Glienicke Bridge over the Havel River connects Potsdam, Brandenburg & Wannsee, bridge was a Soviet border checkpoint during cold war
Glienicke Bridge over the Havel River connects Potsdam, Brandenburg & Wannsee, bridge was a Soviet border checkpoint between the Berlin’s American sector & East Germany during the cold war. The Glienicke Bridge was the only checkpoint controlled by the Soviets, all other checkpoints were under East German control, and had no Soviet presence. Because the Glienicke Bridge was a restricted border crossing between East Germany and the American sector of West Berlin, it was used by the Americans and Soviets for the exchange of captured spies during the Cold War and acquired the ‘Bridge of Spies’ nickname. The first prisoner exchange took place on 10 February 1962. The Americans released Rudolf Abel, convicted for spying for the Soviet Union in 1957, in exchange for Gary Powers, the pilot of a U-2 spy plane shot down in 1960. When US military attache Arthur D. Nicholson was shot by a Soviet sentry in March 1985, his body was returned to the US Army at the Glienicke Bridge. On 12 June 1985, 23 American agents held in Eastern Europe were exchanged for Polish agent Marian Zacharski and another three Soviet agents after a lengthy negotiation. On 11 February 1986, human rights ‘refusenik’ and political prisoner Anatoly Shcharansky (Natan Sharansky) and three Western agents were exchanged for Karl Koecher and four other Eastern agents. On the evening of 10 November 1989, one day after the opening of the Berlin Wall, the Glienicke Bridge was reopened for pedestrians. Border fortifications and barricades were dismantled as a part of German reunification in 1990.
Size: 5481px × 3544px
Location: Glienicke bridge, Potsdam Brandenburg
Photo credit: © Eden Breitz / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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