The controversial plan to redevelop Checkpoint Charlie
(The Guardian World News)

Three decades after the Berlin Wall fell, the crossing is a mess of souvenir shops and fast-food restaurants - and time is running out to change thingsIt was the most famous border crossing in the Berlin Wall, the official gateway for allied diplomats, military personnel and foreigners to enter communist East Berlin by road.And in 1961, Checkpoint Charlie seized the world´s attention when a diplomatic spat about allied forces´ freedom to travel in East Berlin quickly escalated and saw Soviet and American tanks squaring up to one another. The world watched aghast, fearful of a third world war, as a formidable flock of superpower tanks rolled towards the border, standing just 100 yards apart. Continue reading...