A memorial to the first victim of the Berlin wall.
Hidden amongst the modern buildings (or rather post-'89) near the bank of the canal, from the ascending to the Invaliden Nordufer, lies one of the few control towers of the former Berlin Wall left intact. The one found in the Kielerstrasse, is now a memorial that bears the name of the first victim of the wall.
One Sunday in April, with the sun high in the sky, I left the station at Hauptbahnhof and followed the instructions leading along the old path of the wall that both physically and ideologically divided Berlin, the two Germanys and the world as it was designed. After a while I crossed the Invalidenstr by the Schiffahrtskanal where in addition to the tombstones of the famous Prussian army, there are still remnants of the former Berlin Wall, and I finally reached the Kieler Eck. I looked around me and saw the tower. Small and discolored, the control tower appears completely out of place amongst the surrounding buildings.
In August 1961, the area had been completely militarized and even though the wall was only in its infancy, it already marked the extreme border. Gunter Litfin, a young 24 year old man could not accept this. He could not accept that the state, the GDR, woudl hold him prisoner, so he decided to jump, run, dive into the canal and swim to reach the other shore, where a few meters further, he would find refuge and freedom in the democratic half of Berlin belonging to the Federal German Republic (FGR). But Gunter was not successful, he was hit by the shots of the border troops who fatally wounded him as he was looking for salvation, staining the canal with the blood of the first victim of the wall. Only 13 days had gone by since the night that the city had been divided with bricks and barbed wire.
I did a tour around the Kieler Eck and apparently the military presence is still there. Nearby lies the military hospital and the Ministry of Defence.
The interior of the tower should be accessible but the doors are closed. Other people come to see this relic of the GDR and take a few photos. I noticed at the foot of the tower a man in his car shuffling through papers. I approached him and asked for information on visiting hours.
The man in the car was Jurgen Litfin, brother of Gunter. More than 40 years after the death of his brother in 2003 he managed to ensure that the tower be preserved by turning it into a memorial for his brother and all victims of the wall.
The interior photos and historic documents are kept. Admission is free and Jurgen Litfin offers guided tours for groups.
