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Coming in 2009: The Berlin Wall: 20th Anniversary Celebration

Berlin Celebrates, 20 Years after the Fall of the Wall

Berlin has kicked off a series of events marking 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989.

At a gathering on Berlin's landmark square Potsdamer Platz on January 28, the city's Senate representative Richard Meng said 2009 is a "year of remembrance," as well as a "year of respect for the people who contributed to the peaceful fall of the Wall."

Throughout the year exhibitions, talks and guided walks will remind people of the huge change Berlin has undergone.

The highlight of the year is a weekend of celebrations and a huge series of domino stones, set to topple on November 9, symbolically marking the sequence of events that brought an end to communism.

Since January 29, a red information booth on Potsdamer Platz has highlighted the city's transformation since 1989. The booth has a flight of stairs, granting a panoramic view of the square, redeveloped in glass and steel to regain the central role it played before the city was divided.

An interactive display, replicated in a mobile box travelling the city, reveals pictures of Berlin's changing face over the course of the last 20 years. As the so-called infobox visits 15 historically significant locations across Berlin, a large helium-filled arrow will float above it, pointing to the sites from a height of 100 meters (328 feet).

These booths are needed, city officials said, in part because very little is left of the original Berlin Wall. Tourists and locals alike are baffled by the fact that it's now difficult to see the former division between East and West.

Berlin's mayor, Klaus Wowereit, said there was an urge to remove all traces of the city's division after 1989.

"We were in a euphoric mood," he told Berlin's RBB Inforadio on January 28. "Nobody wanted to bear this wall any longer, this wall of disgrace that divided the city, that brought so much distress to the city, to the families, to the individuals affected."

Despite the posters, maps and interactive displays, it's difficult to transmit "the horror of the wall, this system of terror with its mines, its dogs and the orders to shoot," the mayor said.

Wowereit added that, in retrospect, maybe the decision to remove the wall was made too hastily: "Maybe more should have been left standing as an example."

Related Links:

City of Berlin
German National Tourist Office

Berlin: A Vibrant Modern City Steeped in Culture and History

Berlin's cultural scene offers an incredible diversity. Whatever interests you, Berlin is sure to have something that will perfectly suit your tastes. You can visit exhibitions, museums, the theater, historic buildings, beautiful parks, entertainment districts, night clubs, cabarets and much, much more. Berlin is literally packed full of things to do.

The city's public transportation system consists of the S-Bahn, the city's suburban rail system, and the U-Bahn, or underground. Highly efficient and well designed buses, both single and double decker, are also at your disposal all over the city. Riding on the top deck is a spectacular and cost-effective way to see large areas of the city.

Below you can examine a listing of Berlin's top ten attractions. This is by no means a definitive guide. There is plenty to do in Berlin, and some of the places on this list may or may not be of interest to you personally. However, it does outline some of the places that have been of interest to a majority of visitors in the past.

Berlin’s Top Ten Attractions:

Coming in 2012: The Berliner Stadtschloss (Berlin City Castle)

In 2007, the Bundestag (German parliament) made a definitive decision concerning the reconstruction of the old Berlin City Castle, which was demolished by the East German government (SED) in 1950. Plans call for three façades of the palace to be rebuilt, while the interior will be modern. Work on the Humboldtforum, as the new palace will be called, will begin in 2010. Off-site stonemasonry has already commenced.
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