Behind the Iron Curtain :
Relics of a Cold War
Behind The Iron Curtain :
Relics of a Cold War.
Berlin - Autobahn 115 - Checkpoint Alpha - Iron Curtain - Postdam’s Bridge of Spies - Checkpoint Bravo - Berlin
This trip is offered in English, regularly several times a month, from April to September. Let us know the month and date you would like to depart by clicking on the "Find out more" button: we will match your preferences with the next confirmed group departure. This full-day (12-hour) itinerary starts and finishes at Alexanderplatz in Berlin.
Not happy with our scheduled group departures? If you're travelling with more than 4 friends, you can set your own departure date: we'll organise a tailor-made tour just for you and your companions for the same price per person as advertised below. If you're travelling alone or with fewer than four friends, then we'll organise a slightly more expensive tailor-made tour, depending on your specific timetable and geographical preferences.
Itinerary.
This itinerary is offered exclusively by SPOUTNIK.voyage, departing from Berlin. This full-day itinerary (12 hours) starts and finishes at Alexanderplatz in Berlin.
Visit the still visible remnants of the Cold War from Berlin in one day.
Day 1 - Berlin - Checkpoint Alpha - Iron Curtain - Postdam Bridge of spies - Checkpoint Bravo - Berlin
Depart early in the morning from the centre of Berlin at Alexanderplatz, heading for the Lands of Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt.
Arrive two hours later at Checkpoint Alpha - Helmstedt-Marienborn checkpoint, one of the most important crossing points between the German Democratic Republic (GDR) (in German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik or DDR) and West Germany (in German: Westdeutschland), the common name given to the Federal Republic of Germany, often abbreviated to FRG (in German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland or BRD). Visit this impressive site and the museum (currently undergoing restoration).
After lunch (not included) in a cafeteria adjacent to the site, we head for the remains of the Iron Curtain, preserved on the border between the states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. We'll wander through the no-man's-land between the watchtowers of the DDR soldiers along the Iron Curtain, an activity that would have been extremely dangerous, if not fatal, 30 years ago. We will contemplate the remnants of the Cold War that split the world in two for several decades.
After this stop, we head back to Berlin, with a stopover in the historic town of Potsdam. We won't be visiting the castles of the Prussian kings this time, but rather the Bridge of Spies (Glienicker Brücke), which was the point of exchange between spies from East and West during the Cold War, as in the film of the same name (Bridge of Spies). The bridge was located on the border between West Berlin and the rest of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Weather permitting, we'll see the narrowest point between East and West at the boundary between the Berlin and Brandenburg Lands.
We continue our journey to Checkpoint Bravo - Drewitz-Dreilinden checkpoint, less well known than Checkpoint Charlie, but just as important on the Bundesautobahn 115 motorway. Visit to the "Panzerdenkmal" memorial and the adjacent museum (subject to opening times).
Return to Alexanderplatz in Berlin in the evening.
End of the itinerary.