The remains of the iconic landmark that split East and West Germany for nearly three decades are all but gone, but that hasn’t stopped tourists from traveling thousands of miles to Berlin to see where it once stood.
If you have plans to visit the Berlin Wall in the near future you might be surprised by what is waiting for you at the site. Gone are the old tattered maps and guidebooks illustrating the wall’s memorials. They have been replaced with a new multimedia guide offering individualized walking tours connecting the key points where the 103-mile-long wall once stood.
Visitors to the site of the former landmark now have the option of renting government sponsored hand-held computers that are linked to global positioning satellites mapping the wall’s former path. Each minicomputer comes complete with a headset and a touch-screen that features a colored map of the city. Users can zoom in and out on the red and yellow lines that denote the route where the former barrier between East and West Germany once stood.
The introduction of the new electronic gadgets is just part of a city-backed project marking the 50th anniversary of the wall’s construction, which is slated to be complete by 2011.
Most of the wall was torn down after Communist East Germany collapsed and the border was opened in 1989. Since then millions of travelers have come to the city to see what once was; however, according to Berlin’s mayor, many are left asking: “Where is the wall?” City officials hope the handheld computers will help answer that question.
Among the tour highlights are stops at the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie and the mural-covered East Side Gallery. In all the digital tour guide gives information on 22 historically significant spots along the wall’s route using audio and video clips.
The electronic “Walk the Wall” guides can be rented at five booths throughout the city and cost between $9.50 and $24 depending on how long visitors want to keep them. Currently, the computers offer the tours in German and English, but city leaders say the device’s manufacturer is planning to offer it in other languages as well.
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