Germany at a Glance

9 Gedächtniskirche The Memorial Church on Kurfürstendamm is a monument to peace and reconciliation, and the internationally known symbol of Berlin's desire to rebuild itself in the aftermath of the war. The protestant Gedächtniskirche consists of an ensemble of church ruins and the modern buildings which surround it, and is consequently characterized by the strong contrast of history and modernity. The Kurfürstendamm area is the heart of the western city and attracts with a typical Berlin life-style atmosphere with countless restaurants, shops and the famous Berlin Zoo. • www.gedaechtniskirche-berlin.de • www.kurfuerstendamm.de Checkpoint Charlie Numerous legends and agent stories are told about Checkpoint Charlie. The former border crossing point between East and West Berlin was the place where Soviet and American tanks stood face to face, after the construction of the Wall in 1961. From 1961 to 1990, Checkpoint Charlie on Friedrichstraße was the only border crossing point for the Allies, foreigners, employees of the Permanent Represen­ tation and officials of the German Demo- cratic Republic (former East Germany). To learn more about the history of the former GDR and the Berlin Wall, the DDR (GDR) Museum and the Mauermuseum (Wall Museum) are both worth a visit. • www.mauermuseum.de BERLIN Sights 1 432