ABSTRACT
Well over a decade after its fall in November 1989, the Berlin Wall hovers uneasily between memory and reality. Many celebrate the fact that it has virtually disappeared from view whilst others are critical that it was demolished too quickly and too thoroughly. But whatever their attitude, most people take it for granted that – apart from a very few well-trodden sites – the Wall no longer exists. A case in point is provided by the fact, circulated in the press during the last days of February 2003, that the Checkpoint Charlie Museum in Berlin has published an audio guide to accompany tourists to the places where the Wall once stood – not, as one might think, to explain any visible remains, but on the contrary, ‘because the Wall has disappeared completely’.
