Expert: Berlin Wall slowly disappearing

BERLIN, July 18 (UPI) -- An architectural historian in Germany says many Germans have been hesitant to back a call for the Berlin Wall to be given world heritage status.

Leo Schmidt of Germany's Technical University of Cottbus said while it would protect the remnants of the wall then Soviet Union-backed Communist East Germany built to keep people from escaping into democratic West Germany, Germans appear to oppose an international call for the world heritage designation, Der Spiegel reported Saturday.

"The general feeling seemed to be, 'Why should we deal with this just because the rest of the world expects us to?'" Schmidt said.

Currently, remnants of the Berlin Wall can be found at more than 1,000 sites in the Berlin area, but not even a quarter of those sites are being protected.

Hope Harrison, a George Washington University associate professor of history and international affairs, told Der Spiegel the hesitation among German residents regarding the wall has been present since it came down on Nov. 10, 1989.

"I don't think it was any desire to deny history. I think the point back then was to go back to regular life, the way it was before the wall," Harrison said.