50th Anniversary of the Berlin Wall

Some remaining parts of the Berlin Wall, August 2011

The Berlin Wall has now been torn down for nearly as long (22 years) as it stood (28 years). Yet it was such a powerful symbol of the Cold War that it still evokes a strong response today, a half-century after it was constructed in the summer of 1961.

Germans will gather this weekend (after August 12, 2011) at the spot where the wall stood and reflect on how it shaped their lives and their society. While most of the wall is gone, a section still stands in the center of the city on a street called Bernauer Strasse. When the city was divided, this area was a no-man's land, covered in barbed wire and constantly monitored from watch towers.

NPR's Bilal Qureshi recently visited the street, in what is now one of the city's most fashionable neighborhoods. Trams and bikes glide along in front of renovated apartment buildings. And that no-man's land has been turned into a park.

Excerpt and pictures from npr.org

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139561087/remembering-the-berlin-wall-50-years-on

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