Teufelsberg is German for Devil’s Mountain. Nowadays, Teufelsberg refers not only to this artificial hill, but also the abandoned listening station that sits on top of it. It is located in the district of Grunewald, West Berlin, Germany. With a height of 120 meters, it is the highest place in Berlin.
In the early 20th century the area was covered in bogs and mud, but that all changed when the Nazis came to power. Construction of a huge military institute began in this place but had to be abandoned when war broke out.
History of Devil of Berlin
After the end of the WW2, there were plans for a recreational area with a ski slope and toboggan run on Teufelsberg. Trucks brought rubble from the rest of the devastated city to the site near Heerstraße and it soon piled up to become the highest point in West Berlin. Ski jumps and ski lifts were built on the site in 1955. These were used by skiers until 1969. The dumping stopped in 1972, because the Americans used the mountain as a listening station.
During the Cold War, tests were carried out throughout West Berlin to find a location for an American listening station to intercept Soviet radio communications. From the 1960s onwards, antennas and radomes were erected on Teufelsberg two hilltops for espionage and intercepting communications. In 1963, the construction of the station on the top of the Devil of Berlin hill was completed.
Teufelsberg known as Devil of Berlin became the place where American and British spies went to gather information on Russian-controlled East Germany. The station was abandoned after the end of the Cold War in 1992. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the departure of the allied forces, the Teufelsberg complex was used for air traffic control until 1999.
There were plans to resurrect it for commercial purposes, but the Berlin authorities declared Teufelsberg a natural environment and banned any construction. Today it is a vandalized and abandoned shell. The radomes are in tatters, graffiti covers everything here, even the plant life, and the buildings are crumbling and decrepit.
Photos of Devil of Berlin
How To Get To The Devil of Berlin Mountain
Take the S-Bahn to Grunewald. Walk or ride a bike NW via Dauerwaldweg and Harbigstrasse. Turn right into a parking lot and take the main paved path past the kite flying hill. Walk through the forest (watch for wild boars) and turn left at the T. Take a sharp right into the fenced area. There is an entrance fee and the place is open from 11 to sunset every day.
