Berlin has had one of the most colorful and chaotic histories of any modern European city. Now Germany's largest city is preparing to make history again with the government's scheduled move East, from Bonn to Berlin, by the year 2000.

Just seven years ago, things were quite different in Berlin. The Berlin Wall and the desolate no-man's land surrounding it ran through what are now the city's top tourist spots.

In 1989, the world was caught off guard when a spokesman for East Germany's Communist Party casually announced at the end of a news conference that East Germans were free to travel abroad.

That statement changed the face of Europe forever, and hours later the Berlin Wall began to fall. Within a year, the two Germanys became one after more than 40 years of separation.