Overview

Those who spent hours waiting in the gloomy East German customs clearance office at Friedrichstraße station in the years when Berlin was a divided city would never have dreamt that it would become a protected historical building. The station is now open to everyone, and the customs office is a popular cultural centre. The Tränenpalast (Palace of Tears) got its name from the tears shed here when friends or relatives bode farewell to each other after an all-too-brief visit.