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The Eastern Block is gradually disintegrating. One of the most obvious signs of the change is the roaring trade going on at the Wall. People are chipping away at the concrete and selling the chunks, often with a certificate of authenticity. The Berlin Wall has become one big souvenir.

Alwin Nachtweh was one of the entrepreneurs keeping souvenir hunters supplied with pieces of the Wall. He talks about how illegal traders avoided the authorities, and how East Berliners would try to sell him their old uniforms. Some of them, he says, had their whole lives in a plastic bag.

locations

• Brandenburger Tor, Mauerstreifen

  showtime

  1

  latitude

  52.516283

  longitude

  13.37763

• Berlin, Checkpoint Charlie

  showtime

  71

  latitude

  52.507437

  longitude

  13.390389