Certainly not the first attraction that comes to mind for those who visit Berlin for the first time, but a place of memory that I recommend you bookmark for your next trip there and of course it’s off the beaten path!
Visiting Teufelsberg is a representation of what it is like to visit Berlin: history, distant and near, “gentrification” (i.e. the tendency to gentrify old neighbourhoods that were perhaps popular but today increasingly trendy), street art , the charm of a city that tells stories, the resourcefulness of its (young) inhabitants and, last but not least, the strange places.
Because Teufelsberg is located at the western gates of the city, in the Grunewald’s forest, and is nothing other than a former listening and intercepting station for the Americans who, from West Berlin, tried to keep under control what was happening beyond the Wall. USA-USSR, Cold War, divided Europe… don’t you already feel like you’ve been thrown into a spy film?
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Teufelsberg slowly became a Cold War relic that fell into decline. It was completely emptied of all equipment and now is the biggest open air street art gallery in Europe!
HOW TO GET TO THE TEUFELSBERG
Teufelsberg can be reached by car, leaving it in one of the car parks on the slopes of the hill and going up on foot, or even by the S-Bahn, the Berlin light railway but you will have to walk for 20 minutes slightly uphill, or you can take train line number 59, starting from the zoo station. After ten minutes, get off at the Herrstrasse stop and walk along the Teufelstrasse street until you reach some car parks on the right. A series of trails leads to the Teufelsberg at the top of the hill in about twenty minutes. Until recently it was not open to the public but now, thanks to the efforts of volunteers from a Berlin association, it is accessible to all.
To enter, a donation of eight euros is required. The contribution is used to keep it clean and safe. In fact, you can easily wander around the entire structure without the risk of encountering any strays.
Street artists are welcome here and can express all their art. On each level of the complex there are large areas now emptied of everything but full of murals, some very particular. The real discovery is the dome of the highest radar, dominated by two enormous and disturbing drawings hidden in the dim light. The acoustics of the room are incredible, the sound spreads amplified.
In the summer some artists even hold concerts in the dome.
Opening hours
Friday to Sunday and public holidays 11.00 am until sunset.
From 03.04.23 to 16.04.23 open every day from 11am until Sunset (last entry one hour before).
