park, Unter den Linden

Text in image

Grenzübergang / Visa- / Tourist / CD- / Military

Other items in this set

Memory

"Up until the fall of the Wall, I hadn't had much occasion to visit the Eastern part of the city. No relatives, no friends or acquaintances over on the 'other side'. And why, therefore, expose myself to a humiliating trip over the border crossings? I did have the occasional evening out at the theatre, or when feeling too hemmed in the city and in urgent need of escape, I'd go up to Prenzlauer Berg or to the Müggelsee. After the Wall fell, I really got into exploring the unknown territory behind the inner-city border. I wanted to go places that lay in the shadow of those put on view, such as Unter den Linden, Karl-Marx-Allee and Schönhauser Allee; places where everything certainly didn't sparkle. There was much bleakness and dereliction. Here and there, one could still see the as yet unhealed wounds the city had suffered at the hands of the war. I'll never forget my first visit to the Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park. Here, the conquerors had imprinted an indelible mark on the city's landscape which could leave one in no doubt as to who was in charge in the country that lay between the Oder and Elbe Rivers."

Gottfried Schenk

Original Caption

"Checkpoint Charlie from the East"