German Sign languageConstruction of the “Berlin Wall Trail” (Berliner Mauerweg) began in 2002 and was completed in 2006. The Senate Department for Urban Development (Directorates I and VII) is the “Berliner Mauerweg” project coordinator, while the state-owned Grün Berlin GmbH was charged with carrying out the project. Grün Berlin GmbH can answer your questions at info@gruen-berlin.de. Project financing came from the Senate Department for Economics, Labour and Women’s Issues (90%), which tapped a state/federal joint fund used to improve regional economic structures, and the Senate Department for Urban Development’s own resources (10%). More…
The Berlin Wall Trail traces the course of the former GDR border fortifications encircling West Berlin, the former western half of the city, along a total of around 160 kilometers. In most sections, this hiking and bike trail runs along the former patrol road used by customs officers in West Berlin or along the border control road used by GDR border troops for their own patrols. Sections of historic interest, with traces or remains of the old Wall, alternate with stretches of natural beauty that underscore the country’s good fortune in regaining its unity.
Signs mark the course of the Berlin Wall Trail, and maps displayed at regular intervals help bikers and pedestrians find their bearings. Berlin History Mile stations and the info markers along the Berlin Wall Trail also provide information in several languages on the division of Germany and the construction and fall of the Berlin Wall. Photographs and short texts describe events that happened at the site in question and recall the political situation and everyday life in the divided city. The “Berlin Wall Orientation System” in the city center has maps and listening stations and gives visitors another way to discover traces of the Wall. People who died at the Berlin Wall are recalled at 29 different places along the route with short biographies. These info markers complement the historical memorial markers and crosses still found in what was once West Berlin. The national memorial for the victims of the Berlin Wall is on the grounds of the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer
Strasse. (More information on the victims is available at www.chronik-der-mauer.de.
The Berlin Wall Trail is divided into 14 individual sections to help you plan a bike tour or a walk. Each section is between seven and 21 kilometers long, and you can reach the beginning and end of each route easily with public transportation. In general, bicycles are permitted on S-Bahn, subway, and regional trains, but please comply with the rules of the public transportation services. You can find more information on border crossings, memorials, Wall monuments, Wall traces, documentation centers, and museums under the other menu items on this portal.