Berlin Wall Memorial

In the heart of the capital city, the Berlin Wall Memorial recalls Germany's former division. Located at a site fraught with history, it extends along 1.4 kilometers of the former border strip. Bernauer Straße, which marked the border between the districts of Wedding (West) and Mitte (East), was the site of tragic escapes. People from the sealed-off East Berlin threw themselves out of the windows of their houses to reach the free West. After the opening of the German-German border crossings on the night of November 9, 1989, Bernauer Straße became the gateway for GDR citizens to make a brief visit to the West.

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Visitors take a look at the former death strip of the Berlin Wall at the Bernauer Straße memorial in Berlin.
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The sun rises over the Berlin Wall Memorial on the former death strip on Bernauer Straße.
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Visitors at the Berlin Wall Memorial
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Visitors at the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße
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Pictures of victims on the grounds of the Bernauer Straße memorial.
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The director of the Berlin Wall Foundation, Axel Klausmeier, points to an information stele at the Bernauer Straße memorial in Berlin.
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Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße
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Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße
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In pouring rain, visitors to the Bernauer Straße memorial in Berlin look through viewing slits at the border fortifications.
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Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße
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The course of the former Berlin Wall is shown by a metal plate, where a man walks to the wreath-laying ceremony on the grounds of the Bernauer Straße Memorial in Berlin.
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Visitor look at floral arrangements and wreaths laid in memory of the victims of the Berlin Wall at the memorial site on Bernauer Straße in Berlin.
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Foundations are uncovered on Bernauer Straße in Berlin on the site of the memorial.
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A cyclist rides past a piece of the Berlin Wall on Bernauer Straße in Berlin.
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The memorial site, surrounded by trees with colorful autumn leaves, on Bernauer Straße in Berlin.