Pieces of the Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall is the most significant symbol of the city’s 28-year-long division. In front of Märkisches Museum, seven original segments of the Wall and a listening station with authentic audio documentation commemorate this period.

From 13 August 1961 to 9 November 1989, Berlin was divided into East and West. The Berlin Wall remains to this day a unique and emblematic symbol of that period. As part of a permanent exhibition that is accessible round-the-clock on the grounds of the Märkisches Museum, two Wall segments display original paintings in a style that is particularly characteristic of the West Berlin side of the Wall in the district of Kreuzberg: The “King’s Head” was painted by the German artist Kiddy Citny in 1985 as part of a long frieze on Waldemarstraße. The Stadtmuseum Berlin is grateful for this generous gift donated by a Berlin citizen.

Another piece of the Wall exhibited at the museum features a hatch that provided GDR border guards with an access point to the West. The Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship has made it possible for us to present these segments of the Berlin Wall and to install a listening station.

Using historical audio documentation, the listening station brings to life the history of the Wall, from the construction of the first provisional barriers to its fall almost thirty years later. Recordings include: