The Nazis' Curbs to Nowhere
Just a two-minute walk from the Brandenburg Gate into Tiergarten is a relic hidden in plain sight.
Along the sidewalk are these out-of-place granite curbs that seem to lead to and from nowhere.
They were installed here as part of the planned intersection of this boulevard, Strasse des 17 Juni, and the north-south axis called Prachtallee.
Prachtallee was a planned 5-kilometer-long and 120-meter-wide thoroughfare and symbolic center of the Germania, the name given to the new German capital envisioned by the Nazis.
Prachtallee was conceived as a monumental boulevard lined with grandiose buildings, including the ridiculously large Grosse Halle at its northern end and a massive triumphal arch at its southern end.
The war stopped any construction projects already underway.
And if you’ve been here and wondered why there is a memorial to the fallen Soviet soldiers here.
Well, now you know. It was a big statement.
And this is just one of the stops on my WW2 Berlin audio tour, which you can find in my free Berlin trip planning app.
Or, you could hire me, Steve from Experience Berlin Tours to show you around. Check out my tours here.
The curbs are located just across Strasse des 17 Juni from the Soviet War Memorial in Tiergarten. The curbs line up approximately with the tanks in the memorial.
You can visit this memorial and curbs when you visit the Reichstag Building and Brandenburg Gate.