The Berlin Wall....
While most all of it was torn down, three sections remain standing, but do not convey the original look as the surfaces have been chipped away by souvenier seekers. It is striking to see even these fragments, I suppose because it is so hard for me to imagine what it was like with this divide. It hasn't been so long since the wall fell and "cultural" differences still abound between Wessis and Ossis (former westerners/easterners). These perceived differences are sometimes referred to as "Mauer im Kopf" (wall in the head) suggesting that old perceptions linger in the minds of those who lived through this time so accutely in a divided city. Dresden is also part of the former GDR or Eastern Germany, and I often hear ponderings about West and East.... It is a sometimes sad, but interesting phenomenon to observe having nothing like it in my own prior experience. To me of course, its all Germany, but I can imagine that 16 years (or so) just isn't enough time to unravel the repercussions of nearly 30 years of walled separation to say nothing of the 40 or so years of Communist rule in the former 'East'.