AP PHOTOS: Bits of the Berlin Wall make global art, memory
BERLIN (AP) - For nearly three decades, the Berlin Wall encircled West Berlin, built by communist East German authorities ostensibly to protect the country from "fascists," but in reality to prevent their own citizens from fleeing into the democratic half of the divided city, a portal to the rest of the free world.
For a barrier meant to prevent travel, chips, chunks and full segments of the 156.4 kilometer (97.2 mile) -long reinforced concrete Berlin Wall have done a pretty good job themselves getting around Germany and the rest of the world in the past 30 years.
The Berlin Wall divided the city from 1961 until it was first opened on Nov. 9, 1989 , though it took much longer to be removed entirely. In Berlin today , some symbolic segments still stand in their original locations, left in place as a reminder of what was known as the front line of the Cold War, a daily physical reminder of the metaphorical Iron Curtain between eastern and western Europe during those tense times.
As jubilant Germans tore at the Berlin Wall in 1989, many pocketed small pieces to take with them, and small stands were set up almost immediately by the more enterprising to sell larger chunks as souvenirs. Today, bits of unknown provenance are still for sale in tourist shops in the German capital.
Larger slabs have been purchased or given to display in museums, embassies, schools, parks, memorials and in other locations around the world.
Today, visitors to Paris can see a piece of the Berlin Wall outside the Porte de Versailles metro station, while another stretch is on display in the La Defense business district outside the city.
In this photo taken on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019, a woman cleans the segment of the Berlin Wall in the open air museum of the centre of Europe "Europos Parkas" near Vilnius, Lithuania. For a barrier meant to prevent travel, chips, chunks and full segments of the 156.4 kilometer-long (97.2 mile-long) reinforced concrete Wall have done a pretty good job themselves getting around Germany and the rest of the world in the past 30 years.(AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
Outside the European Commission's headquarters in Brussels a slab decorated with the image of former President John F. Kennedy greets visitors, complete with an information panel detailing its significance.
Near the Cheonggye stream in Seoul, South Korea, a sculpture of a bear - a symbol of Berlin and painted with the German capital's landmark Brandenburg Gate - stands in front of three sections.
The Roman Catholic shrine of Fatima in Fatima, Portugal, has a slab on display behind glass, and another piece is prominently featured in the courtyard of Costa Rica's Chancellery, or foreign ministry, in San Jose.
In a somewhat odd tribute in the U.S., Las Vegas' Main Street Station's men's room has urinals mounted on chunks of the Berlin Wall, perhaps intended as a paean to freedom. A glass covering protects the concrete from splash damage.
In New York, two slabs with a colorful painting by French artist Thierry Noir are located in Kowsky Plaza in Battery Park. Elsewhere in the city, in the sculpture garden of the United Nations headquarters, three segments are painted with an image of two people embracing over the wall and the words "trophy of civil rights." When they were gifted by Germany in 2002, then Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the Wall had been "an offense to the human spirits."
"It not only marked the division of Germany and Europe, but also expressed, in a uniquely horrible way, the propensity of human beings to erect walls and borders, and then glare across them, hearts filled with hate, minds full of fear and distrust, all the while numb to the notion that there might be a better way," Annan said.
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Follow AP's full coverage of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall at https://www.apnews.com/FalloftheBerlinWall
In this photo taken July 19, 2019 a bird flies past an original piece of the Berlin Wall displayed at the Porte de Versailles, Paris. For nearly three decades, the Berlin Wall encircled West Berlin, built by communist East German authorities ostensibly to protect the country from "fascists," but in reality to prevent their own citizens from fleeing into the democratic half of the divided city, a portal to the rest of the free world. For a barrier meant to prevent travel, chips, chunks and full segments of the 156.4 kilometer-long (97.2 mile-long) reinforced concrete Wall have done a pretty good job themselves getting around Germany and the rest of the world in the past 30 years. (AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh)
In this photo taken Sunday, Aug. 4, 2019 Indonesian children play near pieces of Berlin Wall erected as parts of an installation art by Indonesian artist Teguh Ostenrik, at Kalijodo Park in Jakarta, Indonesia. For nearly three decades, the Berlin Wall encircled West Berlin, built by communist East German authorities ostensibly to protect the country from "fascists," but in reality to prevent their own citizens from fleeing into the democratic half of the divided city, a portal to the rest of the free world. For a barrier meant to prevent travel, chips, chunks and full segments of the 156.4 kilometer-long (97.2 mile-long) reinforced concrete Wall have done a pretty good job themselves getting around Germany and the rest of the world in the past 30 years.(AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
In this photo taken Friday, Nov. 1, 2019 a dog passes in front of part of the Berlin wall outside the Janco-Dada Museum in Ein Hod northern Israel. For a barrier meant to prevent travel, chips, chunks and full segments of the 156.4 kilometer-long (97.2 mile-long) reinforced concrete Wall have done a pretty good job themselves getting around Germany and the rest of the world in the past 30 years.(AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
In this photo taken Thursday Oct. 24, 2019 a section of the Berlin Wall is displayed in the sculpture garden at the United Nations headquarters in New York. For nearly three decades, the Berlin Wall encircled West Berlin, built by communist East German authorities ostensibly to protect the country from "fascists," but in reality to prevent their own citizens from fleeing into the democratic half of the divided city, a portal to the rest of the free world. For a barrier meant to prevent travel, chips, chunks and full segments of the 156.4 kilometer-long (97.2 mile-long) reinforced concrete Wall have done a pretty good job themselves getting around Germany and the rest of the world in the past 30 years. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
In this Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019 photo a family sits near a section of the Berlin Wall which came from near the Brandenburg Gate and was accquired by The Imperial War Museum in London in 1991. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
In this photo taken Friday, Aug. 9, 2019 a section of the Berlin Wall is displayed at the internal gardens of the Chancellery in San Jose, Costa Rica. (AP Photo/Carlos Gonzalez)
In this Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019 photo a man is reflected in a glass protecting a segment of the Berlin Wall at Editorial Perfil in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
In this photo taken Thursday, Aug. 8, 2019 photo two dogs walk past a piece of the Berlin Wall painted by Thierry Noir in the city center in Frankfurt, Germany. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
In this Oct. 14, 2019 photo, a child pauses while walking past a section of the Berlin Wall on display in a dining area at the Seattle Center in Seattle. For a barrier meant to prevent travel, chips, chunks and full segments of the 156.4 kilometer-long (97.2 mile-long) reinforced concrete Wall have done a pretty good job themselves getting around Germany and the rest of the world in the past 30 years. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
In this Thursday Sept.12, 2019 photo a section of the Berlin wall stands next to a Trabant car inside the Caen War Memorial, Normandy. For a barrier meant to prevent travel, chips, chunks and full segments of the 156.4 kilometer-long (97.2 mile-long) reinforced concrete Wall have done a pretty good job themselves getting around Germany and the rest of the world in the past 30 years. (AP Photo/David Vincent)
In this picture taken Oct. 27, 2019, a woman stops to look at a piece of the Berlin Wall on display at the Roman Catholic shrine of Fatima in Fatima, Portugal. For a barrier meant to prevent travel, chips, chunks and full segments of the 156.4 kilometer-long (97.2 mile-long) reinforced concrete Wall have done a pretty good job themselves getting around Germany and the rest of the world in the past 30 years. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
In this Thursday Oct. 31, 2019 photo, an elderly man pauses next remnants of the Berlin wall in Madrid. For a barrier meant to prevent travel, chips, chunks and full segments of the 156.4 kilometer-long (97.2 mile-long) reinforced concrete Wall have done a pretty good job themselves getting around Germany and the rest of the world in the past 30 years. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
In this Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019 photo, models perform on a catwalk placed in the Reflecting Pool under the "Freedom Arches", at the base of one is a piece of the Berlin Wall, during the Toronto Dragon Festival at the Nathan Phillips square in Toronto, Canada. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
In this photo taken on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019 a bird stands on top of a segment of the Berlin wall in Yokohama near Tokyo. For a barrier meant to prevent travel, chips, chunks and full segments of the 156.4 kilometer-long (97.2 mile-long) reinforced concrete Wall have done a pretty good job themselves getting around Germany and the rest of the world in the past 30 years. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A woman walks near the three sections of the Berlin Wall and the sculpture of the Bear, the symbol of Berlin, near the Cheonggye stream in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Sept. 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
In this photo taken Thursday, Aug. 8, 2019 a man takes a picture of a section of the Berlin Wall displayed at the Museum of Memory and Tolerance, in Mexico City. For a barrier meant to prevent travel, chips, chunks and full segments of the 156.4 kilometer-long (97.2 mile-long) reinforced concrete Wall have done a pretty good job themselves getting around Germany and the rest of the world in the past 30 years. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
In this photo taken July 19, 2019 an original piece of the Berlin Wall is displayed in Porte de Versailles, Paris. (AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh)
In this photo taken on Friday, Oct. 4, 2019, cars drives past a segment of the Berlin Wall installed in Tallinn, Estonia. For a barrier meant to prevent travel, chips, chunks and full segments of the 156.4 kilometer-long (97.2 mile-long) reinforced concrete Wall have done a pretty good job themselves getting around Germany and the rest of the world in the past 30 years. (AP Photo/Raul Mee)
In this Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019 photo a man from a television looks around a bathroom where urinals are mounted on a piece of the Berlin Wall at Main Street Station casino in Las Vegas. For a barrier meant to prevent travel, chips, chunks and full segments of the 156.4 kilometer-long (97.2 mile-long) reinforced concrete Wall have done a pretty good job themselves getting around Germany and the rest of the world in the past 30 years. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A piece of the Berlin wall is displayed at La Defense business district, near Paris, Wednesday 31, 2019. For a barrier meant to prevent travel, chips, chunks and full segments of the 156.4 kilometer-long (97.2 mile-long) reinforced concrete Wall have done a pretty good job themselves getting around Germany and the rest of the world in the past 30 years. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
In this photo taken Thursday Oct. 24, 2019 a section of the Berlin Wall is displayed in the sculpture garden at the United Nations headquarters in New York. For nearly three decades, the Berlin Wall encircled West Berlin, built by communist East German authorities ostensibly to protect the country from "fascists," but in reality to prevent their own citizens from fleeing into the democratic half of the divided city, a portal to the rest of the free world. For a barrier meant to prevent travel, chips, chunks and full segments of the 156.4 kilometer-long (97.2 mile-long) reinforced concrete Wall have done a pretty good job themselves getting around Germany and the rest of the world in the past 30 years. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
In this photo taken on Tuesday, July 27, 2019, a woman walks past a section of the Berlin Wall, with a graffiti of US former President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, placed outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels. For nearly three decades, the Berlin Wall encircled West Berlin, built by communist East German authorities ostensibly to protect the country from "fascists," but in reality to prevent their own citizens from fleeing into the democratic half of the divided city, a portal to the rest of the free world. For a barrier meant to prevent travel, chips, chunks and full segments of the 156.4 kilometer-long (97.2 mile-long) reinforced concrete Wall have done a pretty good job themselves getting around Germany and the rest of the world in the past 30 years. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
In this photo taken Wednesday Oct. 30, 2019 section of the Berlin Wall is shown installed on the Kowsky Plaza in New York's Battery Park. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
