Checkpoint Charlie Berlin: what is free, what costs €18.50, and where to go for the Wall

💡 The Short Version: Checkpoint Charlie is the corner of Friedrichstraße and Zimmerstraße and is free to see. The Stiftung Berliner Mauer runs a free temporary outdoor exhibition on the square in front of the asisi panorama. The paid sights are private businesses: the Mauermuseum is €18.50 and open daily 10:00 to 20:00, and the asisi “The Wall” panorama is €14, open daily 10:00 to 18:00. For the history of the Wall, the free Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße is the place to go. Or book a tour: the Third Reich and Cold War walking tourad, from €16.73, ends at Checkpoint Charlie.

What is at the crossing

Checkpoint Charlie was the border crossing at the corner of Friedrichstraße and Zimmerstraße. The Stiftung Berliner Mauer, which runs the Wall Memorial, keeps a temporary outdoor exhibition on the history of the crossing on the square in front of the asisi panorama. It is free. The foundation is also developing a “Forum Checkpoint Charlie”, a memorial and education site at the crossing, with construction scheduled to begin in 2030 (Stiftung Berliner Mauer).

The checkpoint booth and sector sign on Friedrichstraße. Photo: Maksym Kozlenko, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Mauermuseum

The Mauermuseum is a private museum, not a state or foundation site, and you can buy at the counter or online (tickets). It is open every day of the year.

The museum holds a documentation on the Wall, from its building to reunification: historical photographs, film, objects used in escapes and political art. Audio guides are in German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Polish. Coat check and bags are free. The Museum Pass Berlin does not list it. It costs more than the DDR Museum (€13.90), the Stasi Museum (€12) and Hohenschönhausen (€9): see the Stasi Museum and Hohenschönhausen.

The Mauermuseum on Friedrichstraße. Photo: Leandro Neumann Ciuffo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

The asisi panorama

“The Wall” is a 360-degree panorama by Yadegar Asisi of divided Berlin, set on an autumn day in the 1980s in the Kreuzberg sector. Visitors view it from a platform 4 m high, which has no lift, though the lower level shows the installation. The building is at ground level and accessible by wheelchair. It is the same artist as the Pergamon panorama in Pergamonmuseum. Das Panorama. Tickets are sold online and on GetYourGuidead, where asisi itself is the seller at the same €14.

Tours worth paying for

Both tours below include the crossing in a longer route. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person.

Third Reich and Cold War walking tour

From €16.73 · 2 hours · 9,926 reviews

Berlin: Third Reich & Cold War 2 Hour Guided Walking Tourad is run by Insider Tour Berlin in English and German. It starts at the tourist information at the Brandenburg Gate, takes in a section of the Wall about 200 m long and the Topography of Terror, and ends at Checkpoint Charlie. Cancel up to 24 hours ahead for a full refund.

Wall Tour: fates, love stories and heroes

From €25 · 2 hours · 796 reviews

Berlin: Wall Tour – Fates, Love Stories, and Heroesad follows the original route of the Berlin Wall, with Soviet-era sites and the moments that led to its fall, according to its listing.

What to see

Read the free outdoor panels first, then decide on a paid sight.

1. The crossing and the outdoor exhibition. Free, on the square in front of the asisi building.
2. The asisi panorama, if you want a picture of life beside the Wall, from €14.
3. The Mauermuseum, if you want its collection of escape objects and documents, for €18.50.
4. Then Bernauer Straße. The Berlin Wall Memorial and the East Side Gallery are free and show the Wall itself.

What to skip: the Mauermuseum on a short stay. The Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße is free and covers the history.

Getting there

• Where: the corner of Friedrichstraße and Zimmerstraße. The asisi panorama is at Friedrichstraße 205.
• U-Bahn: Kochstraße, on the U6.
• The nearby sights: the Topography of Terror (best museums in Berlin) and the Holocaust Memorial are a walk away.

The nearest currywurst stand the lists name is Curry at the Wall: see currywurst and döner in Berlin. What to book before you go to Berlin has the closed days for every sight, and free things to do in Berlin lists what costs nothing. Museum Pass or WelcomeCard says which cards include the panorama. 3 days in Berlin places the corner around the other Wall sites. To stay nearby, see where to stay in Berlin. Berlin walking tours lists the guided Wall and Cold War walks that pass the corner, and the Berlin underground tours cover the escape tunnels.