Around the world: Where to find the Berlin Wall today

It was the world-famous and feared symbol of Germany's division: the Berlin Wall . For more than 28 years, it separated West Berlin, belonging to the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), from East Berlin, belonging to the German Democratic Republic ( GDR ). Its construction began in 1961 on the orders of the GDR's communist leadership: Prior to this, around three million people had already fled to the West to escape shortages, lack of freedom, and state surveillance . The GDR did not want to lose any more citizens, so a complex system of barriers and fortifications was erected along the 155-kilometer border, designed to be insurmountable (though around 5,000 East Germans still managed to escape over the years).

The wall separated almost all transport and communication routes between East and West Berlin; border crossing points like "Checkpoint Charlie" were the few exceptions.

The full cruelty of the GDR regime was revealed at the Berlin Wall: at least 140 people were killed between 1961 and 1989 while attempting to cross it. Besides around 100 people trying to escape, border guards and innocent bystanders also lost their lives.

The Berlin Wall: First hated, then coveted

With the collapse of communist rule in Eastern Europe , the Berlin Wall also fell on November 9, 1989. German reunification followed almost a year later. Today, only sections of the Wall remain in Berlin: the longest is the famous East Side Gallery, with its 1.3 km of painted concrete; there is also the Berlin Wall Memorial . But back then, Berliners wanted to get rid of the hated concrete barrier as quickly as possible – and at the same time, people, governments, and institutions all over the world wanted a piece of the Wall. This was especially true in the USA , where, according to estimates by the Federal Foundation for the Study of the SED Dictatorship, there are now more pieces of the Wall than in Berlin . Whether in front of the CIA headquarters in Langley or in a men's restroom in Las Vegas – pieces of the Wall can be found everywhere in the USA.

"As one of the victorious powers, the USA naturally played a major role in the division of Germany," explains Anna Kaminsky, director of the Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship. "The Wall was an issue that almost every US president addressed in their foreign policy. It was, so to speak, an emotional matter for the USA, especially for the US soldiers stationed in Berlin."

But segments of the Berlin Wall are not only scattered across the USA, but all around the globe – from New Zealand to Iceland, from Indonesia to Chile. The Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship has marked 57 countries (excluding Germany) on its map where at least one piece stands. Each has its own story, each is interpreted differently. Sometimes private individuals or companies acquired the stones, sometimes the German Federal Government or the Berlin Senate donated them.

Memorial and appeal

In South Korea , which feels a connection to German history due to its own division, sections of the Berlin Wall stand in six different locations, including Dorasan, the northernmost point of the South Korean railway network on the border with North Korea . At the station there, then-German President Joachim Gauck, together with South Korean government representatives, opened the "Reunification Platform" in 2015, unveiling a segment of the wall and a plaque with the appeal: "Create a reunified Korea and help the world become more peaceful." A quote from Gauck was also immortalized here: "Together for a life in freedom."

The pieces also seem to hold particular value in some countries of the former Eastern Bloc , where they serve as a monument to hard-won democracy. This is the case in Bulgaria , where the Sofia city government requested a section of the Berlin Wall from the Berlin Senate in 2006. It stands next to the memorial for the victims of communism in Bulgaria, accompanied by two inscriptions in Bulgarian and German: "On August 13, 1961, a wall divided Berlin, Germany, and thus Europe and the world in two. Bulgaria remained trapped east of the wall – until November 9, 1989, when the people toppled it. This fragment of the Berlin Wall is a gift from Berliners to the citizens of Sofia – as a symbol of a reunited Europe and as proof." "For the Bulgarians to now be free."

The section in Sofia looks bleak – just like the wall itself. Many other sections, however, were painted or covered in graffiti after their removal, often with the good intention of adorning them with symbols of peace and friendship. As a result, they now appear more like pieces of pop culture than relics of a once-feared border wall.

French artist Thierry Noir, who lives in Berlin, painted large sections of the West Berlin Wall with his signature figures even before November 9, 1989, and continued to leave his mark on segments afterward. Heidi Klum, host of "Germany's Next Topmodel," has a section of the Wall painted by him in her California garden—a gift from her husband, who was born in East Germany.

Controversial: Pieces of the Wall and commerce

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the GDR's transitional government commissioned a state-owned company to sell the remaining sections for profit. This company, in turn, cooperated with a West Berlin agency. Together, they decided to have segments painted to increase their appeal and thus their selling price. "This caused a great deal of protest at the time: that the GDR government, along with representatives of the party that had built the wall, where so many people died, now also wanted to profit from its sale," explains Anna Kaminsky. At least the proceeds were supposed to benefit charitable organizations. But private companies also profited from the wall.

A critical examination of this topic can be seen in Trondheim, Norway. There, the artist Lars Ø. Ramberg, commissioned by the city, created a sculpture entitled "Capitalist Realism." He placed the word "SALE" on the wall segment. The Berlin Wall, as a symbol of the attainment of freedom, has now become an example of the commodification of this very symbolic value, he is quoted as saying on the website of the Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship. By purchasing the wall segments and creating the sculpture, he is positioning himself as part of this problem, the website continues.

In the last ten years, requests for pieces of the Berlin Wall have declined sharply. "World history has moved on, world politics is different," says Anna Kaminsky of the Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship. "The iconic status of the Wall has diminished over the decades. As a symbol, it is increasingly fading into the background." From the perspective of many, this is certainly a good thing – because no matter how colorful it is or where it stands, the Wall remains the symbol of a dictatorship.