Berlin - Checkpoint Charlie Museum

Checkpoint Charlie Museum

Founded by human rights activist Dr. Rainer Hildebrandt, Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie explores the history of the Berlin Wall and the stories of the people whose lives were affected by it.  It depicts objects used to get over, under, and through the Berlin Wall in their efforts to escape the so-called “best border security system in the world.”

Celebrating its 50^th birthday, the museum also hosts a new exhibition tracing movements which have promoted human rights from 1800 onwards and how the struggle continues today.

The permanent exhibit traces the history of the Berlin Wall.  On exhibit are some of the various deceptive means of escape including hot air balloons, escape cars, suitcases, homemade mini-subs, and even a cleverly hollowed out surfboard.

The human rights exhibit entitled From Gandhi to Walesa: Non-Violent Struggle for Human Rights Worldwide, features a diary and wooden sandals of Mahatma Gandhi as well as other artifacts. They also have the typewriter used to draft Charta 77, the hectograph from the illegal periodical Umweltblatter, and Elena Bonner's ‘death mask’ of partner Andrei Sacharov.

2012 also marks the opening of the new permanent NATO exhibit which charts the creation of NATO in 1949.

Originally opened in 1962 by Dr. Hildebrandt in two-and-a-half rooms to protest the newly erected Berlin Wall in 1961, its popularity outgrew its original location and it was moved to its present location at the Checkpoint Charlie border crossing in 1963.  Because of its location, the museum café became a popular meeting point to plan escapes.

Today the museum is run by Dr. Hildebrandt’s widow Alexandra following his death in 2004.  Although the Berlin Wall may have come down, many people in the world still face discrimination, persecution, and unlawful imprisonment, and the attention the museum draws to their cause is immeasurable.

Here are some excellent videos.  The first is narrated by Alexandra Hildebrandt called Checkpoint Charlie (2:08).  This one is a segment from travel guru Rick Steve's travel show on Berlin called Berlin, Germany: Checkpoint Charlie (1:21).  The third, Checkpoint Charlie Berlin (3:25), is also quite informative.