The Berlin Wall Trail (Berliner Mauerweg) is a 100-mile hike and bike trail that retraces the course of the Berlin Wall, which encircled the western half of the city for 28 years. In many places the path makes use of old patrol roads formerly used by East Berlin border guards or West Berlin customs agents.
Cobble Stones Mark Former East/West Border
Immediately after the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Berliners wanted to forget that the “Wall of Shame” had ever existed. They could barely wait for it to be torn down. But a few years later they decided that some visual reminders should remain. After all, the 12-foot Berlin Wall is part of the city’s history. Following reunification, when massive new construction projects threatened to commit to oblivion the memory of the Berlin Wall, many Berliners wanted to make its former path more visible again. That is why double rows of cobble stones snake through the city today. The cobbles mark the former East/West border.
Cobble stone border markers showing the course of the former Berlin Wall. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2019. www.walled-in-berlin.com
Creation of the Berlin Wall Trail for Hikers and Bikers
In 2002, the city also began work on the 4.4 million Euro Berlin Wall Trail project. It consists of a 100-mile hike and bike trail that is divided into 14 segments, each between 4.5 and 13 miles in length. Along historically significant sections, the city installed information boards with photos, texts and maps. In some areas, remaining pieces of the Berlin Wall are left in place. The Berlin Wall Trail also cuts through forests and long stretches of natural beauty.
Berlin Wall Trail (Berliner Mauerweg) sign near Eiskeller. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2019. www.walled-in-berlin.com
Eiskeller – a Community near the Berlin Wall Trail
I was particularly interested in visiting Eiskeller, a tiny rural community and former West Berlin exclave not far off the Berlin Wall Trail. In 1961, a photo from this hamlet had gone around the world, and I will always remember the picture. It was taken the year the Berlin Wall went up when I lived in West Berlin. The black and white photo showed a young Eiskeller boy riding his bike to school along a narrow country road. A British military vehicle followed closely behind. The acompanying narrative became even more incredible decades later. I hoped to find the Eiskeller site by hiking the Berlin Wall Trail, and I was in luck. Get a chuckle when you read the full Eiskeller story in my next blog.
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Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.
Tags: Berlin Wall Trail, Berliner Mauerweg, Cold War, Eiskeller, fall of the Berlin Wall, Wall of Shame
