Contested Spaces: Imagining Berlin's Divided Past Through Debated Sites of Heritage Tourism

Abstract

With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the opening of the borders in November 1989 and eventual unification in October 1990, Berlin faced the distinct challenge of how to create a modern, unified capital city in the center of Europe while the physical landscape continued to reinforce mental divisions. Changing the physical face of Berlin to capitalize on the city's less-traumatic history while promoting an active tourist economy proved the most visually appealing and marketable approach to meet this goal. This study focuses on the impacts of these efforts two heavily debated sites of heritage tourism in Berlin: The Schloßplatz and the Berlin Wall. By applying methods of American Public History and History of Tourism, this paper answers the following question: How can Berlin sites of heritage tourism support the city's tourist economy, properly interpret the history of division and engage a population that carries its own narratives, experiences, and continued consequences of the Cold War? Examination of these sites demonstrates that the histories produced through sites of Cold War heritage tourism continue to propagate the popular narratives of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), but in recent years also demonstrate a notable shift towards engaging a more nuanced understanding of Cold War experience in divided Berlin. In a city only twenty years separated from reunification, Berlin's sites of heritage tourism are increasingly successfully providing their visitors, both supremely local and broadly foreign, with nuanced and critical narratives of Berlins Cold War history.