Checkpoint Bravo – the former Drewitz-Dreilinden border crossing

Border checkpoint

The free exhibition about the complicated history of the border crossings between West Berlin and the GDR is run by Checkpoint Bravo e.V. From 1948 onwards, the GDR set up military-run border checkpoints around West Berlin. The commander's tower is the last remaining evidence of the Drewitz border crossing point. Opposite in Dreilinden, the Western Allies processed military transports at Checkpoint Bravo from 1969 onwards. The striking facility consists of a bridge house for customs, petrol stations and a rest area. Twenty years earlier, Checkpoint Bravo was in Berlin-Zehlendorf, where the Reichsautobahn crosses the Teltow Canal. After the Wall was built, this checkpoint was located on a West Berlin peninsula, surrounded by the GDR. After the border check, the vehicles drove through GDR territory again before reaching the city limits. To avoid this, the GDR moved the motorway eastwards and Checkpoint Bravo to Dreilinden.