Oberbaumbrücke — The River Was the Border
3 stops · 25 min · 558 m
Here the Berlin Wall was a river. Three stops across the Spree and along its Kreuzberg bank: a bridge named after a spiked log that once closed the river at night, then a crossing only West Berliners could use on foot; the stone for the people who drowned in water that belonged to the other side, among them five children who fell in while playing; and a U-Bahn line that stopped dead at the bridge for 34 years. About half an hour, from either end.
Walk it either way
There is a station at each end, so this walk works in both directions — the guide reorders the route and retells the stops to match the way you are going.
- Oberbaumbrücke → Schlesisches Tor
- Schlesisches Tor → Oberbaumbrücke
Stops on this walk
- 1Oberbaumbrücke
- 2The stone for the unknown refugee
- 3Schlesisches Tor
How this walk works
Wanderful is an audio guide that knows where you are. Start this walk and it speaks as you reach each stop — no reading a map, no hunting for the next number on a sign. Put your phone in your pocket and listen.