Checkpoint Charlie Trivia Quiz

Answer: Checkpoints Alpha and Bravo

Checkpoints A and B were created after World War 2 and were used to monitor the borders between Western allies (USA, France and Great Britain) and the Soviet occupied East Germany. Checkpoint C was created during the Cold War and all three then became known as Alpha, Bravo and Charlie after the NATO phonetic alphabet.

Checkpoint Alpha was in Lower Saxony, just under 200km west of Berlin, and just outside the small communities of Helmstedt and Marienborn. It was established in 1945, expanded in 1972, and finally closed in 1990. It served as both a road and rail crossing. It was the busiest route for traffic travelling across the Iron Curtain, through a fenced in transit corridor from West Germany into East Germany, and then into the allied controlled West Berlin.

Checkpoint Bravo was to the south-west of Berlin. It was situated along a major arterial road as you entered from East Germany into West Berlin. The American side was called Dreilinden, and on the other side was Drewitz, the crossing monitored by the German Democratic Republic. First established in 1945 on the Teltowkanal Bridge, it was relocated in 1969 to the newly built autobahn A115, and finally closed in 1990 after the reunification of Germany.

Checkpoint Charlie was the most famous of all three. It served as a crossing from East to West Berlin for allied personnel and foreign tourists, diplomats, political prisoners and spies. It was off limits to civilian Germans, both East and West.

Answer: August 1961 to June 1990

The communist German Democratic Republic was formed in 1949. During the following twelve years or so, there was a significant problem with economic growth and due to the fact that many East Germans emigrated to the West where the economy was more robust. During this period, nearly 2.5 million people, mainly young and educated, defected from the communist regime of their homeland.

Even though the GDR was facing a crisis, "Nobody has the intention of building a wall" said Walter Ulbricht on June 15, 1961, Chairman of the State Council for East Germany. Construction of the 155km long Berlin Wall started two months later! Sunday 13th August 1961 became known as "Stacheldrahtsonntag", or "barbed wire Sunday". With over 300 sentry points, barbed wire, land mines, and with their borders closed, mass emigration was stopped in its tracks. The East called it their "Anti-Fascist Protective Wall", whereas the West called it the "Wall of Shame".

There were several official crossing points between the eastern and western sectors of Berlin, but the crossing in Friedrichstrasse became the most notorious. The East German's were very serious and elaborate as befits a communist state trying to control their borders by installing a watchtower, barrier, guardroom and roofed area where they would rigorously check vehicles and permits of anyone who passed through. They officially called it Grenzubergangsstelle (Border Crossing Point) Friedrichstrasse/Zimmerstrasse. The western side had US army military police stood on guard alongside a temporary wooden kiosk. They called it Checkpoint Charlie.

Answer: You are entering the American sector. Carrying weapons off duty forbidden. Obey traffic rules.

Berlin had been separated into four sectors at the end of World War 2, which were administered by France, Britain, America and the Soviet Union. By 1949, Germany had split into East and West, with the Russians making their sector of Berlin the new capital of East Germany under the newly formed German Democratic Republic. They wanted to control free movement between East and West and so closed their borders from 23rd August, 1961. They then started to construct a wall which totally enclosed West Berlin.

Many checkpoints were installed but it was at Checkpoint Charlie that it was agreed between East-West that only diplomats, foreign visitors and allied forces were permitted to enter. German civilians had to use other crossing points as long as they had relevant permits. US military police were stationed at the makeshift Checkpoint Charlie from August 1961. The checkpoint consisted of a prefabricated shack with a handful of sandbags outside. Lieutenant Vernon Pike was platoon leader in the US Army Berlin Brigade's 287th Military Police Company and was the officer in charge during the night in 1961 the wall started going up.

There was a large warning sign as you entered and left Checkpoint Charlie that was written in English and then repeated in Russian, French and a shorter version in German. These signs were placed at all the checkpoints throughout the city so were a familiar sight and became a stark reminder.

An original sign that read "You are leaving the American sector" can be located at the Allied Museum at Clayallee in Berlin, along with the guard hut that was removed after the fall of the wall.

Answer: Death Strip

Official border crossings were spaced along the wall at intervals and in certain places, including Checkpoint Charlie, the wall either side included a wide gap, or no man's land, which could vary between 30 to 150 metres in width. They became a potential death trap for anyone trying to escape over the wall. The base was often filled with a layer of sand or fine dirt, not for aesthetic purposes or drainage, but to show the footprints of unauthorised people. Guards could then monitor the number of escapees and roughly what time of day they escaped so that they could increase patrols in that area.

Inside the gap may have been a tall guard tower - there were 302 of them scattered along the whole length of the wall, with powerful searchlights which were used for night time surveillance. The wall was already topped with a rounded pipe which made it nearly, but not quite impossible, for people to climb over. To deter them further, there could be rows of barbed wire inside the death strip, mines, tripwire-activated flare launchers, electric contact fencing, observation bunkers, and Czech hedgehogs which were a type of anti-vehicle barrier.

Guard dog runs were set up at frequent intervals, the animals secured to 100m long chains and let loose on occasion to roam the gap. Rottweiler, Great Dane and Griffon breeds were all used. It is estimated that there were up to 71.5 kilometres of dog runs along the whole section of the Berlin Wall with as many as 6,000 animals set loose when the wall finally fell in 1989.

Answer: Eagle Cafe

"It's a smallish place, with two rooms arranged shotgun style, one behind the other, and clouded plate glass windows that look out onto a scene of persistent construction. It rains a lot in the autumn in Berlin, and the dampness and the smell of old raincoats mingle with the cigarette smoke." This excerpt was not taken out of a John le Carré spy novel, but rather a web page belonging to modern day author, Francine Mathews, as she visited the cafe searching for inspiration. John le Carré did visit the cafe for the same reason and is said to have had a favourite seat near the windows, perhaps in his mind's eye waiting for his best known character George Smiley to walk through the doors.

Cafe Adler (Adler translated from German to English means "eagle") was part of a large cream four-storey building on the corner of Friedrichstrasse and Zimmerstrasse, metres away from Checkpoint Charlie. It had, and still has, a concrete eagle spread-eagled above the corner section of the building. Formerly known as the White Eagle Pharmacy (established in 1696), it turned into a two-room cafe, with many people walking through its front door during the Cold War era. Dressed in raincoats, their anonymous faces disappeared into the dingy background, waiting for their contact, or looking out of the steamed up windows to watch people coming and going through from East to West, or vice versa. Spies, diplomats and foreign journalists all met within its four walls and drank cold coffee while they waited, and waited.

Just before 8pm on 9th November 1989, Cafe Adler owner Albrecht Rau walked down the quiet street with sparkling wine, glasses and hot cups of coffee as an offering to the East German guards. They turned him away as they thought he was drunk when he said the wall had fallen! They had not heard the news and within an hour or two, the same guards were surrounded by thousands in what was described as "the greatest street party in the history of the world."

The German newspaper "Bild" reported on the 6th June, 2008, "The last beer has been tapped, the last coffee has been drank. The legendary Cafe Adler has closed forever!".

Answer: USA and Soviet Union

The Cold War was raging with tension and threats between political factions and this affected people on the streets. The two main superpowers involved were the USA and the Soviet Union, known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Their leaders at the time the Berlin Wall went up were John F Kennedy and his Soviet nemesis Nikita Khrushchev. A clash of beliefs and ideology brought about an obvious divide between capitalism versus communism, more often with words, but also in actions, including the erection of the Berlin Wall.

The Berlin Wall had only been up for a handful of months when the East German border guards were ordered to deny US diplomats unhindered access across the border. On 22nd October, 1961, a senior US official was stopped by East German border guards and was asked to show his passport. This was an unauthorised border check according to the earlier 1945 Potsdam Agreement that stated no allied personnel would be stopped.

On 27th October, ten U.S. M-48 tanks took up position at Checkpoint Charlie facing towards the east. The Soviet's counteracted by placing ten of their T55 tanks facing the west. The standoff lasted for 16 hours with tensions running high at both ends. This sent Washington and the Kremlin into a mild spin, with both sides backing off their tanks one by one until the situation had been defused.

Answer: Glienicke Bridge

It is estimated that between 1963 and 1989, West Germany paid to free more than 33,000 political prisoners and their families, a high price to pay but the money was desperately needed for food and fuel in East Germany. It has been claimed since that some of these exchanges were fraudulent, for example, where money was exchanged twice for the same prisoner. Most of these ransoms went unnoticed by the rest of the world, but some political prisoners were too high profile to ignore.

An example was the much publicised exchange between three men, Rudolf Abel, Francis Gary Powers and Frederic Pryor. The American lawyer and political negotiator who worked hard for their release was James B. Donovan, portrayed by Tom Hanks in the 2015 film, "Bridge of Spies".

In June 1957, UK born Rudolf Abel was arrested in New York and found guilty of being a Soviet spy. In May 1960, US pilot Francis Gary Powers went on a sortie over the Soviet Union but his Lockheed U-2 was shot down and he was captured. In August 1960, American student Frederic Pryor was visiting East Berlin to hand in a dissertation, but was arrested on suspicion of spying by the East German police. James Donovan liaised with both East Germany and the Soviet Union for a 2-1 release, each faction playing a game of cat and mouse until eventually, Frederic Pryor was released at Checkpoint Charlie at the same time that Francis Powers and Rudolf Abel were exchanged on Glienicke Bridge.

Many political exchanges took place on Glienicke Bridge, near Potsdam. The bridge was situated over the Havel river, a natural border between West Berlin and East Germany. It became known in popular media as the "Bridge of Spies".

Answer: He let down the tyres on a convertible, removed the windshield, then ducked as he drove straight under the barriers at Checkpoint Charlie

Many of the most successful escapes were by way of bribery or obtaining false documents. People escaped in concealed compartments inside cars, tucked up tightly for hours in suitcases, inside furniture and even inside a loud-speaker cabinet. It was the risk-takers who made headlines with their daring "Great Escapes" which fed the Western media and caught the nation's hearts.

Heinz Meixner was an Austrian, a foreigner who already had papers to cross the border from East to West. It was while he was working in the East as a lathe worker that he fell in love with a young Berliner. She tried to get permission to emigrate to Austria but was refused, so Meixner decided to get her, and her mother, out. The next time he crossed the border on his scooter, he waited until the guards were distracted and secretly took measurements from the top of the barrier to the floor, which came to 37.5 inches.

He rented a Red Healey Sprite, removed the windscreen (which brought the car height down to 35.5 inches), then let some pressure out of the tyres for luck. He made his escape at night with his two hidden passengers. At the East Berlin crossing, he showed his passport but instead of pulling up at the customs shed, he put his foot down, weaved in and out of the bollards and then accelerated straight towards Checkpoint Charlie, ducking under the barrier as he zoomed past. His amazing story featured in "Time" magazine on Friday 17th May 1963 with an article titled "Two Inches to Safety".

Answer: Peter Fechter

Gunter Litfin was the first man to be shot dead while trying to escape across the Berlin Wall in 1961. Chris Gueffroy and Winfried Freudenberg were the last two to be killed in 1989, just months before the fall of the wall. These were just a few of the many people who died trying to escape an oppressive government. Official figures claim that 138 people died while illegally crossing the wall between 1961 and 1989, but unofficial figures put it nearer 200.

The East German border guards at Checkpoint Charlie showed no mercy. A secret service file obtained from 1973 read, "It is your duty to use your combat skills in such a way as to overcome the cunning of the border breacher, to challenge or liquidate him in order to thwart the planned border breach. Don't hesitate to use your weapon even when border breaches happen with women and children, which traitors have often exploited in the past." In other words, they had a shoot to kill policy. Shoot first, ask later.

Peter Fechter made newspaper headlines across the world when he was shot while trying to cross the Berlin Wall on 17th August 1962. Helmut Kulbeik and his friend Fechter tried to scale the wall and they were halfway across when gunshots came from the East German side. Kulbeik carried on running and managed to escape. Fechter was shot and fell back into the death strip amongst the barbed wire. The German soldiers were ordered to stand firm and the American military were too nervous of starting World War 3 to cross the line themselves. Fechter screamed in agony but was left to bleed to death in front of the world's media. This triggered outrage on the western side for days to come with many protesters taking to the streets.

Over 300 Berliners attended his funeral. His body was buried in a cemetery in Weissense with an inscription on his gravestone which read, "Remembered by all". Although the wall has long gone, a memorial stands at the exact location he was killed.

Answer: False

In his speech, Kennedy said, "Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was civis romanus sum [I am a Roman citizen]. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is "Ich bin ein Berliner!"

An urban legend claimed that John F Kennedy called himself a jam doughnut during his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech on 26th June 1963. This was an inaccurate interpretation by the press which a lot of people fell for.

The word "Berliner" can mean many things. The berliner is a traditional jam/jelly doughnut from Germany, so when Kennedy said, "Ich bin ein Berliner", the press claimed he meant "I am a doughnut". In context of the speech he made, he was actually showing American solidarity to West Germany and his counterpart, Willy Brandt, by saying he was a Berlin resident in spirit. (The point arose because a German would normally say 'Ich bin Berliner' if male or Ich bin Berlinerin' if female. Some foreigners wrongly claimed that the use of the indefinite article 'switched' the meanings).

The original guardhouse was removed in 1990 and a replica put in its place. The wall next to the checkpoint was removed and all that is left is a line of cobblestones. If you visit Checkpoint Charlie today, you will see two soldiers, one USA and one East German, both played by actors. A lightbox poster hangs above the street, with an image either side of a Soviet and an American soldier, each facing their own side. This was created in 1998 by artist Frank Thiel. There are places selling sushi, pizza and kebabs, there is a McDonald's restaurant, kiosks selling soldier hats, matryoshka dolls, t-shirts and flags. You can also buy postcards with an image of a doughnut with "Ich bin ein Berliner" written on it! Parts of the wall are still standing elsewhere in the city but you can buy chunks of it, both small and large, on eBbay.

I was lucky enough to visit Checkpoint Charlie in the early 1990s before it became a huge tourist trap, but if you visit the Berlin Wall Museum (Haus am Checkpoint Charlie) today, you will still get a flavour of what it was really like to live with the East/West divide during the 1960's, 70's and 80's.