Berlin’s battle scars

An estimated quarter of a million people died in the Battle of Berlin in 1945 and the physical legacy of the fighting remains visible throughout the city. It is as much part of Berlin’s identity as the Wall, and a lot easier›to find.

Facades are pockmarked with bullet holes and shell shrapnel, especiallytroops, SS forces, Hitler Youth and units of old men and boys aged as young as 13. In some cases, like the jagged tower of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church or the portico of station, the ruins have been preserved as warnings from history.