Berlin Alexanderplatz Brunnen Well. Memory never stands still says Young. How can a square be part of a collective memory? Because of the characteristics of the square defined by its activities and its architectures with its symbolism, it certainly plays a roll in shaping the identity of the city and its people. Alexanderplatz has changed during the years but somewhat reluctantly. Still there have been changes with relation to the society and the political situation. I have noticed that the policymakers have had some difficulties in modelling the site and that the character of the square has remained more or less the same during time. Even today Alexanderplatz is in focus for big plans and still considered a site that is not finally modelled. I can see that this has been one of its characteristics during the 20th century and maybe this tells us about the identity of Berlin and its people as part of a border city. The policymakers also have tried to create collective memories in Alexanderplatz, for example the Fountain of Friendship amongst Peoples and the World Clock. But what is also obvious is that people fill the site with their own connotations and memories and these are not necessarily those intended by the regime. Art plays an important roll in creating memories and Döblin’s Berlin Alexanderplatz also gives us memories of the site, as does the film by Fassbinder based on Döblin’s novel. And what happened to Dietmar and to our friendship? Did I once again cross the border at Checkpoint Charlie to visit him? Dietmar decided in 1984 to leave East Germany through Czechoslovakia but got caught and had to spend ten month in a prison in East Berlin. After that he was exiled and came to Sweden to visit me. What we didn’t know back then was that a few years later the wall would fall and he could reunite with his family. No more physical borders. But the memories of the border-city stay alive.