BERLIN, June 20: Berlin announced on Tuesday a 40-million-euro (50-million-dollar) drive to preserve the history of the despised Wall that divided the city for three decades during the Cold War.

The city’s culture minister, Thomas Flierl, said a deal had been reached after years of debate which will highlight six key sites along the former barrier erected in 1961 by the Communist regime of East Germany to stop a mass exodus of its citizens.

Tourists from around the world are often disappointed to find little of the Berlin Wall left when they visit the reunited capital.

It was chiselled apart by East Germans euphoric over the opening of the border in 1989 and major slabs were sold off to foreign buyers.

The new plans will make the route of the Wall more visible to visitors.—AFP