April 22, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 15, 1429

BERLIN: Tourists in the German capital disappointed to find little of the Berlin Wall left will, from next month, be able to have it reappear before their eyes with a gadget unveiled.

A handheld multimedia device, unveiled on Monday and to be available for rental from May 1, will allow visitors walking through the city to see what the Cold War barrier looked like at the spot where they are standing.

The MauerGuide (Wall Guide) is part of plans by the Berlin government to preserve the history of the despised Wall erected in 1961 by the communist government of East Germany to stop an exodus of its citizens. “MauerGuide presents a well-documented and customised account of history that is appealing to tourists and fits nicely with our overarching memorial plans for the Berlin Wall,” Berlin state secretary for culture Andre Schmitz said after Mayor Klaus Wowereit tested out the device.

Using GPS navigation technology, the device presents pictures, video footage and audio recordings on the history of the Berlin Wall at five prominent sites along its former route, manufacturer Antenna Audio said in a statement. The commentary, in English and German, will also allow tourists to avoid herds of tour groups and find their way on their own, said the company, a unit of US media company Discovery Communications.

Of the 155 kilometres of grey concrete that cut Berlin in two for 28 years, only three kilometres in total is still standing. It was chiselled apart by East Germans euphoric over the opening of the border in 1989 and large slabs were sold off to foreign buyers.

Visitors to the city centre can rarely differentiate between the former east and west of the once-divided capital, which has seen a dramatic construction boom since the Wall was toppled in a peaceful popular uprising.

The Berlin government in 2006 announced a 40-million-euro drive to preserve remnants of the Wall.—AFP