Abandoned NSA spy station: The elevation of Teufelsberg is 377 feet (115 m) but the hill north of Berlin, Germany’s, Grunewald forest was artificially created by the Allies after WWII. The Allies built Devil’s Mountain from about 400,000 buildings that were reduced to rubble during the 20 years after Berlin was rebuilt. The Teufelsberg Towers stand over 262 feet (80 meters) tall. The former U.S. listening station which sits atop Devil’s Mountain was referred to as “The Hill” by American soldiers, spooks and their Allies. Photo #1 by Matt Biddulph
Sentry box at abandoned NSA Teufelsberg Listening Station in Berlin. When the NSA built one of the largest listening stations in the world on top of “The Hill,” it was rumored to be a part of the global ECHELON intelligence gathering network. The mystery of Devil’s Mountain began with what was buried beneath the hill. It was a Nazi military-technical college that the Allies could not demolish with explosives. It turned out easier to cover it with debris and build a man-made rubble mound. There are rumors that Americans had excavated a shaft down through the ruins beneath The Hill, but it was never proven. In fact, many rumors circulated about the highly classified NSA Listening Station including one about “the tunnel” beneath being an underground escape route for people working at Devil’s Mountain, or that the tunnels were being used to further intercept communications and spy on the world. Photo #2 by Matt Biddulph
Teufelsberg Radar Station Watchtower in Berlin, Germany. It is also said that Grunewald Forest in German means wild boar, so American soldiers nicknamed them “gurnie pigs” since the animals roamed the hill. In the 1950s, Mobile Allies drove around through West Berlin to find the best vantage points for listening to military traffic regarding the Soviets, East Germans and other “Warsaw Pact” nations. When one unit parked at the top of Teufelsberg, the G-men discovered the place offered great improvement in listening ability. This is why the NSA ran the large listening post built upon Devil’s Mountain. The U.S. government asked for the ski lifts to be removed since they allegedly disturbed the signals. When NSA Operations discovered that the reception of radio signals was better during the annual German-American Festival due to the Ferris Wheel acting like an amplifier, they asked that the Ferris wheel be left standing after the festival was over. Photo #3 by © Madzia Bryll
Small ‘Jambalaya’ tower at Devil’s Mountain in Berlin. The Jambalaya tower is regarded as one of the most mysterious installations at Teufelsberg. On the “legal” tour, this Jambayala smallest Tower is off limits, as are other buildings due to “asbestos installed” there. Photo #4 by Matt Biddulph
Rusty and crusty steel bones, the only remnants of an old warehouse at abandoned U.S. spy complex. This Teufelsberg photo was taken in May 2011. Photo #5 by Parkinpants
The spy station on Devil’s Mountain continued to operate until the fall of East Germany and the Berlin Wall. Then the station was closed and the equipment was removed. The buildings and radar domes still remain in place. This is the current condition of abandoned Teufelsberg. Photo #6 by Victor Bergmann
A German newspaper talked of illegally entering the site before a young entrepreneur set up ‘legal tours’ to the decayed trail of spies. All the locks are broken and the 48-acre site suffered seven years of decay when the area was not protected by security guards. All valuables have been stolen by copper and metal cable thieves. “The five white balls, the symbol of the devil, are all cut.” Photo #7 by Victor Bergmann
Looking up at Teufelsberg. Photo #8 by Victor Bergmann
Curiously, the terms “Alien” and “Aliens” are referred to multiple times in English graffiti at the previous NSA ears station. Photo #9 by Victor Bergmann
The photographer wrote, “This impressive elevation (called the Devil’s Hill) is nothing but a mound of 12 million cubic meters of WW2 rubble piled on the carcass of an abandoned Nazi military college, overgrown with forest, and the cherry on the top is the spy station which the Americans used to eavesdrop on the Russians East of the Wall. It has been abandoned since the end of the Cold War and has suffered much decay. You’re not supposed to go there, but the three fence perimeter can’t really stop the curious, and the payback in adrenaline is immense. You just need to be very careful not to injure yourself on any of the damaged construction, slide off a ladder, get lost in the creepy basement or fall into the open elevator shaft at the top of the main radome tower. Keeping all that in mind, it is well worth the climb as the echo in the main dome is so strong, even your own breath is reiterated.” Photo #10 by Magic Madzik
This is NSA building was unfinished before the fall of the Berlin wall. Photo #11 by Steve.Jackson
The photographer called this a “Popular place on a Saturday.” Photo #12 by Matt Biddulph
Considering the climbing it takes to access Teufelsberg, the photographer called this “inappropriate attire” for urban exploration. Photo #13 by Matt Biddulph
Abandoned hallway on Devil’s Mountain. Photo #14 by Gregor Fischer
You know the saying I wish I could be a fly on the wall, meaning to hear what is said? So this fly graffiti seemed like great irony at the abandoned NSA Listening Station. Photo #15 by Neil H
The Arctic Tower. Note the spray-painted message. There may be some leftover resentment in regards to the former NSA spy station. Photo #16 by © Madzia Bryll
In the 1990s there was talk of preserving the former NSA Listening Station as a sort of spy museum. That plan fell through. There were estimates of almost $50 million to mortage the place, so after it was heavily vandalized, the project was forgotten. In 2011, an enterprising student began offering guided tours in German and in English also to the former NSA field station. This offered the first real opportunity for Berlin residents and visitors to legally visit Teufelsberg spy station. Photo #17 by David Rush
Unknown Teufelsberg machines left to decay. Photo #18 by Herman (baracoder)
Approaching Devil’s Mountain and the heavily-tagged former NSA Radar listening station. Photo #19 by Tom Taylor
Shot of the interior offices. At its prime, NSA people would “chemically” break down all the papers that were no longer needed and then use them to generate heat for the building in large boilers. The student who wanted to make tours legal to Devil’s Mountain had to start by first registering all 800 people who used to work at the spy station. Photo #20 by David Rush
The photographer called this “Abandoned Radar Rust.” Photo #21 by David Rush
Mr. Schoen, one of my favorite people from the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), took this shot. He wrote, “Former NSA American military radio installation at Teufelsberg.” Photo #22 by Seth Schoen
2010 Teufelsberg Graffiti – People of Berlin Underground Association and have researched under Devil’s Mountain and the former NSA facility. Despite many people assuming the underground tunnels exist, they reportedly found no secret bunker rooms and called all the hype “mere speculation.” However, it is “curious that at a place on the coordinates of all the missiles of the Soviet Union were addressed, there is no bunker.” Photo #23 by Steve.Jackson
The Devil Mountain is still good for generating myths and graffiti tagging. Other urban explorers are said to bring wine and blankets to enjoy the view and such. Photo #24 by Victor Bergmann
Collapsed lift shaft at Devil’s Mountain. A German newspaper described previous illegal visits to the the derelict NSA listening station. The lift elevator is broken, so visiting the spy station takes “228 steps through a dark staircase” before the “domed top is reached.” The outer skin of the domes was reportedly first cut open by people probably just wanting to enjoy the view. Now most of the foil-lined skins have been shredded. Photo #25 by Matt Biddulph
At Teufelsberg in Berlin. The photographer described it as, “A former American monitoring station for eastern radio communication.” Photo #26 by Till Krech
Untold thousands of people have supposedly enjoyed this view of Teufelsberg roof “illegally” in the years since the Cold War and the NSA listening station was abandoned. This shot was captured in the spring of 2011. Photo #27 by Victor Bergmann
American Allies, namely the Brits were also supposedly busy spying from this location. Now there is only decay, graffiti tags, and curiousity by urban explorers at the former military and government intelligence complex. Photo #28 by Steve.Jackson
Main Teufelsberg tower. The view from the top is supposed to be phenomenal, overlooking the entire area. Some visitors to the former NSA Listening Station use the domes for acoustics and jam. Even when it was illegal, and people had to slip in through cut barbed wire, there were reportedly at least 100 people on the site every summer weekend. Photo #29 by Matt Biddulph
One site alleges that American CIA and British Secret Intelligence Service ran a joint operation called Operation Gold in the 1950s from underneath the NSA spy station and tapped into landline communications of the Soviet Army headquarters in Berlin. It further suggests sources say the operation tunneled under the NSA spy station, into and under the Grunewald Forest, into the Soviet-occupied zone. If all of that were to be true, remember no tunnels were found, then this place was overrun by spooks. Photo #30 by Victor Bergmann
“Pet name” for the Teufelsberg spy facility: “Berlin’s Biggest Balls.” Photo #31 by dasalte.ccc.de
The photographer wrote, “This is the interior of one of the domes at the Teufelsberg listening post in Berlin If you look carefully you’ll see that no repeating pattern exists. My friends and I were unsure why this should be but reckon its something to do with minimizing constructive interference. The Other main dome was a very regular shape so maybe they have opposite functions….any ideas?” Photo #32 by Neil H
Teufelsberg Devil’s Mountain offers a wonderful view high above Berlin. Photo #33 by Victor Bergmann
This shot was taken in 2010. Another nugget of supposed wisdom of the former NSA radar dome listening station suggested that “although there was at least one severe case of secret betrayal,” U.S. units stationed at Devil’s Mountain won the ‘Travis Trophy’ twice. “This prize is awarded annually by the NSA in the military or civilian communications intelligence unit, which has provided over the years the best and most valuable services for the U.S.” Photo #34 by Neil H
Allegedly this place was used to listen to and to disrupt radio transmissions and similar tasks. It is believed that about 230 people worked here per shift. “Guests” who sometimes used the NSA spy complex system might have included “a detachment of the British 13th signal regiment, the CIA, the NSA and French units.” Photo #35 by Mike Brand
At one point, around 1992, this Cold War relic was considered as the future location of a “Devil’s Mountain Resort.” This shot of the abandoned U.S. Listening Station tower in Teufelsberg, Berlin, was taken in 2011. Photo #36 by Parkinpants
Some sources suggest that by 1954, 1,200 calls could be recorded simultaneously. There is really no way to know if such reports are true, if they are far below what was technically feasible in 1954, or if they are only feeding conspiracy theories about the super secret NSA and its former spy complex in Berlin. Photo #37 by David Rush
Poking around online to do research for this post, we ran across a site allegedly for former spies from NSA Teufelsberg and other intelligence units. In 1999, the site posted, “Paranoid about your privacy? Feel like you’re being watched? Guess what: you’re right. “THEY” are poking through your files, reading your email, plucking your instant messages out of thin air, and monitoring your surfing habits.” Feel better? How about this from the same site, a quoted motto: “In God we trust; all others we monitor.” Photo #38 by Victor Bergmann
Teufelsberg 2011. Photo #39 by Victor Bergmann
Graffiti in abandoned NSA Canteen Teufelsberg. Photo #40 by Steve.Jackson
Part of the building complex on Devil’s Mountain Teufelsberg, including the five abandoned NSA Listening Station “devil domes.” Photo #41 by Axel Mauruszat
“American legacy in 2006.” The photographer noted, “Teufelsberg in Berlin, Germany. At times where Berlin was something like an island in the eastern block, the American army used this phallic thing as a listening post for all sort of radio communications.” Photo #42 by Till Krech
The aerial image was described as it “depicts approximately the maximum installation on the Teufelsberg as it once was. Clearly visible is the big antenna tower that was used by the British GCHQ. Also visible are the small radomes on top of the big tower and the Arctic tower main radomes. Their usage is unclear and they have been removed when the NSA left. Also visible are some smaller antenna towers with antennas that can be guessed to be part of a shortwave directional setup.” Photo #43 by dasalte.ccc.de
Teufelsberg dome as it is now at twilight. We hope you enjoyed the virtual urban exploration of this Cold War relic. Please be so kind as to keep your comments decent, friendly, and unclassified because Big Brother really is listening . . . just not from the abandoned NSA Listening Station on Devil’s Mountain. ;-P Photo #44 by Matt Biddulph