Checkpoint Charlie

It was ten days after closing the border on 13th August 1961 when the military personnel of the Western Powers, diplomats and tourists were only allowed to enter East Berlin via the crossing point at Berlin Friedrichstrasse.

There were two checkpoints – one at Helmstedt (West German-East German border) and the other at Dreilinden (West Berlin and East Germany border). It was not along after that when the US military police opened the third checkpoint at Friedrichstrasse.

Based on the phonetic alphabet the name Alpha was given to Helmstedt checkpoint, Bravo to the Dreilinden Checkpoint and Charlie to the Friedrichstrasse check point.

The main function of the checkpoint was to register and inform members of the Western Military Forces before entering East Berlin. Foreign tourists were also informed but not checked in the West. The German authorities in West and East Berlin were not allowed to check any members of the Allied Military Forces in Berlin and in Germany.

The former Allied guardhouses - Checkpoint Charlie was removed on 22nd June 1990 and are now located in the Allied Museum. On 13th August 2000, a copy of the American guardhouse was errected on the original place.

On 9th December 2000, The East German watch tower at Checkpoint Charlie was demolished by the property owner Checkpoint Charlie Service Company. Berlin Checkpoint Charlie Memorial A 140 meter long section of the Berlin Wall was re-erected by the museum on October 31, 2004 and nearby, a field of 1,065 crosses represents all victims of the East German border system.