Leaders Press for Berlin Cold War Museum

Gorbachev backs effort to reacquaint tourists with conflict's history
By Wesley Oliver,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 18, 2008 3:21 AM CDT
Leaders Press for Berlin Cold War Museum
Flowers stick in a portion of the Berlin wall during a 2007 commemoration ceremony, 18 years after it fell on November 9, 1989.   (Axel Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)

Berlin would finally get a museum dedicated to the Cold War if a group of high-profile politicians get their way. Led by former Czech President Vaclav Havel, the group is urging Germany to build the structure at Checkpoint Charlie, the infamous crossing point that connected the city when it was split by the Berlin Wall.

The checkpoint now means little to many of Berlin’s visitors who have “immense difficulty finding traces of the once all-pervasive conflict,” according to a group statement. “What better place could there be for such a museum than Berlin?” asked one official. Former Soviet chief Mikhail Gorbachev supports the initiative. (More Berlin stories.)

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