U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is coming to Berlin on Friday to meet with Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the first meeting between German and American officials in Berlin since the end of the war.

The visit is being heralded as a "bridge-building" opportunity by transatlantic analysts who employed a host of similar metaphors over the past year in describing the deterioration of the once-solid German-American relationship.

Schröder's sound opposition to the Bush administration's intention to invade Iraq reportedly angered American officials, including President Bush. Since the end of the war, steps have been taken on both sides to move closer. Some are saying the Powell-Schröder meeting could lay the groundwork for a Bush-Schröder meeting in the near future.

Below, a collection of DW-WORLD stories, interviews and background notes on the transatlantic divide.