At one of the seven former checkpoints between FRG (BRD) and GDR (DDR), at Bornholmer Straße, roughly 200 metres of "Hinterlandsicherungsmauer" (is there an English equivalent - maybe hinterland security wall?) still remain in place as a memorial of the time when there were two Germanies.
Less crowded than Checkpoint Charlie, Eastside Gallery, or Bernauer Straße this piece of wall between Wedding (West) and Pankow (East) is framed by a number of large scale photographies of the opening of the Wall on November 9th 1989: for Bornholmer Straße was the first to open its gates this day.
More than 20.000 people crossed the border that evening: shortly after politburo member Günter Schabowski publicly proclaimed new travelling rules (which, in fact, was kind of an accident: originally, the new rules were only to be applied the following day), the "Bösebrücke" was opened.
Nowadays, a small alleyway of trees plants some greenery on that grey spot of earth.
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