Berlin Wall and Trabant - Two Original Pieces of German History at Colony Square
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- (© German Consulate General)
The Berlin Wall was built on August 13, 1961. By the time it crumbled on November 9, 1989, the 96-mile-long (154.5 km) Berlin Wall had claimed the lives of at least 100 people. Also called the “death strip”, it included 302 watchtowers, 20 bunkers, and 106 kilometers of concrete segments which were about 4 meters high, with the remainder of the wall being wire fencing completely surrounding West Berlin and preventing any access from East Germany.
To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, an original segment of the wall was moved to Colony Square at the corner of Peachtree Street and 14th Street, the location of the Goethe-Zentrum / German Cultural Center.
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- (© German Consulate General)
This important piece of German history is locally owned by Dr. Eike Jordan and Robert Banner who offered it to be placed in front of Colony Square for the festivities on November 9th.
Moving the 3 ton block took two large trucks and a lot of hard work and planning. The crew spent almost 5 hours to carefully load and unload the wall piece which had also been secured in a wooden crate for its travel through the streets of Atlanta.
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- (© German Consulate General)
Goethe-Zentrum Director Wolfgang Krüger remarked during the event on Monday evening that getting this colorful chunk of concrete to its location in front of Colony Square proved almost as difficult as tearing down the Berlin Wall. "It was just as stubborn coming here in 2009 as it was being pulled down in Berlin in 1989," he said to the 500 guests.
The Berlin Wall was joined by a bright blue Trabant which was on loan from Jennifer Schultz of Atlanta. The "Trabi", as it was affectionately referred to by its owners, was not easy to come by.
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- (© German Consulate General)
It was the most common vehicle in East Germany but most citizens of the GDR had to wait an average of 14 years for their cars. The Trabant was in production without significant changes for nearly 30 years with more than 3 million produced in total. Unique about this car is the material its body is made of: a composite of hard, pressed paper, resin and lacquer.
A special thanks to Peter Halpaus with International Freight Forwarders for all his perseverance and hard work in moving the Berlin Wall to Colony Square for everyone to enjoy.
