The 96 mile long Berlin Wall, which ringed West Berlin for
nearly 30 years, was erected in 1961. While initially no more than roadblocks,
barbed wire and fences the wall quickly became more elaborate with a tall
concrete wall and wire fences enclosing a cleared no man’s land, complete with
guard paths, vehicle traps and a ditch.
As the fence was replaced by a 3.6 m (11.8 ft) concrete wall
the earlier wooden watchtowers were replaced with concrete ones like the BT-6
type tower, one of which today remains in place just behind Leipziger Platz (on Erna-Berger-Straße) seen in the photographs above.
The BT stands for ‘B Tower’ or ‘B-Turm’ in German, the number 6, 9 or 11 referred
to the height in metres of the tower. These towers were made from prefabricated concrete and typically accessed through a steel door, that was usually hidden from
the direction of the border.
The BT-6 tower was introduced in 1966, with the tower on Erna-Berger-Straße
being built in 1971. Around 200 BT-6, along with other BT types towers, were erected
along the wall. Their simple prefabricated design was based on a number of
concrete tubes stacked to make the tower with a single story 2-man tower placed
at the top.
A wall and BT-9 (US State Department)
The octagonal observation platform is about 2x2m square and the main observation deck was equipped with
seating, rifle racks, an air filter system, communications equipment, a log book,
maps and emergency equipment.
While on the accessible roof there was a search light and the walls of the observation deck had windows and rifle slits with
vertically sliding covers for guards to fire out of.
Manned at all times by two East German Border Guards (or Grenztruppen
der DDR) 24 hours a day, with one watching the West and the other watching the
approach from the East. They were authorised to fire on anyone attempting to
cross the border without authorisation.
Inside the tower (Source: Peter Goes)
Sadly, the Tower wasn’t open on the day we visited but
the photo above shows the two-tier ladder inside the tower and the observation
platform itself.
The BT-6 towers were later superseded by the larger BT-9 type
towers which had a square floor plans.
The tower on Erna-Berger-Straße is one of the last of its kind and
perhaps the best surviving example, having been restored between 2011 and 2014.
Sources:
All photographs (unless otherwise stated) taken by Matthew Moss
