Checkpoint History: Berlin’s Secrets and Scars

Exploring the capital’s past—from spies and stadiums to street art and silent walls. Discovering the history and culture of Germany’s capital city. 

 Students of German from Years 10 and 11 joined Mrs Noble, Mrs Bourgeois, Mrs Bodman, Mrs Northwood, and Heads of Year Mr Ayles and Mr Mason on a busy four-day trip to Berlin. 

After an early start, students settled into their accommodation at the A&O Mitte youth hostel, then spent the evening discovering two of Berlin’s most iconic sights—the Brandenburg Gate and the German Reichstag parliament building.  We also experienced the sombre Holocaust Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. 

Day 2 took us to the Olympic Stadium, site of the 1936 Nazi Olympics, where Jesse Owens famously won gold medals in sprinting and long jump. We then visited Sachsenhausen concentration camp to learn about the atrocities committed there. In the evening, we explored Bernauerstraße, the site of the Berlin Wall Memorial and  Checkpoint Charlie, a former crossing point between the American and Soviet zones. 

We clocked up plenty of steps on Day 3, starting with a visit to the Stasi secret police prison at Hohenschönhausen and the supermarket Rewe. Back in central Berlin, we explored the Palace of Tears, a border crossing between East and West Berlin, and heard moving stories of separation. After a journey along the River Spree, we visited the GDR Museum to discover what daily life was like in Communist East Germany. The day ended with a trip to the top of the famous 368-metre TV tower. 

Before departure on Sunday, we managed to visit the East Side Gallery—an open-air art exhibition painted on surviving sections of the Berlin Wall. 

Everyone came away with a deeper understanding of Berlin’s past and present—and plenty of unforgettable memories from a fantastic trip.