Landmark
This cylindrical watchtower on Erna-Berger-Strasse is one of the few East German border towers to survive largely intact, saved almost by accident: when the GDR rerouted its border development further from this stretch in the 1980s, the tower was left standing in what became an obscure pocket of no-man's-land rather than being demolished like most others. Surrounded now by modern development, it's a stark, sobering reminder of the Wall's machinery tucked into an otherwise unremarkable street, though at the time of some reviews it was wrapped in construction cladding due to nearby building work. It's free, takes about twenty minutes, and appeals most to visitors specifically interested in Cold War history who've already covered the more prominent sites like Checkpoint Charlie or the Bernauer Strasse memorial. Its high hidden-gem score reflects how few tourists find their way here compared to Berlin's headline Wall sites.
✨ Reasons to go
💡 Good to know
⏱️ Typical visit
20 min
🕰️ Best time
morning, afternoon or early evening
🚶 Walking intensity
Easy pace
What people say
"The fact this watchtower remains is due to it being made redundant when East Germany built a development closer to the Wall and this leaving it in the middle of that. Otherwise, it would have been demolished along with the majority of the other watchtowers. For a small fee you can climb up and see exactly what it was like to be up and look through the watchtower. I understand it is being relocated soon to avoid damage during building works so to get to it in its original place was great."
— Dermot Tuohey
