For a divisive landmark that stood for 28 years - splitting the German capital and an entire generation - the Berlin Wall, or what remains of it, can be hard for visitors to find. But history buffs seeking the last vestiges of the iconic wall no longer have to consult old maps or guidebooks. A new multimedia guide offers individualized walking tours connecting the key points where the 103-mile barrier once separated west from east. The hand-sized minicomputer, to be introduced May 1, links to satellites that have mapped the wall's former path.

With a headset and touchscreen, the "Mauerguide" - or "Wallguide" - lets users zoom in and out on a colorful map of the city to figure out where they are. The wall's route is marked in red. A yellow line leads from one section to the next and distances are shown in meters.

"With the help of this guide, we finally have an answer to the most often asked question: Where was the wall?" Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit told reporters as he introduced the gadget this week.

The city government commissioned the Mauerguide as part of a project to improve memorials to the wall, torn down after communist East Germany collapsed in 1989 and Germany was reunited. The project is scheduled for completion by Aug. 13, 2011, the 50th anniversary of the wall's construction.

Apart from guiding tourists from one wall memorial to the next - among them the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie and the mural-covered East Side Gallery - the digital assistant includes information about 22 historically significant spots along the wall's route.

Audio files and video tell the wall's dramatic history, starting when East Germany began building it to wall off the capitalist enclave of West Berlin in a bid to stop a westward exodus from the communist state.

Users can click an icon to hear Juergen Litfin talk about the death of his brother Guenter, who was shot by border guards at the wall Aug. 24, 1961, and said to be the first of at least 125 people killed trying to make the perilous crossing to leave East Germany.

At Brandenburg Gate, users can see U.S. President Ronald Reagan peer over the wall as he made his famous 1987 speech challenging then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "Tear down this wall!"

Starting on May 1, the guides will be rented at five booths in the city for $9.50 to $24, depending on how long visitors want to keep them. They'll come in German and English, with versions in other languages planned.

It took a team of historians and programmers a year and $797,000 to develop the software for the guide, said Rosemarie Wirthmueller, manufacturer Antenna Audio's managing director for Europe.

Antenna Audio, a subsidiary of Discovery Communications Inc., which also owns the Discovery Channel, also offers digital tour guides for 450 museums and archaeological sites around the globe but none with GPS. And there are no plans to produce devices like the Mauerguide for other cities.

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On the Net:

http://www.mauerguide.com

http://www.antennaudio.com

Written By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER

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