Tränenpalast (Palace of Tears): the Friedrichstraße border crossing, free museum in Berlin

Updated on October 1, 2026

The Tränenpalast, the "Palace of Tears", is the former departure hall of the border crossing at Friedrichstraße station. Built in 1962, a year after the Wall went up, this glass-and-steel pavilion processed the travellers leaving East Berlin for West Berlin or West Germany. Its nickname comes from the farewells that took place here: East Berliners saw off relatives visiting from the West without knowing when they would meet again. Since 2011 the Haus der Geschichte, the museum of the history of the Federal Republic of Germany, has run a free permanent exhibition here, "Ort der deutschen Teilung" (Site of German Division). You walk through authentic passport control booths and discover, through objects and testimonies, everyday life on both sides of the border, right up to the fall of the Wall on 9 November 1989. The pavilion stands in Mitte, on the banks of the Spree, about ten minutes' walk from the [Reichstag](/fr/attractions/reichstag-berlin).

Highlights

The passport control booths

These narrow booths, lined up in the main hall, are where East German border guards checked travellers' papers. You pass through one of them just as travellers did at the time: it is the most striking moment of the visit.

Testimonies and objects

Eyewitness accounts tell of farewells, escapes, letters and documents smuggled across the border, and protests against travel restrictions. "Westpakete", the parcels sent from the West to families in the East, show what the border divided in everyday life.

The 1962 pavilion

With its glass façade and projecting roof, the building designed by architect Horst Lüderitz has been a listed monument since 2 October 1990. After the checks, travellers went straight on to the platforms of Friedrichstraße station, where long-distance trains, the S-Bahn and the U-Bahn left for the West.

Infos pratiques

Tips

Admission is free to the permanent exhibition and all temporary exhibitions, with no booking needed (checked in October 2026). A free one-hour public guided tour in German takes place on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month at 3pm: sign up on the spot at the information desk. The free audio guide, streamed online on your phone, is available in English, German and French among other languages; bring headphones. The cloakroom is free; flash, tripods and selfie sticks are not allowed. Groups of 10 or more must book. Allow 45 minutes to an hour for the visit, then explore the division further with our route [following the Berlin Wall](/fr/articles/sur-les-traces-du-mur-de-berlin) and the [Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße](/fr/attractions/memorial-du-mur-de-berlin).

How to get there

Reichstagufer 17, 10117 Berlin, right next to Friedrichstraße station, on the Spree side. S-Bahn S1, S2, S25, S5, S7 and S75, U-Bahn U6 (with lift) and trams M1 and 12, S+U Friedrichstraße station. The building is wheelchair accessible via the entrance at the back. On foot, it is about ten minutes from the [Reichstag](/fr/attractions/reichstag-berlin) or the [Brandenburg Gate](/fr/attractions/porte-de-brandebourg), and around fifteen minutes to [Museum Island](/fr/attractions/ile-aux-musees-berlin).