Take the Teufelsberg eavesdropping station, a ghostly hi-tech cathedral of the cold war, perched on a hill-top in western Berlin.

ECONOMIST: New history museums

In the past five or six years, many galleries have migrated to open on Potsdamer Strasse in western Berlin, a street lined with antiques and art dealers before World War II.

BBC: Living in: Cities known for art and culture

On July 24th, 1948, the Soviets closed the rail and road links between western Germany and west Berlin, located deep within the Soviet zone.

ECONOMIST: The cold war

ASEAN's six senior members -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- have accepted a responsibility comparable to the one Western Europe took upon itself when the Berlin Wall collapsed in 1989.

CNN: RETOOLING ASEAN

Such differences persist even among children of western and eastern parents who attend the same Berlin schools.

ECONOMIST: East German history continues to arouse controversy

It also underplays another key aspect: West Berlin's usefulness as a base for western spies and snoopers.

ECONOMIST: New history museums

When the city was divided between East and West Germany, early street artists like French artist Thierry Noir used the western side of the wall as a place to share political messages and commentary on Berlin and the world at large.

BBC: Berlin as a canvas