European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 22, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Leni Allee dooming Berlin by Raf casert associated press on East Berlin s Luster Marx Engels forum tourists climbed the Bronze Salue of the founders of communism and snapped Funky pictures. As the camera clicked they pulled at Karl Marx s Beard kissed his Cheek sat on his shoulder and draped themselves Over his Knees. Nedrich Engels standing escaped such indignities. Not Long ago. The tourists could have landed in no for Suth shenanigans but tourists have been pouring into fast Berlin since the Wall came tumbling Down and decorum in t being forced upon them. East Berlin has Tapper a new treasure trove in tourism Courtesy of geopolitics. We Are Here to look around and to be part of Peler Bailey of Marlow England As he moved through the customs area at East Berlin s huge Fredric Strasse train station. After we sow what happened on television we decided that we had to come and see for in Western Europe travel Industry official say bookings Lor Bulgaria. Romania and Czechoslovakia have More than doubled in some cases since the revolutions there but Berlin East and West is enjoying in even bigger tourist Boom. Ii is a unique situation in the said West Berlin s tourism spokesman. Michael Brodersen in november. December and january. West Berlin hotel occupancy rates were nearly 100 percent usually the Winter percentages Are 25 to .10. These figures Are unprecedented Brodersen said. At the hotel California on West Berlin s fancy Kurfurst Endami for instance travellers must Book three weeks in Advance to get a room. In the past at this Lime of year. The hotel was usually half empty. For the first time. Christmas and new year were Uley booked and we have a lot More bookings until the summer than we be had in other Brodersen said of hotels in West Berlin which reported 21 million visitors last year. The world travel Market based in London predicts that Berlin will be one of the most visited cities in Europe throughout the decade. Until nov. 9. 1189. When the Wall tumbled is Oul of 10 european Lour packages did not include Berlin now. Major tour companies Are offering Tours that list Berlin As the main attraction. The biggest increase comes from the United states and Brodersen said most americans flock to the crumbling Wall in i9hh. Only 4. X 0 americans visited Berlin thai was us 25 percent of the local number of tourists who were mostly West German i us came Over to gel a Little chunk of said Scott a retired Engineer from Orlando. Fla. Who first went to Berlin with the 82nd airborne div in 1945 As Par of the american occupation Force he was Wilh the 24th in div in Munich when the Berlin Wall went up on aug. 11. 19f 1. At tight children pity Fie left of the larger than Lile Bronze statue of Karl mar and Friedrich to Golf in Tut Berlin. Above Streel signs in the fast. Vis ton from the of is buy produce in West Berlin. Was Chisling away at the stubborn Concrete special to Scott emotional absolutely it is emotional for the whole Damn world he said. In task Berlin history can get More palpable than the Wall itself. Tourists had a front Row Seal at one recent pro democracy proles near the huge Alexande plat and some got swept up in a tide of East berliners Rushing toward a stand Selling bananas which Are still a rarity in East Germany. That picture of East Berlin contrasts sharply with under Den Linden the City s fancy main thoroughfare and key tourist attraction for westerners Wilh its Bevy of Ihly and 19th-Century wedding cake buildings lust blocks away tourist Eric Demuynck from Belgium found depressing neighbourhoods still scarred by shrapnel from world War ii. This is what i expected to he said. Tour operators Are hastily printing brochures promoting fast and West Berlin s attractions and they have no trouble Oming up Wilh sightseeing possibilities and although the nightlife is not the decadent Berlin of the 1 Jos and ids it is still fun and diverse at in West Berlin fast Berlin has some catching up to do on evening entertainment. The City s two tourist boards the West Berlin tourist office and the last Berlin tourist office of the German democratic Republic Are discussing souvenirs of the will Are big business in Berlin. Closer cooperation. Before nov. 9. The officials at the to boards had never met or spoken on the phone. While the Berlin Wall has figuratively fallen it remains plus Dill intact and is of course. The no. 1 Lii Urist attraction. People in the West line the Wall from potsdamer plat to the Brandenburg Gate Chisling Oft chunks to take Home. But they be stopped soon for Bolh sides of the Border vow to keep the Wall standing for a simple non political reason it will keep tourists coming. 4 it Ipri gift Tine february 21, 1990
