Embassy of the United States, Berlin not be considered a capital until Berlin was unified. Relations with the East German state were hampered because of this policy, and by the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961. The wall made the site of the former U.S. Embassy, still owned by the U.S. government, an inaccessible vacant lot that was part of the security zone separating east and west Berliners. The site became accessible after the Berlin Wall came down in November 1989, but remained a vacant lot until the 2004 groundbreaking for construction of a brand new U.S. Embassy. In the early 1970s the U.S., along
Berlin Customs Wall reminder of its heritage. The following streets follow the original route of the customs wall: Stresemannstraße (former "Königgrätzer Straße"), Marchlewskistraße, Friedenstraße, Prenzlauer Berg avenue, part of Prenzlauer Allee, Torstraße, Hannoversche Straße, Charitéstraße, part of Reinhardtstraße, and Ebertstraße. The 18 city gates and 2 river gates are still visible on the map, their names having been given to squares and streets. In clockwise order these are: Berlin Customs Wall The Berlin Customs Wall (German: "Berliner Zoll- und Akzisemauer" literally "Berlin customs and excise wall" ) was a ring wall around the historic city of Berlin, between 1737 and 1860; the wall