Teufelsberg

Teufelsberg was actually a US listening station during the cold war. This is the highest point in what was once West Berlin, and was destroyed during the second world war. The postwar ruins were piled up over time and made it the highest spot in west Berlin. Approximately, 120 meters debris hill. On top of the hill are abandoned round buildings that create the atmosphere of a science fiction movie and the whole area is managed by a private company that abandoned a long time ago its plans to build a tourism project on the site, while the municipality that was considering buying the place has given up on these plans in the meantime.

This site is located north of Grunewald and was from the 1950s a site for the removal of construction debris and rubble from the main city that was bombed to dust during World War II. After a rift between the United States, Britain and France on the one hand and the Soviets on the other, Berlin became an isolated Western city within Soviet controlled territory. In order to deal with the building debris and other demolitions, it was necessary to find a site in West Berlin that would be far enough away from the city center but would not greatly increase the cost of transporting the waste to it. The place that was found was Toifelsberg which of course was not yet called that at the time.

Every day trucks stopped there and unloaded the ruins of Berlin into what turned into millions of cubic meters of concrete, stones, sand and other unused materials. Eventually the impressive mountain was created which became the highest point in West Berlin which invited the American intelligence personnel to it. They discovered that the reception of the broadcasts from the East was of fairly good quality and decided to establish a large listening base there. Since the British were the ones who controlled the territory at the time, the American soldiers would come from the territories under their control and return to them after they had finished their work there.

Strolling in the area is definitely a special experience that does not exist anywhere else. The ruins, the graffiti, and the old buildings that are an integral part of the city of Berlin are very noticeable in this area. I definitely recommend visiting this area for anyone who wants to feel the special atmosphere.