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Original Checkpoint charlie sign?


LE LOUP DES MERS
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LE LOUP DES MERS

I had a surplus store that sadly closed down near me and the new owners did not care for the military stuff and just wanted the building. On the wall was a metal sign that the original owner claimed was an original checkpoint charlie sign. The new owners wanted this sign gone so I bought it. I did not know if it was real so I took it to an antique sign expert and he says he's 90% sure it's original. He can't say 100% because he said he's never seen one before to compere it to. He also told me if it's real it would be extremely rare. So my question to you guys is, is this sign real or fake? I'm personally half and half on this one but that's way I'm posting it on here. 

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This may be an American Sector sign, but it is not the Checkpoint Charlie sign.  

 

The apparent small size of this one makes it questionable.   Places where the border was open for crossing would have been limited in number, and the signs would have been very prominent.

 

I can't rule it out completely, but I do know there are reproductions out there. 

Berlin 4b.jpg

Checkpoint charlie.JPG

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LE LOUP DES MERS

I could not find a ruler so I had to get creative, I used brass knuckles and a $5 dollar bill to show the size of the sign. Hope this helps in determining if it's original, If the exact measurements are needed let me know. 

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I was stationed in Germany when the wall came down and made numerous trips to Berlin.  When the wall first came down there were a variety of sector signs, border posts, etc. for sale.  The ones I saw showed signs of wear and I believe they were real.  A few months later these were all gone but there were a large number of new reproduction signs on the market.  They may even have been made in the same factories that made the originals - that's what happened with a lot of military insignia.

 

I don't recall ever seeing a sign the size of the one in the original post but I suppose it's possible.  The ones I remember were large, the same as gwb123 posted.  If I recall correctly, the pictures below were taken in the September 1989 just before things started to heat up.

 

Berlin September  1989.jpg

Berlin Wall September  1989.jpg

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Hi VMI88,

 

By chance are you and Gil standing in the exact same spot, some years apart?  Curious because of the Zimmerstrafe street sign.

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1 hour ago, Scarecrow said:

Hi VMI88,

 

By chance are you and Gil standing in the exact same spot, some years apart?  Curious because of the Zimmerstrafe street sign.

 

I think so.  They did a lot of work to Checkpoint Charlie in the mid-80s so the background scenery is different.

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1 hour ago, VMI88 said:

 

I think so.  They did a lot of work to Checkpoint Charlie in the mid-80s so the background scenery is different.

 

It's probably the same location.  They really built up the East German side in later years to make it look more friendly and prosperous.

 

That is the one photo I wanted to turn out from my tour in Germany, to say that I was there.  Naturally, it was wet, cold and rainy.  

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Do you remember when your photos were taken?  Your second photo shows the older guardhouse that was replaced at some point - I couldn't find an exact date, just "sometime in the 1980s".  Here's a photo of the final building:

 

1911344587_CheckpointCharlieSeptember1989.jpg.d9e7da86608390a880bae09bd5e61929.jpg

 

You can just see the Zimmerstrasse street sign and the "Leaving the American Sector" warning sign in the background behind the guy drinking a Coke.

 

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  • 1 month later...
LE LOUP DES MERS

Nice would you say mine is authentic? I don't know the exact measurements but I took it to a sign expert and he told me he's 90% sure it's real. 

40 minutes ago, wulv said:

i have an authentic sign, this one is from further in Berlin though.

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the one i have is wooden from the early 70s. i have no knowledge to relay except that I do know the metal signs had holes drilled in each corner, which the one youve pictured appears to have. my father had a photo that I remember specifically a metal sign with screw holes in each corner.

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