onedc SM Developer/Designer

Photograph: Alamy

Teufelsberg listening station, Berlin, Germany

Built by the American National Security
Agency in the 1960s, the listening towers on
Teufelsberg (Devil’s Mountain) in former West
Berlin were used to spy on Soviet and East
German military communications. Now the
tattered towers with their golf ball-like radar
domes can be visited on a tour that offers a
peek into the paranoia of the cold war. You’ll
find you’re being supervised, rather than
guided, but it’s an amazing experience to
explore at your own pace the anarchic graffiti
and street art that emblazon the interior. The
way in which sounds are amplified and then
resonate within the gigantic domes is as
creepy as it is intriguing. The view at sunset,
from what is the highest point in Berlin, is
spectacular.