Teufelsberg (Devil's Mountain translated to English) rises about 80 meters above the surrounding area.
Its History is open to some debate what is certain is that it was created using approximately 12 Million cubic meters of rubble (Some 400,000 damaged buildings from war torn Berlin during its reconstruction) It is as high as the highest natural hill in the Berlin area.
The debate is over whether or not it covers a German Military Techinical College designed by Albert Speer. Some say they Allies tried to demolish the college but found it easier to bury, others say the college was designed but never built.
The 1960s saw a small skiing center built on the slopes of the hill.
The NSA built one of its largest listening stations here, rumored to be part of the global ECHELON intelligence gathering network. "The Hill", as it was known to American soldiers who worked there around the clock and who commuted there from their quarters in the American Sector, even though it was located in the British Sector. Before establishing the permanent buildings there late in the 1950s, Mobile Allied listening units had surveyed various other locales throughout West Berlin hoping to locate the best position for listening to Soviet, East German, and other Warsaw Pact nations communications. It was one of these units that drove to the top of Teufelsberg and discovered a significant improvement in listening abilities and this led to a large structure being built atop the hill, which would be run by the NSA. At the request of US government, the ski lifts were removed citing that they disturbed the signals. The station continued to operate until the fall of East Germany and the Berlin Wall, but after that the station was closed and the equipment removed. The buildings and radar domes are still there albeit trashed and covered in Graffiti.
Several curious occerences during it operation:
1. Certain times of the year the reception of the radio signals saw radio signal strength improve. This was eventually "proved" to the Ferris wheel of the annual German-American Volksfest Festival on the Hüttenweg in Zehlendorf.From that moment on the Ferris wheel was left standing for some time after the festival was over.
2. While there were rumors that the Americans had excavated a shaft down into the ruins beneath, that was never proven.
Teufelsburg has been a location for movies, like The Gamblers, 2007 and The finale of the german vampire film We Are the Night was also shot there.
No Cock and Ball comments please
Its History is open to some debate what is certain is that it was created using approximately 12 Million cubic meters of rubble (Some 400,000 damaged buildings from war torn Berlin during its reconstruction) It is as high as the highest natural hill in the Berlin area.
The debate is over whether or not it covers a German Military Techinical College designed by Albert Speer. Some say they Allies tried to demolish the college but found it easier to bury, others say the college was designed but never built.
The 1960s saw a small skiing center built on the slopes of the hill.
The NSA built one of its largest listening stations here, rumored to be part of the global ECHELON intelligence gathering network. "The Hill", as it was known to American soldiers who worked there around the clock and who commuted there from their quarters in the American Sector, even though it was located in the British Sector. Before establishing the permanent buildings there late in the 1950s, Mobile Allied listening units had surveyed various other locales throughout West Berlin hoping to locate the best position for listening to Soviet, East German, and other Warsaw Pact nations communications. It was one of these units that drove to the top of Teufelsberg and discovered a significant improvement in listening abilities and this led to a large structure being built atop the hill, which would be run by the NSA. At the request of US government, the ski lifts were removed citing that they disturbed the signals. The station continued to operate until the fall of East Germany and the Berlin Wall, but after that the station was closed and the equipment removed. The buildings and radar domes are still there albeit trashed and covered in Graffiti.
Several curious occerences during it operation:
1. Certain times of the year the reception of the radio signals saw radio signal strength improve. This was eventually "proved" to the Ferris wheel of the annual German-American Volksfest Festival on the Hüttenweg in Zehlendorf.From that moment on the Ferris wheel was left standing for some time after the festival was over.
2. While there were rumors that the Americans had excavated a shaft down into the ruins beneath, that was never proven.
Teufelsburg has been a location for movies, like The Gamblers, 2007 and The finale of the german vampire film We Are the Night was also shot there.
No Cock and Ball comments please
