Race to save Berlin Wall memorial

The controversial memorial was unveiled in October 2004

The director of a memorial to victims of the Berlin Wall is racing against time to save it despite a court order setting a 4 July deadline for it to go.

Alexandra Hildebrandt is trying to raise 36m euros ($43m) to buy the land where 1,065 crosses stand, each devoted to someone who died while fleeing.

The DaimlerChrysler car giant has expressed support for her campaign, the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper reports.

The land was leased from Hamm-based BAG bank after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

DaimlerChrysler spokesman Michael Inacker wrote to BAG pointing out the historical importance of the site, the paper said.

Ms Hildebrandt said she was negotiating with several potential sponsors to raise the necessary cash. She voiced confidence that the sum would be collected in time.

"It's very important not only for Berlin, not only for Germany, but for the whole world," she said, quoted by the Associated Press.

The memorial is at Checkpoint Charlie, where a museum charts the Cold War history of the Wall which divided Berlin until 1989. The site used to be the most famous border crossing into the communist East.