Checkpoint Charlie Museum

The Checkpoint Charlie Museum is a museum in Berlin. It is named after the famous crossing point on the Berlin Wall, and was created to document the so-called "best border security system in the world" . On display are the photos and related documents of successful escape attempts from East Germany, together with the escape apparatus: hot-air balloons, getaway cars, chairlifts, and a mini-U-Boat.HistoryIt began as an exhibition by human rights activist Dr. Rainer Hildebrandt on 19 October 1962, just outside the Berlin Wall, "in an apartment with only two and a half rooms in the north of Berlin. The street was divided along its whole length; the buildings in the east had been vacated and their windows were bricked up." The Haus am Checkpoint Charlie opened in its present location in 1963.The museum is operated by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft 13. August ("13 August Consortium" – the date on which construction of the Berlin Wall began), and the director is Alexandra Hildebrandt, widow of Rainer.It is one of the most frequently visited museums in Berlin, with 850,000 visitors in 2007. Through its presentation of the many ways in which people tried to escape East Germany, it aims to bring that period of history to life and ensure that it is not forgotten.Former German chancellor Helmut Kohl: „Mauermuseum – Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie“ impressively documents the erection of the Wall and the injustice of the SED-regime. It is more than a museum; as an establishment which is known far beyond the borders of our fatherland and portrays the disregard of human and civil rights past and present it reminds its visitors to defend freedom and democracy wherever and whenever it is threatened.“