The Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer (Berlin Wall Memorial) commemorates the division of Berlin by the Berlin Wall and the deaths that occurred there. The monument was created in 1998 by the Federal Republic of Germany and the Federal State of Berlin. It is located on Bernauer Straße at the corner of Ackerstraße and includes a Chapel of Reconciliation, the Berlin Wall Documentation Centre, a 60-metre (200 ft) section of the former border, a window of remembrance and a visitor center.
The idea of a memorial was suggested by the Deutsches Historisches Museum (German Historical Museum) on behalf of the federal government of Berlin, and architects Kohlhoff & Kohlhoff were commissioned to design it. The cost of the competition and completion was 2.2 million Marks. The federal government took over the construction costs, while the state covers the maintenance costs.[1] On 11 September 2008 the Berlin House of Representatives approved the opening of the memorial on the anniversary of the day that the Berlin Wall fell.[2]
By 2013, an extension was to be completed. Original relics of the border were to be shown, with missing parts marked in steel on the ground. The memorial was to be divided into four areas:[2]
The wall and the Todesstreifen (death strip) Destruction of the city Building of the wall "Es geschah an der Mauer" ("It happened at the wall")At the corner of Gartenstraße and Bernauer Straße, a visitor centre was opened. The outdoor area of the memorial west of Berlin Nordbahnhof was transformed into an Erinnerungslandschaft (memorial landscape).[2][3] In 2006 there were over 220,000 visitors to the documentation centre, which is part of the memorial.[4] Part of the memorial is located on Ackerstraße.[5]
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