Berlin, 2023.
Imagine the classic Sunday hike up on a hill, the sun in the sky, warm air and birds cheerping.
Except that the hill is not a "real" hill, but a 80m prominence made of debris and rubble from the Second World War. And on ist top there is a U.S spy station, used during the Cold War.
Welcome to Teufelsberg, the Devil’s Hill, in the Grunewald forest in West Berlin.
The hill was artifically created after the end of the Second World War and its top became the home of the NSA listening station, used during the Cold War by Americans and British, who spied what was going on in an East Germany ruled by Russians.
The station was officialy active from 1961 and ceased its activity after the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989).
Teufelsberg was given Denkmalschutz, a protected status in 2018 for its historical importance as a Cold War site.
I arrived at the top of the hill after a 30-40 minutes walk in through the forest. The place is covered in graffities made by streetart artists and it’s almost like visiting a museum. It’s fun to look for hidden graffities here and there. Of course, the view from the station is amazing.
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