Editing Berlin Wall (section)

===Allied Military Personal Crossing===

Allied military personnel and civilian officials of the Allied forces could enter and exit East Berlin without submitting to East German passport controls, purchasing a visa or being required to exchange money. Likewise, Soviet military patrols could enter and exit West Berlin. This was a requirement of the post-war [[Allied Control Council|Four Powers]] Agreements. A particular area of concern for the Western Allies involved official dealings with East German authorities when crossing the border, since Allied policy did not recognize the authority of the GDR to regulate Allied military traffic to and from West Berlin, as well as the Allied presence within Greater Berlin, including entry into, exit from, and presence within East Berlin.<ref name="mashable.com"/>

The Allies held that only the Soviet Union, and not the GDR, had the authority to regulate Allied personnel in such cases. For this reason, elaborate procedures were established to prevent inadvertent recognition of East German authority when engaged in travel through the GDR and when in East Berlin. Special rules applied to travel by Western Allied military personnel assigned to the [[military liaison missions]] accredited to the commander of Soviet forces in East Germany, located in [[Potsdam]].<ref name="mashable.com"/>

Allied personnel were restricted by policy when travelling by land to the following routes:

;Transit between West Germany and West Berlin:
*'''Road:''' The Helmstedt–Berlin autobahn ([[Bundesautobahn 2|A2]]) ([[Checkpoint Alpha|Checkpoints Alpha]] and [[Checkpoint Bravo|Bravo]] respectively). Soviet military personnel manned these checkpoints and processed Allied personnel for travel between the two points. The Western Allies considered Ziesar, specifically Exit 76 from [[Bundesautobahn 2|Autobahn 2]], the halfway point of the transit route between [[West Berlin]] and [[West Germany|"mainland" West Germany]]. Road patrols offering breakdown services and assistance with DDR and Soviet authorities to Allied travelers were provided by [[Berlin Brigade|Americans based in Berlin]] east of [[Ziesar]] and by the British detachment at [[Helmstedt]] west of it.
[[File:Berlin corrider turns.jpg|thumb]]
*'''Rail:''' Western Allied military personnel and civilian officials of the Allied forces were forbidden to use commercial train service between West Germany and West Berlin, because of GDR passport and customs controls when using them. Instead, the Allied forces operated a series of official (duty) trains that traveled between their respective duty stations in West Germany and West Berlin. When transiting the GDR, the trains would follow the route between Helmstedt and [[Griebnitzsee]], just outside West Berlin. In addition to persons traveling on official business, authorized personnel could also use the duty trains for personal travel on a space-available basis. The trains traveled only at night, and as with transit by car, Soviet military personnel handled the processing of duty train travelers.<ref name="mashable.com"/> (See [[History of the Berlin S-Bahn]].)

;Entry into and exit from East Berlin:
*[[Checkpoint Charlie]] (as a pedestrian or riding in a vehicle)

As with military personnel, special procedures applied to travel by diplomatic personnel of the Western Allies accredited to their respective embassies in the GDR. This was intended to prevent inadvertent recognition of East German authority when crossing between East and West Berlin, which could jeopardize the overall Allied position governing the freedom of movement by Allied forces personnel within all Berlin.

Ordinary citizens of the Western Allied powers, not formally affiliated with the Allied forces, were authorized to use all designated transit routes through East Germany to and from West Berlin. Regarding travel to East Berlin, such persons could also use the Friedrichstraße train station to enter and exit the city, in addition to Checkpoint Charlie. In these instances, such travelers, unlike Allied personnel, had to submit to East German border controls.<ref name="mashable.com"/>