Teufelsberg
Field Station Berlin: Spy station in from the cold
A Cold War relic lies abandoned on top of a mountain made of rubble, built over a Nazi college that couldn’t be destroyed after World War II. The gates of the former US spy station are locked and secure, its perimeter sealed by an uncompromising high fence, an angry crisscross mesh of wires that clearly imply “Eintritt Verboten!
Welcome to Teufelsberg, literally ‘Devil’s Mountain,’ a hill reaching 120.1 meters above sea-level, made from an estimated 12 million cubic meters of war rubble (apparently about 400,000 bombed houses) pushed together in the north of the Grunewald forest in West Berlin.
Buried deep beneath is what remains of a planned Nazi military training school designed by Hitler’s chief architect Albert Speer. So sturdy was it that attempts by the Allies to destroy it failed, so they covered it with war-rubble instead. There was plenty of it around at the time.
Every day, 80 truckloads of 7,000 cubic meters of rubble collected mostly by local women used to arrive. They became known as Trümmerfrauen or ‘rubble women’ for their efforts.
Perched atop this (wo)man-made mound now sits the old abandoned listening or intelligence-gathering station used during the Cold War by the Americans and British to learn what was going on in Russian-controlled East Germany.
It wasn’t very discreet; three huge bulbous globes, two radomes perched atop buildings three-stories high and another sitting a further six-stories higher, creating a giant condom-shaped tower.
Due to its unique fucked-up history – a starring role in two World Wars and its subsequent division between the world’s superpowers – Berlin found itself at the center of the so-called Cold War. Thankfully this remained only a pseudo war that flattered to deceive and never came to fruition despite the considerable expense accrued by its protagonists.
Like Berlin’s much-delayed new airport would prove to be years later, it was a considerable waste of money, time and effort, with very little in the way of airborne activity.
Spying and surveillance were the order of the day in divided Berlin. American mobile listening units, eavesdropping on Soviet and East German communications in the late 1950s, discovered they got better reception and coverage from the top of Berlin’s highest (albeit modest) mountain. Astounding!
The first mobile units took up position atop the hill in July 1961, with more permanent facilities following in 1963 before Field Station Berlin Teufelsberg gradually grew over the following years to become one of the West’s largest spying stations ever – arguably the most important.
“This is all sort of difficult to discuss since we are still bound by oaths of the time,” former Teufelsberg linguist Lew McDaniel told Abandoned Berlin. “While the NSA admits it had a presence in Berlin, details are still cloaked.”
As the artificial mountain was in fact located in the British sector of Berlin, the Brits and Americans cooperated with their spying endeavors. Presumably this means the British GCHQ did whatever the NSA told it to.
Apparently British officers had their own toilets, while the Americans had to make do with just the two types – men’s and women’s.
USM 620 Kilo, as the facility was also known, was part of the worldwide Echelon spy network. Each radome globe contained massive 12-metre satellite antennas and the most sophisticated spying equipment for the time, enabling the western powers to intercept satellite signals, radio waves, microwave links and other transmissions, before interpreting and analyzing their findings. It’s clear that they didn’t really trust the Soviets that much. The feeling was mutual.
Contrary to common belief, there was no radar equipment installed at the facility. There was no need for it. Radar is used to detect objects (such as airplanes, missiles, terrain) and the Allies already had radar facilities at Tegel, Tempelhof and Gatow airports. Teufelsberg’s function was to listen – nothing more.
“This was no radar hill,” former policeman Reinhard von Bronewski told Abandoned Berlin.
Von Bronewski worked with the Berlin Brigade and had been told same by many former Teufelsberg military police, troops and high-ranking officials.
“The Soviets were pissed that the ‘Big Ear’ could even pick up their farts!” von Bronewski said. “It was no radar hill, it was the fuckin’ big ear in front their ass!”
Field Station Berlin lost its raison d’être after the fall of the Berlin Wall and end of the Cold War, and was eventually abandoned in 1992 to the Wildschwein that call Grunewald home. The Americans used to call them “Grunie Pigs.” Boardom was setting in.
Teufelsberg was used for air traffic control on civilian flights in 1994 but that didn’t last long.
In 1996, the 4.7-hectare site was sold to architect-developers Hartmut Gruhl and Hanfried Schütte for 5.2 million Deutschmark. They had plans to build ‘exclusive’ apartments (all apartments are exclusive now, negating their exclusivity), a hotel and restaurant, as well as a spy-museum. Spiraling costs put paid to all that however, and the project was abandoned with debts piling up and the work in its infancy.
The developers agreed a deal with filmmaker David Lynch for the site’s sale by February 2008. Lynch and some crazy foundation of meditationists and yoga-bashers wanted to build a ‘Happiness College’ featuring a 12-storey 50-meter high ‘Tower of Invincibility’ to house 1,000 students. However, the city turned down the proposals for some reason and the deal fell through.
Former Teufelsberg workers are working to preserve the remains of the listening post as a memorial. They bemoan the damage caused to their beloved spy station by vandals and other unwanted visitors. The ‘Save Teufelsberg’ campaign remains in full swing.
The veterans placed a replica of a commemorative plaque at the site for the 50th anniversary of the first permanent spying facilities on the hill in September 2013.
In Morse code dots and dashes, it states “In God we trust, all others we monitor.”
They’re hoping to get permission for a permanent bronze plaque.
Teufelsberg was given Denkmalschutz or protected status in 2018 for its historical importance as a Cold War site. No new buildings could be built after it was declared part of the surrounding forested area in 2004, though the developers still retain ambitions of developing the existing buildings.
Meanwhile, the city’s attempts to buy it back were rebuffed with Gruhl and Schütte demanding way more than the city said it was prepared to pay. Negotiations were ongoing and likely to take some time.
Curious visitors used to be able to make their way through the broken fence and go in for a for a peaceful wander until Shalmon Abraham started renting it in 2011 and charging admission. Thuggish security ensured people paid up while giving the impression of protecting the vandalized buildings from vandals.
Abraham invited street artists to decorate the walls in a win-win for both. The artists had a place to work and their work only boosted Teufelsberg’s commercial appeal for Abraham’s paying guests’ benefit.
But the rental agreement was scrapped in 2015 after a dispute over rent. Schütte said Abraham was only interested in money, Der Tagesspiegel reported.
“Money was taken in but no rent was paid. And nothing was invested in the conservation although that was agreed,” Marvin Schütte, Hanfried’s son, told Morgenpost.
Marvin became the new tenant. He too had big plans for the site, including the opening of a café, beer garden and art gallery. He told Abandoned Berlin (though he didn’t know he was talking to AB) that he will have even more street artists working on the site than before, and that their work will be more varied, using all sorts of materials.
Tagesspiegel reported in March 2023 that Gruhl had in the meantime bought out his partner’s shares and now he wants to set up a Cold War museum in the existing buildings at Teufelsberg, as well as studios, offices and a café.
Local politician Fabian Schmitz-Grethlein said nothin' will happen any time soon. They're only the “first ideas that are still a long way from planning,” he said.
You can’t go right up to the very top of Teufelsberg anymore – it’s blocked off, presumably for security or safety reasons – but otherwise it's pretty much as it was before, released from the clutches of the hired goons. Maybe now it can finally enjoy a peaceful retirement.
LOCATION AND ACCESS (HOW TO FIND GUIDE)
What: Field Station Berlin Teufelsberg, former Cold War spy station or listening post brought back to the public eye in the wake of NSA spying revelations. The GCHQ left its American counterpart to bear the brunt of public anger. Of course, the anger is only recent. As one Teufelsberg veteran put it: “There is some irony in German anger over spying. Presumably, they had no headache when the Soviet bear and its cubs were being watched in order to keep them at bay.”
Where: Teufelsbergchaussee, 14193, Berlin.
How to get there” Get the S-Bahn, S9 or S75 to Heerstraße, or S1 to Grunewald and walk/cycle from there. Map can be accessed here.
Getting in: From the car park simply walk the paved ‘Dragonfly street’ path until you come to the fence. It’s much better fortified since someone noticed there was money to be made. If you follow it around without finding any holes you’ll come to the main gate. From there €8 will buy entrance as part of a tour. Apparently huge groups go at weekends so it’s probably best to go at other times.
When to go: Daytime is best for observation purposes. Teufelsberg provides great vistas over Berlin, as you’d expect from the city’s highest ‘mountain.’
Difficulty rating: 9/10 if you plan on sneaking in, 1/10 if you pay.
Who to bring: Bring your kid if he/she likes street art. Bring your friends if you don’t have a kid.
What to bring: Camera. Beer. A torch. A few sandwiches. It’s a long walk from the station.
Dangers: It’s not as dangerous since the previous tenants covered holes and blocked off areas from which you could plunge to your death. It’s not as exciting either, but the street art helps make up for the lack of danger.
Filed 26/6/2009 | Updated 14/3/2023 (With latest plans and more photos.)