Home > Get moving > Cycling > Spandau East and West – in the leafy north

When it was built in August 1961, the Berlin Wall separated Spandau and its neighbours. Our cycle tour takes you along the former border to numerous places where the major and minor stories of the divided past entwine.

In between you can also discover Spandau’s green side. Through the expanses of Spandauer Forst and along the banks of the Havel, this tour is a perfect combination of nature and history.

At a glance

  • Not a signposted tour
  • Round trip
    Best starting and end point is the tourist information office in the Gothic House in Spandau’s old town
  • Length: 25–30 km
  • Duration: around 3.5 hours

The Gothic House

Breite Straße 32, 13597 Berlin

Bullengraben green corridor

  • Urban greenway from the Burgwall in Spandau to Staaken

Former Heerstraße border crossing

  • Used for transit traffic in the Staaken district
  • The border finally opened on the night the Wall came down at around half-past midnight

Memorial to Dieter Wohlfahrt (1941–1961)

Haupstraße/Bergstraße, 13591 Berlin

  • Escape helper and first victim of the Berlin Wall

Dorfkirche Alt-Staaken

Hauptstraße 12, 13591 Berlin

  • When the city was divided, the village was surrounded by East German barricades
  • Inside is the mural 'Reconciled Unity' by Gabriele Mucchi
  • More information: Dorfkirche Alt-Staaken

Staaken railway crossing

  • Former inspection station for trains between west and east, nicknamed “Elephant Gate”

Gartenstadt Staaken, Heidebergplan, Alte Feuerwache Staaken

Am Heideberg 12, 13591 Berlin

  • One of the most important architectural heritage sites of the 20th century
  • A model for social housing

Berlin-Hamburg Railway

  • Former Albrechtshof station
  • A passenger train broke through the border barriers at high speed here on December 5th, 1961

Memorial to Willi Block (1943–1966)

Finkenkruger Weg 118, 13591 Berlin

  • Shot dead by GDR border guards during his third escape attempt

City boundary at Falkensee

  • Information boards on the divided past
  • Memorial stone to German partition

Memorial to those who climbed the Wall

Zwinglistraße 3-11, 14612 Falkensee

Memorial to Helmut Kliem (1939–1970)

  • Helmut Kliem unwittingly rode his motorcycle into the border zone and was shot by soldiers

Memorial to Adolf Philipp (1943–1964)

  • Adolf Philipp was found in a ground bunker with a gas pistol and shot dead

Former exclave of Eiskeller

Eiskellerweg 130, 13587 Berlin

  • Not just the coldest place in Berlin, but also perfect for a refreshment break
  • More information: Eiskeller

Memorial to Ulrich Steinhauer (1956–1980)

  • GDR border guard who was shot by an escaping comrade

Memorial to Klaus Schulze (1952–1972)

  • Klaus Schulze attempted to escape to the West with his friend Dieter Krause
  • He was shot by GDR border guards while climbing over the wall

Memorial to Dietmar Schwietzer (1958–1977)

Berliner Allee, 14621 Schönwalde-Glien

  • Dietmar Schwietzer was shot dead trying to escape over the Wall after his trade school graduation ceremony

Memorial to victims of the border in Schönwalde

Berliner Allee 107B, 14621 Schönwalde-Glien

Bürgerablage

Niederneuendorfer Allee 84, 13587 Berlin

  • Bathing area with sandy beach directly on the Havel