The building constructed in 1962 at Friedrichstraße train station in Berlin – known colloquially as the "Tränenpalast" or "Palace of Tears" – served the GDR dictatorship until 1990 as a departure terminal for people leaving the GDR for West Berlin. Like no other location, the pavilion serves as a reminder of the partition of Germany and of all the fates connected with it. Many individuals were forced to say goodbye to friends and relatives here. East Germans were painfully reminded time and again that the border was closed to them, while many others found themselves powerless in the face of bullying border guards.
In 2011, the foundation known as the "Stiftung Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland" opened a permanent exhibition entitled "  Tränenpalast. Ort der deutschen Teilung" ("Palace of Tears. Side of German Division") in the building, which is now a historically protected monument. Using a wide array of original objects, documents, films and interviews, the exhibition helps to portray the effects of this division and border on the daily lives of Germans.