Check Point Charlie!

Throughout the cold war Berlin was divided between east and west by a wall. Checkpoint Charlie was a crossing point in the Berlin Wall located at the junction of Friedrichstrasse with Zimmerstrasse. Without argument it is the most well known and famous exit and entry point between any two borders. Countless books, films and spy thrillers have used its mystique and intrigue to tell their story.

In real life too the situation was no less exciting. Many world famous and infamous historical events have taken place at the site. A teenager Peter Fechter, who was shot in the pelvis by East German guards while trying to escape from East Berlin became a media sensation as his body lay tangled in a barbed wire fence, bleeding to death, in full view of the world’s media. President Kennedy’s famous quote “Ich bin ein Berliner” was delivered around here. This site has been the stage for many other singular events, escapes, protests, tragedies and triumphs as well.

None were bigger than the Berlin Crisis of October 1961. For a tense week or so dozens of US and Russian battle tanks were facing each other off; across Check Point Charlie. All ready to fire and start WW III. That tension eventually got diffused by diplomatic means.

Communist regime kept the area around the checkpoint desolate on the eastern side by design. Even on the western side it was rather an outlaying run down working class district of Berlin. There was nothing really to recommend it but Check point Charlie. That fact alone however made it one of the most sought after tourist destination. Every visitor to West Berlin went there at least once. The place had a unique importance.

Eventually the wall came down. East Germany ceased to exist and Berlin became one again in the nineties.  As can be imagined there were no more crossing points and no check points and no check point Charlie. The area around check point Charlie got demilitarized and suddenly from an outlaying district it became the central part of Berlin. Smart café’s and tony businesses mushroomed. Property values zoomed and it turned into a smart district. So what happened to Check Point Charlie? It has no political or military importance now; it is of no use any more to anybody. Was it dumped or leveled?

That is not what happened! Check Point Charlie is well and truly alive. It is where it was and has been turned into a sort of open air museum. Two actors wearing the uniforms of US military and the Red army stand guard.  Hordes of tourists come to take a picture and relive the nostalgia. It is still a people magnet.

There is a lesson in it for both Narendra Modi and L. K Advani. The lesson is that as time changes you have to make way for what is relevant to the era. However what was important in the past is not entirely useless. It usually has other uses. You only need to use a bit of imagination and smarts!