The former Dreilinden rest stop in Kleinmachnow, Germany, is easy to miss from the road near Checkpoint Bravo. Once a busy stopping point on the route into West Berlin, the complex is now largely abandoned, despite its distinctive architecture and status as a listed historic monument.
Built between 1968 and 1972, the site was designed by architects Rainer Rümmler and Hans Joachim Schröder. Its buildings include clearance facilities, a rest stop, two gas stations and a bridgehouse that served as a customs office. Red, blue and yellow details give the ensemble a distinctly 1970s appearance.
Time has taken its toll. The colors have faded, the yellow blinds in the service area hang unevenly and graffiti covers parts of the former gas stations. The rest stop was renovated recently, but its lack of use leaves the future of the complex uncertain. The bridge building still houses an active customs office, although the structure itself has seen little recent maintenance.
The location once served motorists making a final stop for fuel before border checks. Vehicles formerly slowed almost to walking speed there, and Dreilinden was also known as a gathering place for hitchhikers. Today, the former gas stations stand empty, while a Berlin Bear statue remains between them on a pedestal.
The site’s most unusual feature is an artistic renaming of the gas station canopies. On the outbound side, fading white letters spell “TUGENDAMT”; on the inbound side, black lettering reads “PIZZARAND.” The first term is a wordplay on “Jugendamt,” Germany’s youth welfare office. The intervention was created by Angst Yok, an artist collective known for placing humorous, official-looking messages on abandoned shops, billboards and urban spaces.
The permanently stopped clocks on the gas station facades add another suggestive detail. Together, the architecture, decay and wordplay give Checkpoint Bravo a layered character shaped by history, neglect and humor.
Access to the parking area at one of the former gas stations is possible from the exit serving inbound traffic on the A 115.
Sources: Atlas Obscura.