Yadegar Asisi's monumental panoramic artwork addresses the Cold War and the division of Berlin.

The Persian artist dedicated three years to creating this panorama. His perspective is that of a witness, as he lived in the neighborhood he portrays. The immersive panorama experience captures daily life at the Berlin Wall beyond the scope of tragic events. A specially constructed visitor tower accompanies the 15-meter-high and 60-meter-long panoramic image.

Twenty fabric panels were printed and stitched together to form the artwork. Visitors are transported to 1980s Berlin, experiencing an overcast autumn day as they view the East from the West. The atmosphere is enhanced by music mixed with authentic recordings from the era. Spending time immersed in the panorama makes it almost unbelievable that this was the reality at this very site for nearly three decades.

A photography exhibition about the Wall and a video about Asisi’s creative process complete the experience. Upon leaving the panoramic world, visitors often feel overwhelmed, moved, and inspired.

Asisi Panorama Berlin

Location & Nearby Attractions

The Asisi Panorama is located in Berlin-Mitte at a historically significant site. Allocate enough time to explore the surrounding area, rich in German history. Next to the museum, you’ll find the Trabi Museum, the BlackBox Cold War exhibit, and the iconic Checkpoint Charlie border crossing. At the end of Kochstraße, you’ll discover the Topography of Terror and part of the Berlin Wall Memorial. If you’re in the mood, take a short detour to the nearby Friedrichstraße shopping district.

Experience the Berlin Wall: A Unique Panorama at Checkpoint Charlie

What was life really like in the shadow of this wall? A captivating answer awaits at the “asisi Panorama THE WALL”, a monumental installation by artist Yadegar Asisi. Located at the famous Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin-Mitte, this panorama transports visitors back in time to West Berlin in the 1980s, an era deeply shaped by the city’s division.

Housed in a purpose-built rotunda just a few meters from the former death strip, the 900-square-meter installation vividly depicts everyday life in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district. From the perspective of a West Berliner living adjacent to the Wall, visitors get a sense of the peculiar normalcy and unsettling reality of life in the divided city.

Standing on a four-meter-high visitor platform, you are immersed in the detailed scene that Asisi painstakingly created over five years. The panorama condenses his personal experiences from East and West into a strikingly realistic narrative. The illusion is so lifelike that you feel as if you’re witnessing the scenes on a fictional autumn day—people moving house, children playing, tourists visiting the Wall, and graffiti artists at work. The panorama captures life in the shadow of the Wall in all its complexity.

The effect is mesmerizing: at a 1:1 scale, the panorama offers a realistic impression of how the Wall shaped the lives of Berliners. From the platform, you can see decaying and occupied buildings, punks, tourists, border guards, and the DDR death strip just behind the Wall. Standing on the western side, you look across to a world that, though only meters away, was completely unreachable.

But the panorama is more than just an artwork; it’s a historical record complemented by a photography exhibition. Around 80 private photographs from Berliners provide insights into the Wall’s construction, the city’s division, and its eventual fall. These images, along with Asisi’s sketches and drawings, illustrate the creation process and the artist’s engagement with the theme.

The experience also includes film elements. In the documentary “On Both Sides of the Wall”, Asisi shares his perspective on the division, his life in East and West Germany, and how his Kreuzberg neighborhood inspired this work. Additional films feature Asisi’s private footage of the night the Wall fell and documentaries by French journalist Axel Gyldén from 1986 and 1987.

The “asisi Panorama THE WALL” is a space for reflection and remembrance, inviting visitors to grasp the absurdity of the normality that defined life in the shadow of the Berlin Wall. Asisi does not focus on questions of guilt but on fostering an understanding of an era when a wall divided Berlin and dictated daily life.

If you’re in Berlin and wish to experience the legacy of the Wall firsthand, the “asisi Panorama THE WALL” at Checkpoint Charlie is a must-visit. This masterpiece brings the history of the divided city to life in a way few other experiences can.

Address, opening hours ...

Address: Friedrichstraße 205, (at Checkpoint Charlie), 10117 Berlin
Opening hours: daily from 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Admission: regular €11, reduced: €9, children (6 - 16 years) €5, family: €27 (2 adults + up to 4 children)
Connections: Bus: 100, 200, N2, TXL Stop: Staatsoper, Bus: 100, 200, N2 Stop: Lustgarten, Tram: N1, 12 Stop: Am Kupfergraben

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