A place of myth and legend, particularly in spy novels set during the Cold War in Europe. Checkpoint Charlie was the most famous border crossing between East and West Berlin. Following the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, Checkpoint Charlie was established as one of the official crossing points between East and West Berlin.
The image above shows Checkpoint Charlie in 1963.
From 1945, Berlin was a divided city with four sectors under the control of the British, French, American and Russian armed forces. Each military power was allowed unfettered access to all areas of Berlin. When the wall was built in 1961, the only way to access the Russian sector was through one of the checkpoints that were set up by the East German government, Checkpoint Charlie being the most famous.
In October 1961, Checkpoint Charlie was the site of a very tense standoff between American and Soviet tanks.
Between 1961 and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, it was possible for tourists to obtain a one day visa to visit East Berlin. Currency controls were strictly enforced and customs officers would confiscate any materials that were considered critical of the GDR regime, such as postcards and tourist information about the Berlin Wall.
Checkpoint Charlie has featured in a number of real and fictional spy stories. It played a supporting role in the real life exchange of Gary Powers and Rudolf Abel, when the American student Frederic Pryor was handed over by Russian officals. Its most notable fictional appearance is in the opening scenes of the film adaptation of John Le Carre's, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.
The checkpoint was the site of several daring escapes from East Berlin. An American serviceman hid an East German father and daughter in his car. The photographer Horst Beyer set up a photoshoot, jumped the barrier and fled to the West and a Austrian national drove his girlfriend and her mother through the barriers by lowering the windshield on his rented convertible and speeding under the barriers.
The area around the checkpoint has changed considerably since it heyday during the Cold War. The original American checkpoint has been replaced by a replica and a museum has been opened.
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