The Berlin Wall used to be everywhere. At the height of the Cold War, it stretched out as an insurmountable barrier across a 100-mile perimeter of divided urban landscape between East and West.
But these days, only few scattered sections of the Wall remain across the city. The rest has been blasted into oblivion, or shipped across the world to create Wall monuments from Los Angeles to Tokyo.
“Today there are more segments of the Wall in all continents of the world than inside Berlin,” said Hagen Koch, who had been put in charge of demolishing the Wall in 1990 in the documentary After the Fall.
So what about all those “authentic” pieces of the Wall sold to unsuspecting tourists by street vendors across the city today? Chances are, they stem from ANY wall in Berlin – or perhaps some demolished buildings in Lower Saxony – just not THE Berlin Wall.
The reason is simple: The days of chiselling away to your heart’s content are over – what remains of the Wall is strictly protected as a historic site. Wall pieces have become a rare commodity, and even tiny pieces sold as paper weights or with a certificate in plastic baggies can cost between €4.50 to $49.95, depending on size and quality.
Still, people are willing to pay the price, mostly for nostalgic reasons.
In search of original pieces, Young Germany struck gold in the US, of all places. In Virginia, broadcast media consultant Art Harman sells pieces of the Wall on his Berlin Wall.net website. Together with three friends, Harman had ventured to Berlin in November 1989 at the age of 32 and brought back 1,000-pounds of the Wall (pieces starting at $55.00).
“I expect it is getting harder to find genuine Wall. At the time they just wanted to demolish it and get rid of the Wall. I’ve even sent pieces back to people in Germany and they really appreciated it,” Art Harman said.
Young Germany asked the 52-year-old what it was like to take a hammer to the Wall, and for advice on how to spot fake pieces in the streets. Don’t say you haven’t been warned...
If somebody offered you a piece of “Berlin Wall” in the street today, would you be able to spot a fake?
Well, it’s now been 20 years and any original will have undergone some weathering as far as the paint goes. If I saw a piece of cement and the paint would be easy to remove and had not weathered at all, I would be suspicious.
What about the consistency of the cement, is that characteristic?
There were different sections of the Wall, made out of different materials. “The Wall” everybody got to know consists of the sections of pre-cast reinforced concrete. It is very dense and hard as hell. It had a rather smooth surface, and smashing it up you realized that it is very hard and does not crumble. There was also the rounded top section, which we were advised to stay away from, because it was made from asbestos!
How did you manage to take big chunks out of the Wall without any power tools?
There was a certain technique: You would chisel down to the first reinforcing part under the concrete. Then you would use that [steel wire] reinforcement as a lever to pry bigger pieces out of the Wall. This material should be rusting by now, so the reinforcement would lend some certainty to an original piece. The bulk of what I brought back was taken out of what I called “the soft underbelly of the Wall,” the incline at the bottom of the Wall that had been poured out of a cement mixer.
Do you give out certificates of authenticity for the pieces you sell?
Every piece I sell comes with a certificate of authenticity, signed by me as my word of trust that it is from my original collection and listing the place on the Wall from which it came. And I have photos of the Wall being removed on my website. But only trust can provide the real authenticity as cement with paint on it isn't hard to create. And with the exception of some 12 foot tall sections bought from the government, there were no East German officers standing at the Wall signing official forms for each piece smashed down!
Is trust enough for paying customers?
When people first saw the pieces after we brought them back, some were suspicious and said, “This is just a piece of your driveway!” But when they saw photos of me at the Wall, and at the airport in Berlin and arriving at [Washington] Dulles [Airport]. They’d say, “This is the Wall!” and buy a piece. I’m running out of pieces that have graffiti on it, which is what people want mostly.
Once you run out of pieces, will that be the end?
I brought back 1,000 pounds of the Wall, and when I'm done selling that, I'm done selling Wall. I’ll take down the ordering section of my website and leave only the photos and stories. But my greatest reward in selling it is not the small money I make but from the responses from the people who bought it; the stories they tell of delight, of appreciating history.
What do you think the motivation is for people to buy a piece of the Wall?
Many of the people buying my Wall indeed buy it as a piece of history. Some had a connection with the Wall, Germany, or the Cold War, such as serving in the military during the Wall years or were relatives giving the piece to someone who served there. Many see the Wall as the most prominent symbol both of the Cold War and the peaceful way the Soviet Empire collapsed and millions became free. One piece was a gift to a girl who was born on German Reunification Day, and what better symbol than a piece of the now-broken Wall?
What is your personal connection to Berlin history?
I first visited the Wall in high school in 1975, when it was in full operation. And my attempt to stir up excitement was to hurl a brick across it in hopes of setting off a land mine! I walked several miles of the Wall then, and it was a defining point on my life to see what dictatorships can do to crush the human spirit.
What are your feelings about the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall?
Everyone who was in the East or West will have special reasons for celebrating this historic occasion. Freedom, peace, the end of tyranny, reunification with relatives, and so much more! This a beautiful time to appreciate the changes which freedom has brought, and most importantly to resolve to never repeat history. It truly is time for those of us blessed with freedom to demand of dictatorships that their time is over. We know wars never occur between two free nations – only when there is a dictatorship. Never again should we tolerate or be silent about tyranny, no matter what disguise or fancy name or flag it uses!
Mr. Harman, thank you very much for the interview.
Art Harman is currently selling some complete, 4 metre tall sections, of the Wall. Details on his website.
Chronicle and photo gallery of Harman’s Berlin Wall Freedom Expedition
www.berlin-wall.net/journal.htm
www.berlin-wall.net/photogallery.htm
Copyright Young Germany
