Hotels near Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie was the most famous Cold War crossing point between East and West Berlin between 1961 and 1989. Today the actual checkpoint is a recreation - the original guard house is in the Allied Museum - but the corner of Friedrichstrasse and Zimmerstrasse remains the symbolic centre of Cold War Berlin. The free Black Box exhibition next door covers the October 1961 US-Soviet tank standoff that nearly triggered World War III.

The nearby Mauermuseum (EUR 17.50) preserves the human stories of escape - hidden compartments in cars, hot air balloons, ultralight aircraft, and a tunnel beneath the Wall. It is touristy but the original artefacts are striking.

Pro Tip: Skip the actors in fake American military uniforms charging EUR 5 for photos. Walk five minutes east to the Topography of Terror, a free open-air exhibition on the foundations of the Gestapo HQ that contextualises everything Checkpoint Charlie cannot.