I grew up far enough from the wall that I would not normally run across it during my daily life. Yes, when I went rowing on Griebnitzsee or went for runs in the forests around Wannsee, you could not avoid running into the border. On Griebnitzsee the border divided the long lake. You had to be careful not to cross as the lake is bending a lot. There were horror stories about getting picked up by the border patrols if you did. At least there was definitely a border control there all the time, taking pleasure in giving you annoying waves by suddenly doing a 180. Naturally the shore of the lake belonging to the GDR was fortified and walled off.

Most of the time you would venture to the border to watch it’s depressing landscape if you had some visitors from abroad. I remember as a kid watching the wasteland that once and now again is Potsdamter Platz and hear the stories of it being Europes most congested square in some vague grey past.

Later one of the cheap electronics shops I used to frequent was close to the wall. It felt like the end of the world, Anhalter Bahnhof, just the portal of that station left standing looking desolate.