 The nomenclature of "checkpoint", as opposed to the East German ""Grenzübergangsstelle"" (which literally means "border-crossing-place") was a result of the Western Allies not recognising the legitimacy of East Germany as a state.That changed in 1973, when the GDR was admitted to the United Nations, but the term remained in use.On the grounds of the former East German border control buildings, the "Gedenkstätte Deutsche Teilung Marienborn" was opened on August 13, 1996.