​Exploring Teufelsberg’s Military History

​An Insider’s Walk Through the Iron Curtain

​This session is part of the Public Vitality Camp 2026 and is convened by Alliierte in Berlin e.V. in cooperation with nextlearning e.V.. Alliierte in Berlin e.V.’s permanent museum exhibition on Teufelsberg will be a foundation for this shared experience.

​Few places showcase Berlin’s unique history quite like Teufelsberg: a mountain of WW2 rubble built atop Hitler’s army officer university, topped with a Cold War surveillance station for West Berlin’s occupying forces. Teufelsberg – and the world at large – has changed considerably in the 30 years since it was an active military post.

​Unlike much of Berlin’s other 20th century history, we can still learn what Teufelsberg’s military history was like directly from the people who were there. Alliierte in Berlin e.V. is dedicated to preserving the history of Berlin’s three Western occupying forces and the West German civilian employees’ experiences from 1945 to 1994. Their importance only grows now as international relations become a greater source of instability, the Transatlantic one especially.

​How can place-based stories keep us in dialogue with Berlin’s history, and what can sites offering this connection offer in shaping better futures?

​On a walk across the site starting at Alliierte in Berlin’s museum exhibition (which will generously be opened on Friday exclusively for the Public Vitality Camp), participants will journey through Berlin’s Cold War military history through the experiences of West German civilian employees who worked at Teufelsberg. What was it really like working in Cold War military intelligence, and in the epicenter of European political tension?

​Traces of state-of-the-art military installations will become alive: listening towers, officer kanteens, and even road barriers in the forest all have stories to tell. Teufelsberg-as-artefact will also allow participants to contemplate distanced geopolitical happenings via direct experience. A ‘dead’ border fence can teach about borders; the no-longer active listening rooms can do the same about surveillance.

​Together, we will identify existing historical connections, fragments, scars, and stories – and what would help make sites like Teufelsberg even more vital to engaging with geopolitical tension. A Camp now returns to Teufelsberg, albeit in a far different form.

​Welcome perspectives

​While the working language of this session is English, some contributions may be delivered in German and translated. Contributions would be welcomed in both languages. We particularly welcome different perspectives on history, security, and storytelling, including:

• ​historians, journalists, museums, and tour guides

• ​community organisations and neighbourhood initiatives

• ​former and current security and military actors

• ​Berlin public administration

• ​international relations actors and think tanks

• ​democracy and peacebuilding organisations

​No prior knowledge of Teufelsberg’s history or Alliierte in Berlin e.V. is required, although some knowledge of Berlin’s Cold War history is recommended. Particularly valuable are experiences from places where people already turn for support, orientation, connection or refuge – including perspectives from outside the library sector.

​Important notes

​The Camp format is a volunteer-developed prototype and intentionally simple in how it is organised. Please bring your own food and drinks, and feel free to bring something to share.

​Please register as well for the walk up and walk down from S Heerstraße to Teufelsberg of this day. So you can participate in the held structure of the camp, we can tune in together and cross pollinate across the sessions.

​The Public Vitality Camp is a shared learning space for people already working on societal, institutional, technological and ecological challenges. Across the sessions, we work on concrete questions and tensions and explore what enables people, institutions and communities to remain capable of acting under increasingly difficult conditions – and how decisions made today expand or constrain future possibilities.

​Here you can discover further sessions and register or apply to participate.