Berlin was a city at the centre of some of the most momentous events of 20th century history. MARIA WILLIAMS took a city break to the German capital

"DIE MAUER," the Dutch woman says, knowingly, pointing at a map of Berlin.

While queuing for two hours to visit the Reichstag's impressive glass dome, which has panoramic views of the German capital, the only thing you can do is get talking to your fellow tourists about the best place to see the thing which has dominated the city's modern history.

Die Mauer is the wall which became the front line of the Cold War, where spies came in from the cold past Caf Adler and Checkpoint Charlie, and families were divided for more than 40 years by the German Democratic Republic's decision to stop the exodus to the western sector in 1961.

But amid triumphant scenes on a cold, November night in 1989, glasnost finally opened the barrier which had become a symbol of fear and loathing to Berliners.

In 1990, the two sides of East and West Germany were reunited, and the first unified Parliament held at Berlin's Reichstag.

Fourteen years later, much has been achieved in unifying Berlin.

In the east, new office blocks and apartments have sprung up, tourists flock to the main streets Unter den Linden and Friedrichstrasse.

There is still a way to go. Cranes dominate much of the skyline in a building programme which is due to be completed in 2010.

Now, at the impressive Brandenburger Tor, the only indicator of the wall's presence is a line of cobbles across the route it took.

The best place to see a longer section of it is on a hop-on-hop-off bus tour of the city in the diplomatic quarter.

The bus tours, which run every 15 minutes during the day, are a great way to see the sights.

Along their circular route you can take in the Reichstag, with its dome designed by Lord Norman Foster; the green-domed cathedral of St Nicholas in Nikolaiviertel; the Jewish musem with its thought-provoking Holocaust tower; the sky-scrapers and department stores of the former West Berlin in Kufurstendamm;the beautiful palace at Charlottenburg and, of course, Checkpoint Charlie.

There are few reminders of the Nazis these days - some Albert Speer-designed streetlights and one Nazi building in the old diplomatic sector, which the Nazis turned into a place of terror.

Perhaps one of the most poignant sites for remembering those lost in the Second World War will be the massive Holocaust memorial which is being constructed right in the heart of the city.