Berlin is thriving: I first came to Berlin in March 1990 a few months after the Wall officially came down, however it was still East and West Berlin and East and West Germany. The wall still cut through the city, no one knew what was coming, there was hope and energy and hammers left at the wall, I knocked off a few chunks, and left the hammer for the next person.
Now the wall is gone except for a few pieces so we don't forget. There is a line of cobblestones set into the road to show where it was, but the scar through the city of the wall and the wide exclusion zone on the East side are gone.
To the people of Berlin that seems to be the past, the tourists flock to the remains of the wall and Checkpoint Charlie - the real one is gone - no longer needed, a recreation of the 1961 American guard house is a (paid) photo op with fake American soldiers. (with MacDonalds in the background)
The wall is gone, most of it broken up and for sale in postcards, keyrings and paperweights, the memory lives on.