Berlin wall memorial destroyed
2005-07-05 10:41
Berlin - Watched by several hundred protestors, workers on Tuesday removed two sections of the Berlin wall and 1 065 crosses erected in memory of those who died attempting to escape from East Germany's Communist former regime.
The field of crosses was erected at Checkpoint Charlie, the former crossing point between east and west, by a privately run museum near the site.
The museum lost a court battle to prevent the bank that owns the site from clearing the ground.
Opponents of the demolition, including victims of the old East German Communist regime, and several political figures, watched in the rain as the crosses - each with the name of a victim - came down.
Some demonstrators chained themselves to crosses and were removed by police.
The initiative by Alexandra Hildebrandt, president of the "August 13 Working Group," which seeks to preserve the memory of those who lost their lives escaping from communism, failed to get the support of the city state.
According to officials, who reject the idea of private memorials, a Cold War memorial has long been planned for the district, and the city already posseses an official memorial to the victims of the Berlin wall.