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Ten days after closing the border on August 13, 1961 tourists from abroad, diplomats and the military personnel of the Western Powers were only allowed to enter East Berlin via
the crossing point at Berlin Friedrichstrasse.
Soon the US military police opened the third checkpoint at Friedrichstrasse. The other two checkpoints were Helmstedt at the West German-East German border and Dreilinden at the
West Berlin and East Germany border. Based on the phonetic alphabet the Helmstedt checkpoint was called Alpha, Dreilinden
Checkpoint Bravo and
the checkpoint at Friedrichstrasse got the name Charlie.
The main function of the checkpoint was to register and inform members of the Western Military Forces before entering East Berlin. Foreign tourists were also informed but not checked in the West.
The German authorities in West and East Berlin were not allowed to check any members of the Allied Military Forces in Berlin and in Germany.
Checkpoint Charlie was removed on June 22, 1990. The former Allied guardhouses are now located in the
Allied Museum.
A copy of the American guardhouse was errected on the original place on August 13, 2000.
The East German watch tower at Checkpoint Charlie was demolished by the property owner Checkpoint Charlie Service Company on December 9, 2000.
A 140 meter long section of the Berlin Wall was
re-erected by the museum on October 31, 2004 and nearby, a field of 1,065 crosses represents all victims of the East German border system.
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External Links:
Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie Tower demolished
Could we see our own Checkpoint Charlie?
Section of Berlin Wall re-erected
'Wall Disneyland' divides Berlin
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