Tanks at Checkpoint Charlie: when the Cold War nearly turned hot in Berlin
On 27 October 1961, Soviet and American tanks faced each other on Friedrichstrasse, about 90 metres apart. After more than 24 hours, both sides pulled back.
Photo: The Central Intelligence Agency / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (cropped and resized)
On 27 October 1961, just over two months after the Berlin Wall went up, Soviet and American tanks trained their guns on each other at the corner of Friedrichstrasse and Zimmerstrasse. The Allied checkpoint known as Checkpoint Charlie was one of the most important crossings between East and West Berlin.
The trigger was an incident on 22 October: East German border guards demanded to inspect the papers of US diplomat Allan Lightner, who was on his way to the opera in East Berlin. The Western Allies did not recognise East German guards as having authority in Berlin and insisted on freedom of movement under the four-power status. The US Army moved up ten M-48 tanks on 26 October; Soviet tanks took up positions the next day, according to the Army only about 90 metres away.
The standoff lasted more than 24 hours. On the morning of 28 October the Soviet tanks withdrew, followed shortly afterwards by the American ones. Accounts credit talks between US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and Soviet intelligence officer Georgi Bolshakov with helping to defuse the crisis. The scene became one of the best-known images of the Cold War.