Where to see the Berlin Wall in 2024 - All remaining pieces of the Berlin Wall
This line shows where the Wall used to be
A complete list of all of the remaining pieces of the Berlin
Even though the Berlin Wall “fell” in 1989, there is still plenty of it to see if you only know where to look.
So , you want to see the Berlin Wall, but where is it? Below, I’ll show you the best places to see the Berlin Wall, take photos, and learn about the fascinating history of East Germany.
If you’ve read this blog before you know I love plotting these kind of things on a map. So, click here to see where you can find all the remaining pieces of the Berlin Wall on a map.
Is any of the Berlin Wall still left?
Yes! The three best places to see the Berlin Wall are the East Side Gallery, the Topography of Terror, and the Berlin Wall Memorial, but they’re also the most common. If you’re really up for exploring then check out the whole list below!
"My God, Please Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love" by Dmitry Vrubel, 1990
1. See the Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery
The most famous remaining section of the Berlin Wall is the East Side Gallery. The East Side Gallery is the longest remaining section of the Wall at 1.3km long (just short of 1 mile), and is the most popular place to see the Berlin Wall today.
You can find the East Side Gallery between Berlin Ostbahnhof train station and Warschauer Strasse train station. The East Side Gallery runs alongside the Spree river and is covered in beautiful paintings from 1990.
The most famous painting on the East Side Gallery is Russian artist Dmitry Vrubel’s “My God, please help me to survive this deadly love”, showing Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German leader Erich Honecker sharing the “socialist fraternal kiss”.
A lot of people want to see the Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery, so it can get quite crowded, especially if you want to take photos!
After visiting the Berlin Wall you can visit the free Topography of Terror Museum
2. See the Berlin Wall and discover Third Reich history at the same time at the Topography of Terror
This section of the Berlin Wall was saved by the Nazis. Wait… didn’t the Berlin Wall come after the Nazis? Back when Adolf Hitler was in power the headquarters of the Nazi SS and Gestapo were located here: two of the most feared institutions in history.
After World War Two this patch of land was left empty, in 1961 the Wall went up and this area was just a bit forgotten until the end of the Cold War when the first Topography of Terror exhibition opened. These days the Topography of Terror is a free and excellent museum about the chaotic system of government operated by the Nazis.
This makes for one of the most exciting places to see the Berlin Wall!
The view from the tower at the Berlin Wall Memorial - free to visit!
3. See the Berlin Wall and the “Death Strip” at the Berlin Wall Memorial
This is the best one! The Berlin Wall Memorial is so much more than just a memorial. Built in what used to be the death strip dividing East and West Berlin, the Berlin Wall Memorial is packed full of information and is completely free. It’s my favourite place to see the Berlin Wall.
Discover escape stories, tunnels, and how the Wall was set up overnight back in 1961 at the Berlin Wall Memorial. There’s a large indoor section, and there’s even an exhibition on what happened to the underground train system at the nearby station, Nordbahnhof.
You’ll find it between U8 Bernauer Strasse and Nordbahnhof S-Bahn Station.
This section forms a key part of my Cold War& East Berlin tour.
There’s a surprising amount more of the Wall out there if you want to find it though…
Now that the three obvious ones are out of the way I’ll cover those parts of the Wall that are really tough to find.
Remember, the whole Berlin Wall route is technically a cycle path, so you could try and ride all 160km in a day like some of my friends do. I’ve done it twice, but I took two days (and I was much younger).
4. The Berlin Wall at Bergstrasse
The last street to still be cut off by the Berlin Wall. It’s part of the Berlin Wall Memorial, but it’s easily missed.
5. Berlin Wall Remains in the St. Hedwig’s Cemetery
You get a quick glance at this one as you pass by on the S-Bahn between the Nordbahnhof and Humboldthain Stations.
6. The Lonely bit of the Berlin Wall at Lichterfelde
The Mauerstück or “Berlin Wall Piece” on Osdorferstrasse in Lichterfelde as you pass out of town into Brandenburg - for some reason this only has 2 stars on Google. I think we should fix it…
7. The Berlin Wall by the Glienicke Lake
The path of the Berlin Wall ran right through a lake here, making it one of the prettiest spots to visit for Berlin Wall hunters.
8. Checkpoint Bravo Memorial
Just a couple of bits of fence here… Oh, and a cool story about how some people tried to escape to West Berlin by hiding themselves inside a fake cow. It didn’t work…
9. Where the Berlin Wall Fell at the Böse Brücke, Bornholmer Strasse
Next to the Bornholmer Straße S-Bahn Station on the Böse bridge, East German border guards opened up the Berlin Wall for the first time here on the night of November 9, 1989. There’s a small exhibition with photos. Not much, but what’s there is well put together and interesting to read.
10. “Hinterlandmauer” in the Invaliden Cemetery
Who knew how many pieces of the Berlin Wall would be left in cemeteries? You can also find the Red Baron’s grave here, although it’s kind of a fake made during the “Third Reich”.
11. The Graffiti Wall at Mauerpark
This was one of the last sections of the Berlin Wall to be built, in the 1980s. It’s kind of cool it’s still used for its original purpose as was traditional in the West: caking the thing in graffiti.
12. Chewing Gum on the Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz
You’ll find this at Potsdamer Platz along with some historical info. Gross though, isn’t it?
13. Recently discovered remains of the Berlin Wall in Reinickendorf
Can you “discover” something if everyone knew where it was anyway? These are the kinds of philosophical questions I’m not equipped to answer. Anyway, this section of the Berlin Wall up in Pankow, part of East Germany's original fortifications, was used to seal the border with West Berlin right at the beginning, in 1961.
This particular section, transferred to West Berlin's Reinickendorf district in 1988, remained unnoticed for a long time, likely due to minor border adjustments during the Cold War.
14. Berlin Wall Remains by the Tegeler Forest
This is quite tricky to find, but if you poke around in the woods, you come across some familiar bits of metal and concrete eventually.
15. Metal fence remains at the Hahneberg Fort
The East Germans walled off the old Prussian Hahneberg Fort on the Western edge of Berlin. The fort was still used by the Nazi’s during WWII and saw a spot of international fame when it was featured in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Inglourious Basterds’ in 2009.
16. Lumps of crumbled concrete Wall in a field
Yep, just some lumps of concrete. These were parts of the Berlin Wall/’Death Strip’ system used by the East Germans. To be honest I haven’t been there in a while, so I hope they’re still there. Also, being really honest, they’re the remains of fence posts and stuff. Still cool/weird, though.
17. Wall memorial by the water
This is part of the ‘outer wall’ that formed the border between West Berlin, and East Germany, rather than the border between East and West Berlin.
18. Hinterland Wall remains in a spying hotspot in Rudow
Not much happens in Rudow. It’s part of the appeal. In the 1950s no, the British and American intelligent services dug a tunnel here under the Soviet sector and then used the latest and greatest technology to tap into supposedly secure Communist communication lines that were carrying information between Bucharest, East Berlin and Moscow.
Whether or not this was a fiasco or a triumph is up to you, but it makes for a cool story. If you want to find out more about it, look up “Operation Gold”.
19. Berlin Wall Remains near Checkpoint Charlie, Zimmerstrasse
Just a couple of pieces of the Wall out here chilling in the middle of town.
20. Wall piece on the border of Klein Machnow and Zehlendorf
A little lonely piece down here! Looks like there’s some nice cafes nearby, though.
21. Kleinmachnow - Memorial for the victims of the division of Germany
One piece on the corner of, of course, Karl Marx Strasse down in Kleinmachnow
22. Doves of peace on the Duck’s Beak
Known in German as the “Entenscnabel”, the “Duck’s Beak” was a long, thin stretch of East Berlin that poked out into the West shaped like, you guessed it, a duck’s beak.
23. Iron Fence by an old Berlin Wall guard tower
There’s a guard tower up in the north of Berlin that is now used for nature conservation. A lot of the Wall up here was just an iron fence, not the big slabs of concrete that were more common.
24. Hinterland Mauer, Leipziger Platz
Right out in the open on the octagonal Leipzig Platz, just across the road from Potsdamer Platz.
Thanks to Markus Hesselmann for this one!
25. Inside a building on Erna-Berger-Strasse
Right at the corner with Stresemannstrasse, preserved forever!
Thanks to Markus Hesselmann for this one!
26. Hinterland Mauer by the Südpanke River
Thanks to Chrissie Sternschuppe for sending me this one - I had no idea about it! A lost piece of Hinterland Mauer, right next to BND headquarters. The BND (Bundesnachrichtendienst) is Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service. Once the sworn enemy of the Stasi, they now have their headquarters in former East Berlin!
27. Lonely red piece of the Wall by Hauptbahnhof
Once again, Markus Hesselmann told me about this one.
28. The last complete pieces of the Wall
I completely overlooked the oddly-named stretch of Wall that is clearly visible from the S-Bahn as you glide past. Despite its central location it’s a little awkward to get to, so I just forgot about it.
29. Outside Club der Visionäre
I was walking past this club (the one I used to to go when I couldn’t get in elsewhere) and found four chunks of Berlin Wall just sat there. One of them is spectacularly overgrown.
30. Honourable Mention: The Berlin Birdie
Not in its original location, but it’s a weird one and I thought you’d like it. Thanks to my friend and fellow tour guide Djeekop de Dichter on Twitter for sharing this one, and for letting me use your photos! According to Djeekop:
“The 'Berlin-Bird' was designed in 1988 by Scottish artist George Wyllie, who put it together with West Berlin schoolchildren next to the Berlin Wall at the time with the idea that the 5-metre-high bird could look over the wall to the other side. A wonderful concept. Execution less so.
Nowadays, the bird looks a bit inconspicuous and lost between a garden centre and a car garage, but I always say hello to it while running.”
That’s all the ones I can find
If I’m missing one, let me know!
Enjoyed this? Follow me for more!
