The Gedaechtniskirche lies right smack in the most prosperous section of what was West Berlin, along the Ku'damm (Kurfurstendam, a ritzy sheet with elite stores and nightclubs -- the center of elite action in old West Berlin, but its lost out to areas in the East since unification) and near the Zoo trainstation. Berlin Zoo was the trainstation that served West Berlin until unification. Now it still is the main arrival point for most people coming to the city, but a new "Hauptbahnhof" or main train station is being built in an area where the wall used to stand (near the old Lehrter Stadtbahnhof S-Bahn stop). It was damaged in the war, and that damage was left to remind us of the destruction that war brings. One of my favorite memories was arriving in Berlin at 6:00 AM and leaving the train station and seeing the Gedaechtniskirche in the dawn light, a stunningly beautiful image.