The Teufelsberg (Devil’s Mountain) on the fringe of the Grunewald forest offers a trifecta of treats: Cold War intrigue, one hell of a view, and the biggest street-art gallery in town.
Once a secretive US-run listening post, it’s now a surreal blend of crumbling ruins, creative expression and haunting echoes of espionage.
Backstory
The "mountain" is actually an 80m-high hill of WWII rubble piled atop an unfinished Nazi military training school. During the Cold War, the US National Security Agency (NSA) planted a massive listening station on the top to eavesdrop on East German and Soviet communications. Though abandoned in the 1990s, the ghostly white radar domes and derelict buildings still crown the hilltop, visible from afar. Today, the combo of wind-whipped staircases, dark concrete chambers and creaking steel doors creates a deliciously eerie, post-apocalyptic vibe and a great urban art canvas.
Teufelsberg Exhibits
Admission includes access to two exhibits that dig deeper into the site’s shadowy past. Declassified – The Secret of the Teufelsberg brings Cold War espionage to life through photographs, film and first-hand accounts from a former US intelligence analyst and other insiders. The Allies in Berlin exhibit, meanwhile, zeroes in on the broader role of the Allied forces in postwar Berlin, with uniforms, badges, original vehicles and technical installations from the station’s operational days.
Guided tours (extra fee) provide further insights into the historical context or the ever-evolving street-art scene.
