The Berlin Wall was a guarded, 96-mile-long concrete wall that stood from 1961 to 1989. It was…read morebuilt by the Communist government of East Germany to prevent the migration of East Germans to West Germany. The wall had barbed wire, trenches, and watch towers with armed guards. While trying to cross the wall, thousands of people were successful, thousands of people were captured, and over 140 people died. Today, only small sections of the actual concrete wall remain as a reminder of both the past and the importance of preserving human rights in the future. Some of the former border walls in the center of the city are marked by only a double row of cobblestoned bricks in the ground. While I was traveling in Berlin, I saw sections of the wall. I felt very interested in seeing the concrete, rebar, holes, and barbed wire and the cobblestoned bricks that weaved through the paved roads.

Yelp Review 2023 #300…read more "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" US President Ronald Reagan Berlin Wall was built to separate East (German Democratic Republic supported by the Soviets) and West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) in 1961. It's a 96 mile heavily guarded concrete wall about 13 feet high splitting the city center so that people from the East won't come to the West due to political and economic differences. There's not a doubt building a wall is alienating. Friends and families got separated by it. Soldiers and watchdogs were put in place to prevent people escaping but some people were still able to get to the West by building a tunnel but most people didn't make it across and lost their lives. Gorbachev was in power of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union in 1985 and things started to dismantle. The wall finally fell in 1989. Some parts of the wall still remain standing and murals have been painted on parts of the wall. The most famous mural is "The Kiss" by Dmitri Vrubel of Leonid Brezhnev (General Secretary of the Soviet Union at the time), and Erich Honecker (General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of the GDR) kissing - the socialist way of greeting. You can also spot a Banksy. Keep your eyes peeled since it's not a big and colorful piece. It's free to walk along and see the Berlin Wall remains.

This venue is free, and very interesting. The architecture is beautiful and there is a huge…read morecircular stairway in the center. There is a lot of material about the history of government and democracy in Germany. Interesting pictures and movies of parliamentary presentations including by Hitler.

Great display and explanation of a terrible Cold War. Be very careful around women carrying…read morepetitions to sign as they will aggressively pursue as they are pickpockets. One managed to get a zippered pocket open but I stopped it. Apparently the museum posts warnings about it.

Checkpoint Charlie was a famous border-crossing point in the Berlin Wall that separated East and…read moreWest Germany during the Cold War. It was where Allied military personnel, diplomats, and foreign visitors were allowed to cross. My husband and I briefly went through this area when we were on a group tour. Unfortunately, I did not get a good look or photo of the replica American guardhouse (I believe that the original guardhouse is in a museum), but my husband did and said that it was not much to look at. The former East-German watchtower has not been on the site for decades, and no replica was ever made.