Tucked away on Erna-Berger-Straße, a dead-end street a stone’s throw from Potsdamer Platz in one of the most touristy corners of Berlin, a former Berlin Wall watchtower stands as a reminder of the city’s divided past. Like the wall, the watchtowers along its length were improved over the 28 years that they were used to […]
Gedenkstätte Günter Litfin – A Watchtower Turned Memorial
In a quiet cul-de-sac in Mitte alongside the Berliner-Spandau Schiffahrtskanal (Berlin Spandau Shipping Canal), the Gedenkstätte Günter Litfin is a former border watchtower has been lovingly restored as a memorial to Günter Litfin, one of the earliest victims of the Berlin wall and I’m sad to say I would advise you not to visit. Having described the […]
The Watchtower Where The Watchers Were Watched
It’s not every day you get to climb an abandoned DDR-era watchtower in Berlin and unlike the tower on Erna-Berger-Strasse that it resembles, the one I climbed in Weißensee recently has not been restored. When I first stumbled across the watchtower last year I was a bit confused because I was several kilometres away from […]