Berlin border crossings

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Border crossing points and the course of the Berlin Wall, 1989

The border crossings in Berlin were created through the division of Germany. From 1952 there were border security systems and crossings or control stations on the outer border between West Berlin and the GDR region. After the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, crossings were added within the urban area of ​​the four - sector city ​​of Berlin, between East Berlin (Soviet sector) and West Berlin (sectors of the three Western Allies ). At first there were very few, but over time they were expanded after tough negotiations. The GDR name for the crossings of the controlled border traffic was: Grenzübergangsstelle , GüSt or GÜSt .

When crossing the border there was no difference between East Berliners and GDR citizens: East Berliners were GDR citizens according to the GDR perspective. From the western side, the Soviet sector of Greater Berlin (East Berlin) was not regarded as part of the GDR under occupation law, although East Berlin as a district belonged to the GDR and was its capital according to the GDR and Soviet view. From the western point of view, there was only one uniform German citizenship for citizens living in the Federal Republic, the GDR, West Berlin and East Berlin. That is why GDR citizens were given a passport for the Federal Republic of Germany without any problems when they were visiting the Federal Republic.

Controls on the East Berlin side

The " Checkpoint Charlie " border crossing after the opening of the Berlin Wall, November 14, 1989
Cross-border commuters at the now disused Berlin S-Bahn station Düppel, 1955
Knesebeck Bridge with a view of Teltow , 1955

Between the two halves of the city and on the city boundary between West Berlin and the GDR, the border and transit crossings on the GDR side were greatly expanded. It was strictly controlled by the border authorities and customs on entry and exit . The external border security and the security of the border crossing points were taken over by special security companies of the border troops of the GDR (SiK).

The actual person and vehicle control was carried out by the passport control units (PKE). Organizationally, the PKE were not subordinate to the border troops of the GDR and thus to the Ministry of Defense , but to the Ministry for State Security (Main Department VI / Department 6, Passport Control). The PKE wore the uniform of the border troops while on duty on the GÜSt. Only specially trained personnel were used to check people. The passports, ID cards , etc. could finally be transmitted via video signal from the control stations to a central search room and recorded if necessary. There the personal details were checked in the existing wanted files. If necessary, a command could be transmitted to the controller by means of a numeric code display, e.g. B. leafing through, requesting additional documents, slowing down processing, asking predefined questions. Unlike in the Federal Republic of Germany (visas issued by the embassies), the majority of the required visas (transit and entry visas) were issued at the border crossing points of the GDR. This involved a considerable amount of personnel and organizational effort, which also explains the numerical strength of the passport control units and the spatial dimensions of some GÜSt (transit crossings).

West Berliners had to use their “makeshift Berlin ID card” (passports of the Federal Republic were not recognized by the GDR authorities if Berlin was registered as their place of residence) in advance to apply for a permit for a day or multiple visa. There were five offices for visiting and travel matters in the West Berlin districts, i.e. east offices in the western part of the city. A distinction was made between visits to relatives or acquaintances and tourist entries. With a visa for East Berlin, the Berlin city area could not be left. The minimum subscription amounts (conversion of DM in the GDR mark at the border) were for East Berlin and the rest of East Germany from 1974 to 1980 different (6.50 DM for East Berlin, 13 DM for the rest of the GDR), then a standard 25 DM At times, the money was already counted and packed in plastic bags - one bag for East Berlin, two bags for the GDR. The departure had to happen no later than midnight, an overnight stay in East Berlin was usually not possible.

Controls on the West Berlin side

On the West Berlin side, the police and customs had posts. As a rule, there were no controls on passenger traffic there.

  • According to Western policy, it was not a border control, as the sector border was not a state border but only divided sectors of occupation. Berlin's outer city border with the GDR, on the other hand, was also important from a Western point of view, so that controls were possible there. However, they were only carried out occasionally as part of search measures.
  • At the transit crossings, the travelers were recorded statistically (questioning about the destination), occasionally also checked ( ring manhunt ) when there was a corresponding cause for criminal prosecution .
  • In the first few years, people and vehicle documents were also asked for in order to protect travelers from difficulties with the control bodies of the Soviet Zone / GDR. However, the identity was only checked if there was reasonable suspicion.
  • The transport of goods was subject to customs clearance in foreign traffic. In dealings with the Federal Republic of Germany, only statistical surveys were made and, if necessary, the cargo was sealed .
  • At Checkpoint Bravo ( Dreilinden ) and Checkpoint Charlie ( Friedrichstrasse ), the Allied occupying powers had set up checkpoints, which, however, were of no importance for normal travel and visitor traffic. They were used to dispatch military units and for political demonstrations. They have only rarely exercised the powers they are entitled to carry out more extensive controls.
  • With the help of signs, transit travelers were asked to report suspicious events during the transit traffic through the GDR. B. Information about the arrests of German citizens can be obtained.

Border crossings until 1990

Street and pedestrian crossings

West Berlin - East Berlin

Oberbaumbrücke border crossing , 1986
Oberbaumbrücke border crossing on November 11, 1989

There were the following border crossings (road) between West and East Berlin :

" Tränenpalast ", the terminal building of the Friedrichstrasse station , 1962
  • For West Berliners, German citizens, foreigners, diplomats, transit travelers and GDR citizens (located entirely in East Berlin, accessible from the western part by S-Bahn , U-Bahn or long-distance train)

West Berlin - outer city limits to the GDR

  • Glienicke Bridge over the Havel from Berlin-Wannsee to Potsdam :
    • Opened to general traffic until 1952;
    • From 1952 it was only used for access to the Western Allied Military Liaison Missions (MVM) and their civilian supply from West Berlin. Civilians with special permits were initially allowed to cross the bridge on foot;
    • From July 3, 1953, the bridge was closed to civilian passenger traffic as one of the last connecting routes from Berlin to the surrounding area.
    • thereafter regular transition only for members and suppliers of the allied military liaison missions .
    • He became known in particular through three exchanges of arrested agents between the great powers USA and the Soviet Union that took place here.
  • Rudow / Großziethen (July 1973 to December 1977), only garbage trucks of the Berlin city cleaning companies and car business trips from West Berlin to the landfill in Großziethen ( Königs Wusterhausen district ). The "Neukölln-Mittenwalder-Dreieck" (22,400 m²) acquired by West Berlin in 1988 were the lanes for garbage trucks to cross the border.
  • Lichtenrade / Mahlow ( B 96 ), only garbage trucks of the Berlin city cleaning companies and car service trips from West Berlin to the landfill in Schöneiche ( Zossen district ) ( see Kirchhainer Damm )
  • Waltersdorfer Chaussee ( B 179 ), opened in 1963, was not only open to transit from / to Berlin-Schönefeld Airport, but also for West Berliners to enter the GDR. The transition was rather unknown because it was only mentioned in travel guides as its transit function.
  • Kohlhasenbrück , for access to the Steinstücke exclave , can only be used by its residents. The transition disappeared after the exchange of territory that came into force in 1972, when Steinstücke was given an uncontrolled connection to West Berlin .
  • Citizens' depository , for access to the Erlengrund and Fichtewiese exclaves , can only be used by the allotment gardeners there. The transition disappeared after the area swap in 1988, when the two exclaves were given uncontrolled connection to West Berlin.

Transitions for transit traffic

Road crossings

Visa from the Drewitz border crossing from August 1980 (stamp on the right)
Drewitz border crossing point , 1986
Dreilinden border crossing , looking towards the city
Waybill DDR Transit

These crossings could be used for transit traffic on the prescribed transit routes and for travel to the GDR.

Border stations

Gate in the wall and viewing bridge at Görlitz train station , 1986

Border crossings on the waterways

Border installations on the Teltow Canal near Albrechts Teerofen , 1988

The numerous border crossings on the waterways (e.g. Spree , Havel , Teltow Canal ) were only permitted for commercial goods traffic. Pleasure craft had to be loaded onto inland waterway vessels or towed along the route.

Air traffic

For onward travel by air from / to / from Berlin-Schönefeld Airport

  • Waltersdorfer Chaussee / Rudower Chaussee (transfer bus from / to West Berlin)
There were border crossings at Berlin-Tempelhof and Berlin-Tegel airports that were supervised by the West Berlin police and customs . They were not within the GDR's sphere of influence. In addition to the clearance for international air traffic, the identity documents of travelers between West Berlin and the Federal Republic were also checked.

Other transitions

All illegal or unofficial border crossings that

  • by refugees and escape helpers mostly underground between east and west . Many of them were discovered and destroyed again;
  • z. B. were created by the MfS and other covert organizations on both sides to exchange people and material unnoticed between East and West.

timeline

August 1961

On August 13, 1961, 13 inner-city crossings for vehicles and pedestrians were set up: Copenhagener Strasse , Wollankstrasse, Bornholmer Strasse , Brunnenstrasse , Chausseestrasse , Brandenburger Tor , Friedrichstrasse , Heinrich-Heine-Strasse , Oberbaumbrücke , Puschkinallee, Elsenstrasse, Sonnenallee , Rudower Strasse . The Brandenburg Gate crossing was closed again on August 14 “because of ongoing provocations”. On August 23, 1961, the crossings Copenhagener Straße, Wollankstraße, Brunnenstraße, Puschkinallee, Elsenstraße and Rudower Straße were closed and the crossing Invalidenstraße opened. At the same time it was determined which of the transitions could be used by foreign nationals, residents of West Germany and residents of West Berlin.

Extensions in 1989/1990

In the period between the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989 and the removal of all border controls on July 1, 1990, numerous other border crossings were set up at short notice. The most famous of these because of their symbolic value were Glienicker Brücke , Bernauer Strasse , Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburg Gate. At the request of the then Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl, the latter was only officially opened on December 22, 1989 because of its effectiveness in the media. Hundreds of television crews from all over the world waited for this event for weeks.

Existing border crossings on January 15, 1990
Information sheet of the border troops of the GDR about the imminent opening of the Brandenburg Gate
Stamp "Brandenburger Tor" on the GDR counting card, dated December 30, 1989

The following is a chronological list of all transitions opened during this period. Location and district allocation, status: 1990:

resolution

With German reunification on October 3, 1990, all border crossings were given up. The controls ceased to exist on July 1, 1990, the day of monetary, economic and social union . In the months after the Wall came down, they had gradually become meaningless. Some remains of the facilities are still preserved today as a memorial.

Existing border controls

There are still border crossings at the Berlin-Tegel and Berlin-Schönefeld airports (outside the city limits) that are supervised by the federal police and customs. They are used exclusively for handling in international air traffic and are therefore no longer a special feature in terms of the history of the Cold War .

literature

  • Hans-Dieter Behrendt: In the shadow of the "bridge of agents" , GNN Verlag, Schkeuditz 2003, ISBN 3-89819-140-0 .
  • Hans-Dieter Behrendt: Good day, passport control of the GDR , GNN-Verlag, Schkeuditz 2008, ISBN 978-3-89819-243-9 .
  • William Durie, Dieter Riedel, Friedrich Jeschonnek: Allies in Berlin 1945–1994 . Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag, Berlin 2007, 2nd edition, ISBN 978-3-8305-0397-2 .
  • Bernd Kuhlmann: Trains through the wall and barbed wire , GVE Verlag, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-89218-050-4 .

Web links

Commons : Berlin border crossings  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ West junk in the GDR - history of the Berlin Wall and the Wall fell. Retrieved October 27, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Neues Deutschland from June 15, 1963, p. 8
  3. ↑ Bernd Kuhlmann: Trains through the wall and barbed wire, p. 106 ff
  4. ^ New Germany , August 13, 1961, p. 1
  5. ↑ Neues Deutschland , August 15, 1961, p. 1
  6. ↑ Neues Deutschland , 23 August 1961, p. 2