Teufelsberg

Teufelsberg in Berlin is one of the capital's most unusual attractions: a hill built from World War II rubble, topped by a former Cold War listening station with huge white radar domes, Europe's largest street art gallery and a panoramic view over the city. It is among Germany's best-known "lost places", though today it is officially open to visitors. You can explore on your own or join a guided tour.

From rubble hill to spy station

Teufelsberg is an artificial hill about 120 meters above sea level, named after the nearby Teufelssee lake. Beneath it lies the unfinished shell of a Nazi-era military-technical faculty building, started in 1937 and halted in 1940. From 1950, Berliners piled up rubble from the bombed city for 22 years, around 26 million cubic meters, roughly a third of the city's wartime debris.

During the Cold War, the Western Allies built a listening station on top to monitor Eastern Bloc radio traffic. In the 1970s about 1,500 military personnel worked here around the clock, and radomes of up to 62 meters shaped the skyline. After US and British forces left in 1991, the site served as a civilian air-traffic radar station until 1999. Plans for a hotel and spy museum failed, the buildings decayed and filled up with graffiti. Legal tours began in 2011, and the entire hill was listed as a heritage monument in 2018.

What to see

• Radomes and the tower building: the white domes are the symbol of the station. The tall radar tower itself is closed for safety reasons, but the tower building has a 360-degree viewing platform over Berlin.
• Street art: halls and walls are covered with works by international artists, constantly changing.
• "Declassified" exhibition: opened in October 2024, it uses photos, audio stations and installations to open previously closed parts of the station. It is included in the ticket.
• Museum "Alliierte in Berlin e.V.": also included.

Allow two to three hours. The guided "Mythos Teufelsberg" tour lasts about 1.5 hours, usually ends on the viewing platform and is available in English and German; it can only be booked together with an admission ticket. Check the website for dates.

Tickets and opening hours (as of October 2026)

• Opening hours: daily from 11 a.m. until sunset. In October 2026 it closes at 7 p.m., in November and December at 4:30 p.m. Last entry is one hour before closing. Closed December 24 and 31, and on Mondays and Tuesdays in January and February 2027. Short-notice closures are possible during snow, ice, storms or filming.
• Admission: adults 12 EUR, reduced (students, trainees, ages 65+) 10 EUR, children and teens up to 17 years 5 EUR, children under 7 free, family ticket (2 adults and up to 2 children) 27 EUR.
• Payment: online shop or day ticket office, with cash and card payment on site.

Getting there from central Berlin

The address is Teufelsseechaussee 10, 14193 Berlin. Take the S-Bahn to Heerstraße or Grunewald, then walk about 2 km (around 30 minutes). There is no parking on site or on the private access road. Free parking is available at the Teufelsberg lot before the private road and at the end of Teufelsseechaussee, each about a 10-minute walk uphill. By car it is about 25 minutes from the city center.

Practical tips

Kids can follow a permanent spy puzzle game around the site. Dogs on short leashes are welcome. The buildings are not fully accessible and can only be reached via stairs, though wheelchair users can reach the viewing platform by an outdoor elevator if they register one to two days ahead by email, and the exhibitions are accessible. A bar, a coffee stand and weekend food trucks cover food and drinks. Photos are allowed for private use, and drones are not.