SHATTERED BERLIN

Evening Star, Issue 25461, 17 April 1945, Page 5

SHATTERED BERLIN

GREAT DIFFICULTIES IN REBUILDING HAY NOT BE CAPITAL LONDON, April 16. ' Merlin may not continue to be the capital of the Reich, or even the greatest city in Germany, says the British United Press correspondent at FieldMarshal Montgomery'! headquarters. Giving the reason why the capital may bo moved further west, the correspondent suggests the sheer physical difficulties of rebuilding Berlin and the moral effect of changing the site.-, It is unlikely that Berlin <ould be reconstructed in less than 25 years. A complete change o! site -would increase the chances of the future German administration starting reconstruction unhampered by Hitler associations. It was originally planned that the Allied Control Corimission would work from Berlin, hut it is becoming increasingly likely that the commission will have a merely nominal staff there, and operate from Hanovtr. Magdeburg, or Brunswick. The protlem is not immediate, as there will he no central German administration tbove the provincial level for at least a- number of years. The problem is linked up with the whole of the reconstruction plans for Germany, and it appear! to be'likely that a number of oblitenjted cities will never regain above a fraction of their former size and population. The task of removing debris alon< will lie the higgest manual labour jcb in history.