The Berlin Wall Trail (Berliner Mauerweg)

Once in a month we present you places, which deal with commemorating and remembering the GDR. These places were yet above all institutions like museums or memorials, which emphasize several themes of the GDR past. This time we want to present you a place of remembrance of a special kind: the Berlin Wall Trail.

The Berlin Wall Trail was realized in the years 2002 till 2006 and marks the course of the East German border fortifications to West Berlin on 160km. It is developed for pedestrians and cyclists; it is also suitable for inline skaters. In its course historical interesting sections, characterized by Wall residuals and traces of the Wall, alternate with scenic routes. The Wall Trail is signposted and general plans facilitate the orientation on the respective route. The “Berlin Wall History Mile” (“Geschichtsmeile Berliner Mauer”) runs in the inner-city area parallel. The permanent exhibition in four languages offers with stations and informations columns worth knowing things about the division of Germany and the construction and fall of the Wall.

Besides that, photographs and texts along the Wall Trail describe the events which happened at the respective location. They remind the former political situation and the everyday life in the divided city.

In the inner-city area, the “Berlin Wall Orientation System"(“Orientierungssystem Berliner Mauer”) also allows the cyclists and pedestrians to find locally interesting traces of the Wall using plans and listening stations. At 29 locations it is additionally reminded of the people dying at the Wall with separate information columns. There you get to know the biographies of the victims.

The Wall Trail is divided in 14 single distances, 7-21 km long. The starting and ending points of the routes are easy to reach by public transport. So you can finish the tour every time, after each single distance.

The routes lead for example from Potsdamer Platz to Warschauer Straße, from Griebnitzsee to the Wannsee or from Henningsdorf to Hohen Neuendorf. More detailed information to the course of the routes and the sights you can find on the homepage of the city Berlin. There is a flash-map, too, on which the Wall Trail is located in its single sections.

When you are interested in GDR history and the history of the Berlin Wall and just don’t want to visit a museum every time, the Berlin Wall Trail offers you a very good alternative to experience history on original sites.