The Forgotten Remains of the Original Berlin Wall Rediscovered

Just opposite the railroad tracks of the far out S-Bahn station Schönholz, obviously visible to its passers-by, though half disappearing into a thin, sparse forrest – the newly discovered 80 remaining meters of the original Berlin Wall.

Just when we thought, now slowly, after 28 years and 3 months after the Mauerfall, there is nothing new to be said about the German division and its physical leftovers. But a few days ago we found out that – flipping hell – colorful remains of the historical first version wall, that physically and ideologically divided Berlin, were identified and unveiled as such only this February. We had to see this with our own eyes and made a little excursion there last weekend.

Leftovers of the last version of the wall can not only be found in Berlin, for instance at the East Side Gallery or the Mauerpark, but also all over world. Pieces of the famous political concrete deviders have found homes in Paris, Copenhagen and London as well as in hundred other cities around the globe, symbolizing the successful fight against dictatorship and imprisonment and continuously represent our desire of freedom. So how come these meaningful 80 meters haven’t been found before?

Truth be told, the discovery is not hot news, at least not to its discoverer and historian Christian Bormann. He already discovered the remains 20 years ago and kept it to himself. Only as he started seeing people taking pieces of the wall away with them, he reported the remains to Berlin’s Memorial Department, who officially confirmed that his findings truly are the remains of the Berlin Wall 1.0 and fenced in the area, to protect it from further destruction.  

Sensationally, it actually is the last existing piece of the historical Berlin Wall that is in it’s original place and condition. The wall itself got replaced multiple times during the time of the GDR, only this little stretch was left in place because its successor went a little out of the way there. So while we are excited and impressed, we dearly hope that it will find protection as a memorial soon – before it ends up in your uncles living room or as a best-seller on ebay…

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<a href="https://www.iheartberlin.de/author/franziska/" target="_self">Franziska</a>

Franziska

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