Cold War Sites & memorials in Germany

To mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the publishing house Axel Springer gifted a segment of the wall to each of the 33 German States. Partly as a memorial to Axel Caesar Springer (1912 – 1985) and his dream of German reunification. But also as a symbol of freedom and a reminder of ever perpetual dangers. Nuremberg was chosen for the location of Bavaria’s fragment as many refugees from former East Germany settled here.

From 1945 to 1990, this villa on the Heiliger See in Potsdam was the site of the HQ of the British Commanders’-in-Chief Mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany. Set up t the end of WWII to liaise with the Soviet Military. With the advent of the Cold War, however, operations turned to intelligence gathering. The Potsdam site was the main HQ, with a a Rear HQ located in West Berlin. The operation ceased to exist on the eve of German reunification in 1990. Today the building is home to the Hasso Plattner Foundation.

Near the small town of Ahrweiler, the Cold War bunker served as a secure location for the German government to operate from in the event of a nuclear attack. Built underground between 1960 and 1972, it is an extraordinary feat of engineering as the bunker was designed to withstand a direct hit from a nuclear strike. It could accommodate up to 4,000 people for several weeks. Today visitors can take guided tours of the facility and see the living quarters, communication centres, and medical facility.

Considered one of the most beautiful ruined castles in central Germany, Hanstein Castle certainly makes for a picturesque silhouette among timber-framed buildings. First mention of the castle dates to 1070, noting its destruction. Given its strategic value, the castle was rebuilt and damaged several times in its history. As it was close to the border between East and West Germany, the CDR took control of the ruins and the towers used as a border watch tower. No visitors were allowed until after Reunification. A popular  medieval festival takes place at the castle every year on the first weekend of August.

The border crossing at Helmstedt/Marienborn was set up on 1 July 1945 on the Hanover-Berlin autobahn, It was the sole access point to the divided city of Berlin. In May 1952 the GDR took control of the checkpoint and set up a deadly regime, using barbed wire, signal fences and mines. Bteween 1985 and 1989 around 35.6 million travellers were processed at the border crossing. Over 1,000 people worked here, until the facility closed on 30 June 1990. Today visitors can take a guided tour or walk freely throughout this distinctive commemorative site of a divided Germany.

From 1936 to April 1945 Sachsenhausen was used by the Nazi regime as a concentration camp. It mainly held political prisoners, and a number of high profile individuals were interned here. Including the wife and children of the Crown Prince of Bavaria. The camp was equipped with a medical experimentation centre and a gas chamber, the remains of which can still be seen. After the war this area was in the Soviet Zone, and the camp was used by them to house enemies of the Soviet state from August 1945 to the spring of 1950 – Special Camp Nr. 7.

In the early 1950s the rural medieval village of Mödlareuth became known as ‘Little Berlin’.  Like the city, the village was physically divided in 1952, at first by a wooden fence, then later by the  same concrete barrier system that divided the two German states. Mödlareuth lies on the border between Thuringia (then in the Soviet Occupation Zone) and Bavaria (American Occupation Zone), hence the partition of the village into East and West Germany, where social and familial ties were forcibly broken. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, residents bulldozed most of the dividing wall, but a section was retained and is now a memorial and a museum recounts this period of the village’s history.

Built in the first half of the 1870s, the Prussian district court and city prison on the north side of Moritzplatz continued to serve as a place of detention during WWII. Immediately after the war, the Soviets took control before East German law enforcement agencies, who continued to used the building as a detention centre until 1989. Today the historic court and prison stands as a memorial not only to the 10,000 plus victims of political persecution between 1945 and 1989, but also the victims held here by the Nazis. The memorial houses a permanent exhibition, “In the name of the people? About the judiciary in the SED state”.

Said to be one of the most critical spots in the Cold War. This is  the point where US Armed Forces and the the Warsaw Pact faced each other for four decades over the East-West boundary, on what is the border between Hessen and Thuringia. Visitors can explore the entire complex by themselves, including the US  Camp, the House on the Border, border fortifications and reconstructions, the Patrol Road/Road of Hope and the Wiesenfeld Tower. Guided tours of the memorial site are available, and can be booked on the website.

In what was for 40 years the Stasi’s headquarters of the Leipzig District is now a museum that tells the history of the secret service in Leipzig during the period of the GDR. The central, permanent exhibition is ‘Stasi – Power and Banality. Curated by the Citizens Committee of Leipzig, which was formed during the peaceful revolution in 1989. The demonstration that on 9 October 1989 brought down East Germany and the fall of the Iron Curtain. The custodians have tried to preserve the decor and contents of the Stasi offices as it was at the end of 1989, from linoleum floors and radiators, from surveillance cameras to shredding machines.

As part of the nation’s preparedness strategy during the Cold War, the Bundesbank and state banks set up a series of safe locations. Here money was stored to ensure economic and financial security in the event of war. The North Rhine-Westphalia underground complex was built between 1966 and 1969, with 72 rooms covering an area of 2500 square metres. In 1990, the bunker was handed to the City of Mechernich. A school was built on top of the bunker, and in 2011 a group of volunteers prepared the bunker for public tours. The historic facility was opened in 2012, with visits by appointment or on scheduled dates.

In a forest setting in Bernau bei Berlin, but closer to Wandlitz (hence the name) is the former housing estate used by members and candidates of the  East German SED Politburo from 1960 to 1989. The likes of Honecker, Ulbricht, Mielke and Krenz lived here. Today the houses look basic, but for the time and in Eat Germany these were luxurious residences in a high security complex that included an event hall, a shop (that had luxury items from West Berlin) and a nuclear bunker. After reunification the settlement became a rehabilitation centre and a residence for senior citizens. It is a popular day trip from Berlin for hikers.

In the aftermath of WWII, the British armed forces claimed the small village of Wollseifen for military training. The training area included the nearby Nazi Ordensburg Vogelsang. The facility was given to the Belgians, including the abandoned village who built the stage houses for military exercises. The school house and church are all that remain from the original community. Today the site is in the Eifel National Park, which is popular among hikers. The schoolhouse has a permanent exhibition focussing on the story of Wollseifen.