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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 16-30 of 58
Dokumentation
Dokumentation
Document
Maker: Unknown
ID: 2017.015.016
Date Made: after August 8th, 1979
Photograph
Maker: Unknown
ID: 2017.015.017
Date Made: February 1990
Photograph
Maker: Unknown; Kodak
ID: 2017.015.018
Date Made: printed in December 2005
Photograph
Maker: Unknown
ID: 2017.015.019
Date Made: between 1945-1985
Photograph
Maker: Unknown
ID: 2017.015.020
Date Made: 1961 or after
And who will break the walls in the heads?
And who will break the walls in the heads?
Photograph
Maker: Unknown
ID: 2017.015.021
Date Made: after January 7, 1989
Zertifikat
Zertifikat
Certificate
Maker: Unknown
ID: 2017.015.022
Date Made: 1989
Aktion und Besonderheiten Grenzübergangstelle Fr./Zi.
Aktion und Besonderheiten Grenzübergangstelle Fr./Zi.
Binder
Maker: Unknown
ID: 2017.015.023
Date Made: after 1981
Spendenmarken der Deutsch-Sowjetischen Freundschaft
Spendenmarken der Deutsch-Sowjetischen Freundschaft
Stamp album
Maker: Gesellschaft für Deutsch-Sowjetische Freundschaft
ID: 2017.015.024
Date Made: 1975, 1978, and 1979
Berlin
Berlin
Postcard
Maker: Kunstverlag; Universa International S.A.
ID: 2017.015.025
Date Made: n.d.
Construction Processes Border Crossing Point and Transitional Border Crossing Point
Construction Processes Border Crossing Point and Transitional Border Crossing Point
Binder
Maker: Unknown
ID: 2017.015.026
Date Made: after 1986
The Year 1989 until the Fall of the Wall
The Year 1989 until the Fall of the Wall
Binder
Maker: Unknown
ID: 2017.015.027
Date Made: 1989-1999
The Year 1989 Bye Charlie
The Year 1989 Bye Charlie
Binder
Maker: Unknown
ID: 2017.015.028
Date Made: after 1989
Grenzeröffnung: Nachtrag Nov. - Dez. 1989
Grenzeröffnung: Nachtrag Nov. - Dez. 1989
Binder
Maker: Unknown
ID: 2017.015.029
Date Made: after 1989
Document; photograph; film negative
Maker: Unknown
ID: 2017.015.033
Date Made: 1983-1987
Showing search results 16-30 of 58

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