Popular European tour company, Original Europe Tours, announces the addition of the Original Berlin Teufelsberg cold war Tour, offering a guided tour of the old American spy station Teufelsberg
BERLIN, GERMANY / ACCESSWIRE / February 9, 2016 / Popular European tour company, Original Europe Tours, announces the addition of the Original Europe Tours web page. Offering Cold War walking tours in Berlin.
A Berlin Tour company has been granted access to run walking tours on what was once U.S. government land known as Teufelsberg. The land situated on top of a hill made from WWII ruble housed an American spy facility during the separation of East and West Berlin. Radar domes and much of the structures still remain, and some have been re-purposed. The new tour will start operations in March this year.
Teufelsberg is an artificial hill with peculiar origins. The hill is located on the site of Nazi architect Albert Speer's Military-technical college. After failed attempts by the Allies to use explosives on the facility the decision was made to fill it in with rubble. From 1950 to 1972 approximately 26,000,000 cubic meters of rubble were piled up. Making Teufelsberg the highest point in Berlin. In 1955 a Ski jump temporarily opened up and in 1962 the jump expanded to hold a capacity of over 5,000 spectators. By 1963 the recreational use of Teufelsberg ceased and it began housing one of the NSA's largest ever spy stations.
The documents and research that went on at Teufelsberg are still listed as classified. The type of work and information gathered here is largely thought to be centered around East Germany and other Warsaw Pact nations military radio traffic. However, many rumors have surfaced and the full extent of the operations that went on there is still unknown. Only adding to the rumors are the recent leaks from the NSA reported by Der Speigal that the U.S. Still taps over half a billion German phone calls, emails, and texts.
David Caprisi, a guide at Original Europe Tours, says the new tour will focus on the cold war, and how the station may or may not have been used. "The station obviously doesn't function anymore, but the work that was done there is still classified. I think it's a reminder of one of the first high tech examples of mass secret intelligence gathering. A practice that very clearly still goes on today." He also explains a number of repurposed uses for the area. The land is now privately owned and after investors failed to gain building permits for the area, the abandon facility's have been put to an alternative use.
Although many buildings are unsafe, one in particular has been used to showcase what the new owner calls "Europe's largest street art gallery." Much of the multistory building is covered with graffiti murals and artworks from numerous well known international street artists. There are also numerous large murals found around all the buildings.
Spaces are set aside for specified artists and large murals are routinely pained over and changed. Aside from the street art and graffiti the old spy station now hosts over 25 bee colonies, an antique home decor shop, a clay pizza oven, and a sauna. Ideas for future projects are underway and a team of urban engineers, graffiti artists, and even a bee keeper have turned the space into an alternative living utopia.
The walk to Teufelsberg is about 35 Minuets from the closest local transport, and the path is not well marked. The only way to gain access to the private land is through prior approval or by participating in a tour. For more information about the walking tour visit: http://original-europe-tours.com/
About Original Europe Tours:
For media inquiries regarding Original Europe Tours, individuals are encouraged to contact the company's Media Manager, Sallamari Harju directly at 49 157 377 48 223 or via email at [email protected]. To learn more about the company, please visit: www.original-europe-tours.com
More about the Teufelsberg Tour can be found here. http://originalberlintours.com/tours/original-berlin-teufelsberg-cold-war-tour/
Contact:
Sallamari Harju
[email protected]
+491578 3893416
SOURCE: Original Europe Tours