ABSTRACT
Checkpoint Charlie was established on September 22, 1961, just a few weeks after the construction of the Berlin Wall, by the UK, French and US armed forces stationed in Berlin. The Checkpoint Charlie Museum blossomed into one of the most popular exhibitions in West Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie was "Berlin's most famous border crossing", not least because it was the only entry point to East Berlin for foreign tourists. The applicant was the Central European Development Corporation (CEDC), an investment company specializing in development projects in Eastern Europe and made up of US, Canadian, German, UK, and Dutch investors. The partially abandoned eastern section of the former Checkpoint Charlie was gradually occupied by street traders hawking East German memorabilia such as flags and posters as well as Russian souvenirs and gas masks from World War II. Hildebrandt's increasingly determined pursuit of this goal could be attributed in part to a change in the business status of the Checkpoint Charlie Museum.
