Advertisement

Cold War 'Checkpoint Bravo' up for sale

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
Cold War 'Checkpoint Bravo' up for sale
Photo: DPA

A piece of Cold War history was due to go on sale in Germany on Thursday as Checkpoint Bravo, a major former crossing point between communist East Germany and West Berlin, goes under the hammer.

Advertisement

Although less famous than Checkpoint Charlie in central Berlin, the site at Dreilinden on the southwest edge of the city was one of the busiest transit points in and out of the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR).

Millions of people travelled through Checkpoint Bravo, either West Germans travelling from West Berlin to the rest of West Germany through the GDR, or the lucky few East Germans given permission by the authorities to leave.

Between the end of World War II and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, West Berlin was an island in the GDR, heavily garrisoned by the Americans, the British and the French, and with the Soviets on the other side.

The site was used until 1969 before the checkpoint was moved to a larger site nearby, is now in a dilapidated state and includes a crumbling bridge and a run-down former cafe.

Up for sale from around 2 pm, auction organisers have set a minimum price of €45,000 ($58,400) for the nearly 15,000-square-metre (160,000-square-feet) site.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also