Berlin Divided
It really is still a divided City west and east still seem very different architecturally and culturally even where the wall has been removed the dividing line is clear.
When it comes to the Berlin Wall an awful lot of it appears to be in bits in souvenir shops ranging in size from about an inch to several feet and prices vary accordingly. I did see a couple of sections still standing and very different they were.
One bit forms the east side gallery covered with murals and graffiti. There is the street facing side to this which is covered with high quality and sometimes poignant murals then there is the side facing the River Spree which is the contemporary graffiti full of vitriol and spite for the modern world, as it should be.
The other piece I saw is not far from Checkpoint Charlie at the, this section is unadorned and forms part of what might have been the saddest place I visited in Berlin. This section of wall sits above the remains of Gestapo headquarters and forms the edge of the topography of terrors. A museum, exhibition, memorial? It covers the period of Hitler’s rise to power until beyond the end of the Nuremburg trails in almost overwhelming detail.