Berlin is a city steeped in history, which has preserved many traces of the past. From the medieval merchant city to the Prussian residence to the divided and reunited capital of Germany, Berlin has undergone many transformations. Some of the places that tell the story of Berlin are Gendarmenmarkt, Weissensee Jewish Cemetery, Tempelhof Airport and the Berlin Wall.

The Berlin Wall was a symbol of the division of Germany and the world during the Cold War. It separated the city of Berlin into East and West from 1961 to 1989 and prevented people from fleeing the GDR to the Federal Republic of Germany. The Wall was called an “anti-fascist protective wall” by the GDR, but in reality it was an instrument of oppression and injustice.

Today, only a few remnants of the Berlin Wall remain, which are listed as historical monuments and serve as a reminder of the history of German division. The Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse is the central national memorial to the victims of the Wall and features a 70-meter-long original section of the border fortifications. The memorial also includes an outdoor exhibition, a Chapel of Reconciliation, a Documentation Center, a Window of Remembrance, and a Visitor Center.

The Berlin Wall as a monument is an important testimony to the overcoming of division and the reunification of Germany. At the same time, it exhorts to stand up for freedom, democracy and human rights and to pass on the historical experiences to future generations.

To mark the occasion, we have created a bicycle tour along (in our opinion) important stations along the Wall and cycled it for you.

We start from the Tränenpalast, pass the Humboldthafen with the memorial plaque of the first victim of the Wall, and continue around the Günter Litfin watchtower. Then to one of the last pieces of the Wall existing in its original place to the former border crossing Bornholmer Strasse, along Norwegerstrasse pacified with Japanese cherries to the Mauerpark, Invalidenstrasse, Torstrasse, Museum Island via Potsdamer Platz back via the Bundestag to the starting point Friedrichstrasse.

You can watch the tour here.

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(Map: OpenStreetMap)