In Biggles Follows On, Biggles, with the help of a guide, crosses into the Russian sector of Berlin to get to the Hotel Prinz Karl on the Zindenplatzer. He had learnt that Guardsman Ross is there and he intends to rescue him. However Ross has moved on to Korea and Biggles meets von Stalhein instead. Hotel Prinz Karl and the Zindenplatzer are fictional locations but we have a few hints as to where it might be.
Where did Biggles cross into the Russian zone?[]
Some hints from the text give us an idea where Biggles and his guide crossed into the Russian zone:
- "The man set off at a brisk pace. Not a word was spoken in the long walk that followed."
- "At first the way lay through busy thoroughfares, but presently these gave way to quiet streets in what was obviously a residential quarter. In one of these the guide turned abruptly into a private house, one of a long row built in the same pattern." Through this house, the guide unlocks a door and they emerge onto a street in the Russian zone.
- Towards the end of the adventure, Biggles crosses back out of the Russian sector: "More narrow streets and the guide turned into an iron gate Biggles recognised it as the one by which they had entered the Soviet Zone. There were, he suspected, from the length of the halls, two houses, built back-to-back. Through them they reached the British Zone."
We know that Biggles started out from the British zone, but an examination of the zonal boundaries shows that Biggles could not have crossed into the Russian zone from the British zone. This is because most of the Russian sector north of the Brandenburg Gate has a waterway as the boundary and we know that Biggles did not cross any water. So he probably crossed somewhere south of the gate. The boundary runs southwards from the gate to Potsdamer Platz but most of this boundary is the Tiergarten and not a residential district as the text indicates. So he didn't cross here either. Nor, therefore, could he have crossed back straight into the British zone from the Russian zone as the text states.
View of central Berlin in 1954 just after the time Biggles was there. The crossroads in the centre is Potsdamer Platz. The red line down the road running from 11 o'clock to the crossroads indicates the boundary between the British and the Russian zones. The boundary further to the north is a river. To the British side of the road is the Tiergarten. Note that there is nowhere along the British zone where he had a residential area to cross. From Potsdamer Platz the road/boundary with the Russian zone runs in the 4 o'clock direction. Here we are already in the American sector. The green line indicates the boundary between the British and the American zone. The red red arrow head indicates the beginning of Niederkirchnerstraße, an important street which was the boundary between the American and Russian zones.
Option 1[]
We have to assume he went through the American zone which starts after Potsdamer Platz. The zonal boundaries were quite seamless, and between the British and American zones might now even have signs or markings. So Biggles must be forgiven for not knowing that he crossed into the American sector.
This image is licensed from Markus Lenz for single use on this site only. See licence information
View of central Berlin in 1954 along Niederkirchnerstraße and then Zimmerstraße. The red line indicates the Russian/American zone boundary. West is at the bottom and east is at the top. The red arrowhead corresponds to the red arrowhead in the previous photo.
So Biggles' guide must have taken him in the back streets eastwards parallel to the line of the Russian/American zone boundary. This is indicated by the red line in the picture above which runs along Niederkirchnerstraße and then Zimmerstraße (the whole of those streets lie on the Russian side). In the centre of the picture above is the old Air Ministry building, still largely intact. Today it is used by the Ministry of Finance. Note that most of the buildings here (those which survived the bombing) are public buildings, not the residential district Biggles thought he was in. Walking a backstreet parallel to this red line, we come to some stands of houses which appear to have survived the bombing, as indicated by the green arrow. These are shophouses and there are several "in a line" (a long line?) They must have been largely empty after the bombing so Biggles might have been forgiven for thinking that they were residences and not shops. The guide might have taken Biggles through these houses from a backstreet onto Zimmerstrasse which is already in the Russian zone. As for a long walk, it depends where Biggles started from--Birtish military headquarters might not have been so near Potsdamer Platz.
Option 2[]
Now Zimmerstrasse might be considered too "public" for a crossing, after all it is one of the main commercial streets. So his guide might have chosen a quiet residential neighbourhood. For that they would have to walk eastwards to the nearest one, all the way to the neighbourhoods of Treptow/Neukolln, another 5 km! Perhaps this explains "the long walk". See the picture below.
This image is licensed from Markus Lenz for single use on this site only. See licence information
From Potsdamerplatz, Treptow/Neukolln is the nearest residential neighbourhood along the zone boundary. The red line represents the divide between the Russian/American zones.
Starting from the canal, from the bottom of the picture, the boundary runs east along Harzer Strasse, then north along Bouchéstraße and then turns east along Heidelberger Strasse. This area was, in fact, the scene of many escape attempts during the era of the Berlin Wall. Note that along Harzer Strasse and Bouchéstraße there are blocks of residential housing, as indicated by the green arrow. Some are cinderblocks, some old style terrace houses, all of which give onto the street which formed the boundary. Biggles' guide might have used a suitable residence along this stretch. An added advantage of this option is that shortly after crossing back into the American zone, there is a canal with bridges. As the text states, Biggles tossed his stolen Russian coat and cap into a stretch of water from a bridge.
External links[]
- Virtual fly through of the route of the Berlin Wall. (Seems to be offline. Try this archive URL) In the time of "Follows On", the Berlin Wall had not been built but the blue line represents the boundary of the Russian sector. Running the video, the stretch from timepoint 2:03 (the extreme east where the boundary meets a river) to about 2:45 (the Tiergarten) represents the area which Biggles could have crossed into the Russian sector. Checkpoint Charlie is 2:31. The video flies through westwards then turns north at the Potsdamer Platz until it reaches the Tiergarten. Notice how many buildings front onto the blue line with the street on the Russian side. Any one of them could have been used to cross into the Russian sector. From Checkpoint Charlie to the Potsdamer Platz appears to be mainly public/large buildings. Residential buildings appear to be mainly from 2:03 to 2:31.