Walk the Line: a Wander through Berlin by Mark Eveleigh
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The Berlin Wall once stood as one of the most powerful, sinister and visible icons of the Cold War era. It was the iron curtain incarnate in reinforced concrete and razor-wire. Hundreds of thousands of Europeans lived their lives under the shadow – both real and metaphorical – of these virtually impenetrable 140 km of cold, grey stone.
When the Wall finally came down in 1989 it was almost entirely destroyed amid the joy of a reunion between Germans who had never been allowed to meet until that unforgettable November afternoon. The Wall had stood for 28 years as a symbol of hatred and distrust and there was an understandable urge that it should be destroyed forever. In the days and weeks that followed much of what remained after the bulldozers had played their part was collected by souvenir hunters – known here as ‘wall-peckers’: there are thousands of pieces of the fabled Wall (both real and fake) in attics and cellars all over the world.
Free Berlin
Twenty years later, while many older people well-remember how it dominated their lives, young people growing up in the new ‘free Berlin’ – a city that was described by one of Europe’s few gay mayors as ‘poor but sexy’ – are unaware of what the Wall meant.
Largely because of interest from tourists, the Berlin authorities have recently marked much of the old position of the Wall with a double row of cobblestones, that at time stitches itself down the centre of the road and, at others, snakes fiendishly into narrow gaps between buildings, as if solely intent on separating neighbours, friends and families. Other sections have to all intents and purposes, not only been erased from the face of the city but also apparently from the memories of all but a few determined locals.
Discovery Tours
Now a German company called Discovery Tours has introduced a revolutionary handheld multimedia device that goes a long way to bringing the Wall back to life – albeit, thankfully, only in ‘virtual reality.’ The WallGuide (or MauerGuide in German) is available for hire from kiosks at several major landmarks along the Wall. When you switch it on, a map appears and the integrated GPS shows you exactly where you are standing. Via a user-friendly touch-sensitive screen you can hear (and see) information about what is in front of you, or you can click to display a map that will guide you to other points on the Wall.
You stand at the infamous Checkpoint Charlie and the WallGuide’s monitor shows you TV footage of the terrifyingly tense 16-hour tank stand-off between the super-powers at this spot in 1961 – while the world watched and waited and held its breath. This was also the spot where an East German border-guard was shot down when he tried to make a sudden break for freedom. According to their official interviews afterwards, the other soldiers accepted without doubt that in that fleeting instant when he started to run he ceased to be a comrade and a friend to become a traitor and an enemy.
Hidden Sections
There are recorded interviews and anecdotes from living witnesses who recall what it was like to live along The Wall. You touch the screen to guide you through entire research channels on subjects that most interest you (escape attempts or the propaganda war that went on across the Wall). You will almost certainly visit Brandenburg Gate and Potsdamer Platz but the WallGuide’s map and GPS also offers a rare chance to ignore the usual tourist detours and follow the, often invisible, foundations of the Wall straight through hidden sections that few Berliners even remember.
One would expect that so much prime city-centre real-estate – once the exclusive domain of dog patrols and watch-tower machine-gunners – would long ago have been developed. But even today the empty expanse between Soviet Bloc ‘bedrooms’ and (often disconcertingly similar) 1970s ‘free world’ urban architecture often has the appearance of a no-man’s land. Perhaps more memorable than all Berlin’s grand edifices and monuments is a spooky walk through these urban wastelands where only the odd chunk of concrete showing through the long grass remains as evidence of less easy-going times.
Wonderful Little Corners
The WallGuide also leads you into the vicinity of wonderful little corners and areas that have little to do with the route of the Wall. You visit the marvellous East Side Gallery for example (where local artists were allowed to paint the iconographic artwork that had evolved from West German wall graffiti) but if you visit in summertime be sure to make a short detour to the riverbank. Here you will be surprised to see Berlin’s beaches, complete with imported sand, parasols and sun beds, reggae music and even beach-volleyball courts.
You can hire the WallGuide from five points around the city and by the hour but it would take an entire day (and perhaps much more) to go through the whole wealth of information it contains. There are few human guides who could ever consistently expound on their chosen subject with such knowledge and enthusiasm. And if there’s a section you are not really interested in you can always fast-forward; something that you might occasionally have wished you could do with a human guide!
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