#devil's mountain

The Teufelsberg (Devil's Mountain), Berlin, Germany,

On a sunny weekday when visiting Berlin, we decided to visit Teufelsberg (“The devil’s Mountain"), an abandoned NSA Spy center. It’s a long way from Berlin’s center and finding it can be a bit difficult for the orientation-challenged individuals like me (make sure you print directions or have a GPS). It was a 40 minutes walk from the S-bahn station and it was a weekday. I assumed we will not be many but I was wrong. We were about 15 people! Everybody payed the 7€ entrance(15€ on weekends, free if you’re just an artist that wants to deface the property) and waited for the tour to begin.

They even have a little snack shop in there if you get hungry!

Unfortunately, the tour was mostly in German as the majority of the group spoke German, good thing I read up on the history of the place prior to going there. Basically, it was an NSA spy center (these golf ball looking things are radio domes) that was built in 1963 but has been abandoned for a while now. The information about it is classified till 2020 so there is not much that is known about it. After it was abandoned, it became a popular spot for graffiti artists and Urban explorers so the owner decided to charge for tours there. Honestly, it’s a good move considering how 15 people showed up there on a weekday with virtually no advertising. Nobody knows what will happen to it in the future. Who knows, maybe they’ll turn the place into condos? That’s what they do with all cool buildings where I’m from :(

As someone who really like street art, I loved it in there. I took so many pictures of great art! It’s a shame they hurry you a bit too much to my taste during the tour.

We climbed all the way to the top Radome and the acoustics are crazy in there. If you stand in the middle and clap your hands, the echo is HUGE. There’s also a huge mural (I unfortunately to not know by who) inside the Radome which is just mind-blowing.

The view is pretty sweet too, it’s the highest point in all Berlin.

I would definitely recommend to anyone that travels to Berlin to take an afternoon to visit Teufelsberg. It’s a bit touristy now, but still the kind of touristy stuff that’s not in guidebooks (yet). I wish I would have been there a few years before, when I could have explored it all on my own.

Es pāris reizes esmu aizmirdzis sabiedriskajā transportā, bet Velna kalns laikam to pārspēj.

Teufelsberg, Berlin, Germany by EmmaJG on Flickr.

Teufelsberg, Berlin, Germany by EmmaJG on Flickr.