Checkpoint Charlie

Most sightseeing city tours or hop-on hop-off bus tours of Berlin make a stop at Checkpoint Charlie, while walking tours, bike tours, and Segway tours offer a more unique way to visit the landmark. For historical context, be sure to visit the Checkpoint Charlie Museum (Mauermuseum), or combine it with a tour of other historic war sites, such as the Wall Memorial, the East Side Gallery, or the Allied Museum, where the original Checkpoint Charlie border crossing is on display.

• Souvenir passport stamps and photos at Checkpoint Charlie are available for an extra fee.

• Just south of Checkpoint Charlie is the Black Box Cold War exhibit and Outdoor Checkpoint Charlie Gallery.

• The Checkpoint Charlie Museum is mostly wheelchair accessible, although some exhibits may be off-limits.

Checkpoint Charlie is located on Friedrichstrasse in East Berlin, just east of Potsdamer Platz. The closest U-Bahn stations are Kochstrasse and Stadtmitte, but it’s also possible to walk there from many nearby sights—the Brandenburg Gate is about a 20-minute walk away.

The sight is open daily, all year round, but the small space can get overcrowded in the summer months. Aim to visit first or last thing in the day to avoid the main crowds or pre-book your tickets in advance to skip the line.

A small museum crammed with photos, artifacts, and information, the Checkpoint Charlie Museum offers a moving portrait of Berlin during the Cold War era. Notable exhibitions focus on the creative and daring ways that East Germans attempted to escape across the border—including a cleverly adapted VW car, a hot-air balloon, and a suitcase. It’s a memorial to those who lost their lives, and offers first-hand accounts of life behind the wall as well as a look at human rights efforts around the world.

Yes, you can still visit Checkpoint Charlie, which is located on Friedrichstrasse. It was once a Berlin Wall border crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin, and it’s now the home of a museum that tells the history of the checkpoint, the Cold War, and how Berlin was once divided.

The main attraction at Checkpoint Charlie is the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. This museum is dedicated to the people who tried to flee from East Germany to West Germany during the Cold War. It showcases old photographs, artifacts, and tells the story of inventive escape attempts to cross the border.

Yes, there are replica guardhouses with actors dressed as American soldiers who can stamp your passport with a replica stamp that was once used to cross between East and West Berlin. However, you may not want to get your real passport stamped as these novelty stamps can invalidate your passport.

To sidestep the crowds, it’s usually best to get to Checkpoint Charlie early in the morning—close to the opening time if you're visiting the Checkpoint Charlie Museum—or later on in the evening. Like other tourist attractions in Berlin, the afternoons tend to be busiest, especially during the weekend.

Yes, it’s worth visiting Checkpoint Charlie, especially if you’re interested in Germany’s Cold War history and how the city was divided by the Berlin Wall. This area is a historically significant part of Berlin, and the Checkpoint Charlie Museum is the ideal place to expand your knowledge.

Yes, most of the area around Checkpoint Charlie is wheelchair-accessible, including the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. If visiting the museum, it has a step-free entrance to the gift shop and elevators to get between the floors of the exhibits. There’s also a wheelchair-accessible bathroom on the first floor.