Glienicke Bridge

The Glienicke Bridge crosses the Havel River between Potsdam and Berlin, and during the Cold War it was the most famous span in Germany. Between 1962 and 1986, it served as the site of four prisoner exchanges between East and West — the "Bridge of Spies" where intelligence assets were traded in the pre-dawn darkness, the bridge sealed at both ends, each side watching the other across a carefully measured midpoint.

Today it is simply a handsome iron bridge with a fine view up and down the Havel, easily reached on foot or by bike from central Potsdam in about twenty minutes. The context makes the walk worthwhile. On the Potsdam side, the Glienicke Palace and its park (also part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site) sit directly beside the bridge. On the Berlin side, the Wannsee is a short distance away.

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A story
The most famous exchange at Glienicke Bridge was in 1962: American U-2 spy pilot Francis Gary Powers, shot down over the Soviet Union two years earlier, walked across one side of the bridge as Soviet spy Rudolf Abel walked the other. Three more exchanges followed over the decades, always at dawn, always with the bridge sealed at both ends. The bridge is painted grey; no one is entirely sure why it was called the Bridge of Spies and not the grey bridge.