Berlin border crossings

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Map showing the Berlin border and its crossing points.
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Map showing the Berlin border and its crossing points.

The Berlin border crossings were created as a result of the postwar division of Germany. After the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, border stations between East Berlin, declared capital by the (unrecognized) German Democratic Republic, and the sectors controlled by the three Western Allies were added. Although there were few crossings at first, more sites were built to an increasing extent over the wall's lifespan.

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[edit] Border control procedures

Between West Berlin and GDR territory, the border stations were developed very effectively on the GDR's side. (The official designation for controlled border traffic was Grenzübergangsstelle, GÜSt: border crossing site.) Border officials and customs agents would monitor incoming and outgoing traffic according to established procedures, at times with the utmost scrutiny. A strict division of labor among the various organizations was the rule. The security of the outward-facing border and of the border crossings was maintained by special security divisions of the GDR border guard troops (German abbreviation SiK, short for Sicherungskompanien).

The actual inspections of vehicle and pedestrian traffic were carried out by the passport control units (German abbreviation PKE, short for Passkontrolleinheiten). The PKE units were not under the command of the GDR border guard troops and thereby the Ministry of Defense, but the Ministry for State Security (Division VI / Department 6, Passport Control). While on duty at the border stations, however, the PKE would wear the same uniforms as the border guard troops. For personal inspections, highly qualified and specially trained forces were used exclusively. The passports, identification cards, etc., could be transmitted from the inspection sites to a processing center using closed-circuit television and ultraviolet light, where they were recorded. From there, commands were issued using a numeric display to the passport control unit, for example "flip page", "request additional documentation", "delay processing", ask predefined questions, etc.

On the West Berlin side, police and customs agents were stationed. No personal inspections usually took place there.

  • At the transit crossings (sites for traffic passing into the GDR en route to another country), statistical demographic data about travelers would be recorded (travel destination, etc.), and travelers would occasionally be inspected, when appropriate, for the purpose of criminal investigations (police "dragnets").
  • Freight traffic bound for other countries was subject to customs processing. Shipping to the Federal Republic of Germany was only subject to statistical record-keeping and, under certain circumstances, sealing of the cargo.
  • At Checkpoint Bravo (Dreilinden) and Checkpoint Charlie (Friedrichstraße), the Allied occupation forces had established checkpoints, but they were not relevant to regular personal and business traffic. They served as processing stations for military units as well as a display of military presence. Their designated authority to perform further inspections was utilized only in extremely rare cases.
  • Signs directed travelers passing through the GDR to report any suspicious events that might have occurred during their transit; by these means, information was to be gathered regarding, for example, the arrest of West German citizens.

[edit] Border crossings up to 1990

[edit] West Berlin - East Berlin

There were several border crossings between East and West Berlin:

In addition, entirely located in East Berlin (reached by streetcar, subway, or railroad):

  • Friedrichstraße station (opened 1961)
    • For West Berliners, citizens of the Federal Republic, foreigners, diplomats, transit travelers and GDR citizens (rail/pedestrian)

[edit] West Berlin - GDR

  • Glienicke Bridge over the Havel from Berlin-Wannsee to Potsdam
    • Open to general traffic until 1952.
    • From 1952 on, open only for access by the western Allied Military Liaison Missions. Civilians with special permission were later allowed to cross the bridge on foot.
    • From 1953-07-03 on, the bridge was closed as one of the last routes connecting Berlin with the surrounding area for civilian traffic.
    • It became well known in particular because three exchanges of captured agents took place there between the American and Soviet superpowers.
  • Lichtenrade/Mahlow (Federal Road 96), only for garbage trucks of the Berlin sanitation department and automobiles on service trips from West Berlin to the dump in Schöneiche.
  • Waltersdorf Chaussee/Rudow Chaussee, besides its function for transit to and from the Berlin-Schönefeld airport, was also opened for passage of West Berliners into the GDR. The crossing was little known, as only its transit function was mentioned in guidebooks.
  • In Kohlhasenbrück, for access to the Steinstücken exclave, and only for the use of its residents. This crossing was abolished after the 1971 territorial exchange, when Steinstücken was annexed to West Berlin as unrestricted territory.
  • Bürgerablage Beach, for access to the exclaves Erlengrund and Fichtewiese, only for use by campers there. The crossing was abolished after the 1988 territorial exchange, when both exclaves were annexed to West Berlin as unrestricted territory.

[edit] Crossings for transit traffic

[edit] Road crossings

These crossings could be used for passage on the prescribed transit highways and for travel within the GDR:

[edit] Rail crossings

[edit] Waterways

The numerous border crossings on waterways (e.g., Spree, Havel, Teltow Canal) were only open to commercial freight traffic. Recreational boats had to be loaded onto ships or towed overland.

  • Tiefer See / Glienicke Lake (1954 - 1961) This crossing was not relevant for traffic to and from West Berlin.
  • Dreilinden / Kleinmachnow, Teltow Canal (from 1981 on)
  • Teufelssee Canal / Hennigsdorf (only traffic to and from GDR destinations and transit traffic (Poland), not to the Federal Republic)
  • Potsdam-Nedlitz / Jungfernsee
  • Crossings within the Berlin city limits

[edit] Air travel

To and from Berlin-Schönefeld Airport for air travel:

  • Waltersdorfer Chaussee/Rudower Chaussee (transfer bus to and from West Berlin)

also, within East Berlin territory (access via streetcar, U-bahn or rail):

At the Berlin-Tempelhof and Berlin-Tegel airports there were border crossings manned by West Berlin police and customs. These were not located in territory controlled by the GDR. In addition to processing for international air travel, the personal documents of travelers between West Berlin and the Federal Republic were inspected.

[edit] Miscellaneous crossings

The various illegal or unofficial border crossings are not reliably documented:

  • those constructed between the East and West by refugees and those who assisted them, mostly underground. Many of these were discovered and destroyed.
  • those constructed by, e.g., the Ministry for State Security and other clandestine organizations, in order to transfer people unobserved between East and West.

[edit] Changes in 1989 and 1990

[edit] Additions

In the time between the fall of the Berlin Wall on 1989-11-09 and the abolition of all border controls on 1990-07-01 numerous additional border crossings were built for interim use. Because of their symbolic value, the most famous of these were Glienicke Bridge, Bernauer Straße, Potsdamer Platz, and the Brandenburg Gate. The opening of the latter was merely a public-relations formality, which took place on 1989-12-22, per request of then-Chancellor Helmut Kohl; hundreds of television crews from all over the world had anticipated this historic event for weeks.

GDR Border Police handout announcing the planned opening of the Brandenburg Gate
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GDR Border Police handout announcing the planned opening of the Brandenburg Gate

A chronological list of the crossings opened during this time follows, with locations as of 1990:

[edit] Removal

With the reunification on 1990-10-03, all border crossings were abolished. The controls had already been abandoned on 1990-07-01, the day of the currency union. In the months after the fall of the Wall they had become more and more irrelevant. A few portions of the structures have been retained as a memorial.

[edit] Remaining border controls

At the Tempelhof, Tegel, and Schönefeld airports (Schönefeld located outside Berlin city limits), there remain border crossings manned by German Federal Police and Customs. They serve exclusively for the processing of international air traffic; therefore they no longer represent any peculiarity, in the sense of the history of the Cold War.

[edit] Bibliography

Hans-Dieter Behrendt: Im Schatten der "Agentenbrücke" (In the shadow of the "Agents' Bridge"), 260 pages, GNN Verlag, ISBN 3-89819-140-0 (German)

[edit] External links

(German)


This article is based on a translation of an article from the German Wikipedia.

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