Checkpoint Bravo ("Checkpoint B") was the name given by the Western Allies to the main

Autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...

border crossing point between

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

and the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. It was known in German as . Drewitz is a community nearby, and Dreilinden is the name of the wooded area in Berlin through which the highway passes.

Geography

The checkpoint was located on the A 115 motorway (known within Berlin as the '' AVUS''), between the Berliner locality of Nikolassee and the

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

er rural community of Drewitz, part of the municipality of Kleinmachnow.

History

The checkpoint was the nearest motorway border crossing point to the Helmstedt–Marienborn border crossing ("Checkpoint Alpha") on the border of West Germany, making it part of the shortest highway transit route between

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

and West Berlin. The checkpoint was shifted slightly during 1969 from Drewitz (part of

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

), after the East German authorities realigned the transit route to eliminate a brief re-entry into GDR territory before transit traffic could finally enter West Berlin. The new checkpoint was relocated to Nikolassee (part of the district of Zehlendorf).

Since German reunification

The site of the original, pre-1969 checkpoint (rest stop, adjacent car park and abandoned highway) was used in filming the television series. The site itself, "which includes a derelict bridge and a crumbling cafe covered in graffiti," was auctioned in September 2010 for €45,000. The vast site of the East-German checkpoint was eventually converted into a commercial park named . All that remains of the checkpoint is the former main control tower that now houses a museum of the checkpoint.Memorial site of Checkpoint Bravo

Gallery

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L0331-0005, Potsdam, Grenzübergang Drewitz-Dreilinden.jpg, Congestion at the East German checkpoint in Drewitz in March 1972 after the temporary easing of travel restrictions into East Germany. File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L0331-0007, Potsdam, Grenzübergang Drewitz-Dreilinden.jpg, Congestion at the East German checkpoint in Drewitz in March 1972 after the temporary easing of travel restrictions into East Germany. File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L0330-0025, Potsdam, Grenzübergang Drewitz-Dreilinden.jpg, East German border guards checking vehicles at the checkpoint in Drewitz in March 1972 after the easing of travel restrictions into East Germany. File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L0402-0016, Potsdam, Grenzübergang Drewitz-Dreilinden.jpg, East German border guards checking vehicles at the checkpoint in Drewitz in March 1972 after the easing of travel restrictions into East Germany. File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L0401-0300, Potsdam, Grenzübergang Drewitz-Dreilinden, Bus.jpg, West Berlin passengers board buses to travel in East Germany at the Drewitz checkpoint in March 1972 after the temporary easing of travel restrictions into East Germany. File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L0329-0028, Potsdam, Grenzübergang Drewitz-Dreilinden.jpg, West Berlin passengers board buses to travel in East Germany at the Drewitz checkpoint in March 1972 after the temporary easing of travel restrictions into East Germany. File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L0330-0033, Potsdam, Grenzübergang Drewitz-Dreilinden, Kontrolle in Bus.jpg, East German border guards check passes of West Berlin passengers in March 1972 after the temporary easing of travel restrictions into East Germany. File:De Transit Drewitz 1986.jpg, Transit traffic from West Germany waiting to enter West Berlin at the East German checkpoint at Drewitz in 1986. Drivers and passengers would push their cars to save fuel. File:Checkpoint Drewitz-Dreilinden 2009 PD 20090320 002.JPG, Former checkpoint in 2009. File:Passportstempel DDR Drewitz2.jpg, Passport stamps from the Drewitz checkpoint.

References

External links