Geeky Traveller

I read something interesting today. Back in 1989, when they took the Wall down between East and West Germany, officials in Berlin were so eager to remove all traces of what was a terrible reminder to the people who lived through it that they cleared it completely within months. What they didn’t anticipate was that for the next 20 years, millions of tourists would arrive, unable to locate where the Wall was. Apparently, one of the most common questions a tourist asks in Berlin is, “where is the Wall?”

Eventually they realized that they may have made a mistake in completely removing a very notable tourist and historic landmark. On the other hand, they certainly wouldn’t want to re-build a replica of the base of the wall.

The solution? GPS device! They’ve created a GPS guide that works in a similar way to the portable guide devices you often see in museums. It takes you on a 9-mile tour called “Walk the Wall” which features descriptive narration, photos, and even film clips of important moments and events surrounding the Wall and its removal. It also includes personal interviews from eyewitnesses. The tourism specialists who have developed it said that there are even anecdotes and details that locals might not even know, so it’s highly educational and very in-depth.

Right now it works in English and German but if it goes over well, they’ll add versions in French, Russian, Spanish, and Dutch. They also hope to include more details, expanding the route over time.

What a great idea! It’s not quite the same as seeing some of the rubble, but there are still two segments several hundred meters long, and I’d rather take a walking tour with the GPS while actually seeing one full city that is no longer separated by a Wall.

(source // photo sxc.hu)

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