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Peter Bochmann Border Guard Collection

Major Peter Bochmann (b. 1940) was a career officer with the East German Border Guards, who spent most of his active career at the border crossing installation (“Grenzübergangsstelle”) Friedrich/Zimmerstraße directly opposite the Allied “Checkpoint Charlie” in Berlin.

With an amateur historian’s eye, Bochmann saved photographs and newspaper documentation of operations at the border, especially during the “Wende” year of 1990 as duties at the checkpoint wound down. The Museum holds a vast array of documents and material objects related to his role as a border guard. He recorded his career at the Berlin Wall with a thorough and carefully organized collection of primary and secondary literature, training materials, personal documents, and photographs. In addition, he preserved phones, briefcases, lockers, radios, awards, and even dishware from the guards’ room at the Checkpoint. Earlier, he had worked closely with developing and refining the techniques and procedures of personal identification in use by the passport control division (PKE).  Maj. Bochmann hoped that the methods developed at the border might find some commercial application after Reunification.

 Major Bochmann’s collections were featured in the exhibitions: Facing the Wall (2008-2017), surveillance-themed permanent collection displays (2017-2024), and the upcoming PST exhibition, Surveillance Countersurveillance (Fall 2024 – Spring 2025). Additionally, Bochmann provided twenty hours of oral history which was conducted as part of the Historical Witness Project.

The museum has been acquiring Major Bochmann’s collection over a number of years, and many of the materials were displayed as part of the exhibition Facing the Wall (2009–17). Adding greater contextual information to these items are Bochmann’s twenty hours of oral history conducted as part of theHistorical Witness Project.

The cataloging and digitization of this collection was made possible by the support of Arcadia – a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin.

Showing search results 1-15 of 58
Photograph
Maker: Unknown
ID: 2017.015.001
Date Made: n.d.
Photograph
Maker: Unknown
ID: 2017.015.002
Date Made: n.d.
Photograph
Maker: Unknown
ID: 2017.015.003
Date Made: n.d.
Photograph
Maker: Unknown
ID: 2017.015.004
Date Made: July 19, 1984
Postenbereich 7
Postenbereich 7
Photograph
Maker: Unknown
ID: 2017.015.005
Date Made: n.d.
Photograph
Maker: E. Kasperski; Axel Springer Verlag; Ullstein GMBH
ID: 2017.015.006
Date Made: January 26, 1977
Photograph
Maker: Unknown
ID: 2017.015.007
Date Made: 1982 or 1987
Photograph
Maker: Unknown
ID: 2017.015.008
Date Made: August 1, 1984
Kontrollgigant
Kontrollgigant
Postcard
Maker: Ulrike Wolf
ID: 2017.015.009
Date Made: 1980-1990
Berlin: Das Loch in der Mauer
Berlin: Das Loch in der Mauer
Postcard
Maker: Danielewicz, Emanuela J.; Der elektrische Verlag
ID: 2017.015.010
Date Made: 1990
The Wall Map Berlin
The Wall Map Berlin
Map
Maker: Gerd Glanze
ID: 2017.015.011
Date Made: after 1996
Berlin-Document
Berlin-Document
Certificate
Maker: H. and E. Wendt; Druckerei Varioform GmbH
ID: 2017.015.012
Date Made: 1990
Es Geschah an der Mauer
Es Geschah an der Mauer
Book
Maker: Rainer Hildebrandt; Ernst Lemmer; Graphische Gesellschaft Grunewald GmbH
ID: 2017.015.013
Date Made: January 1968
Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie
Pamphlet
Maker: Ulrike Wolf; Alwin Nachtweh
ID: 2017.015.014
Date Made: after 1990
Photograph
Maker: Unknown
ID: 2017.015.015
Date Made: August 8, 1979
Showing search results 1-15 of 58

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