Der Eintrag
Die Elemente 166 und 167, für sechs Millionen Yen von einem Fischerdorf gekauft, das ein deutsches Themendorf errichtete, um an eine Schiffbrüchigenrettung von 1873 zu erinnern.
Die ausführliche Geschichte, die Herkunft und die Quellenangaben dieses Eintrags liegen bislang nur auf Englisch vor.
On 2 July 1873 a typhoon drove the German merchant ship R. J. Robertson onto the coast of the Japanese island of Miyako-jima. The people of the small coastal village of Ueno put out into a heavy sea and saved all eight crew, took them in, and a month later saw them onto a ship for the mainland and home. Kaiser Wilhelm I was so struck by the rescue that he had a memorial stone made for it, which still stands in the harbour at Hirara.
More than 120 years later the village turned that episode into a German culture village. The idea was raised in the local administration in 1987; descendants of the fishermen travelled to Germany for ideas, came back impressed by Schloss Mainau on Lake Constance, and built a hotel whose sea-facing windows look out at the reef that wrecked the ship. Inland there is a children's house built in the shape of a church, and two original elements of the Berlin Wall were set up in its courtyard. There is also a row of half-timbered houses copied from Stade in Lower Saxony, and a replica of the Marksburg on the Rhine — considerably cheaper, the Foundation notes drily, than the purchase of the original castle that was first considered.
The municipality went after the segments as soon as the border opened. Representatives travelled to East Berlin and bought elements 166 and 167 from Limex for six million yen, then about 60,000 marks, and shipped them home. Sun and heavy rain took their toll and the pieces were later moved into the local museum, where they stand with their certificates and two Limex seals.
The village's own site now shows a piece of the Wall in the Kinderhaus, the children's house, giving it as 3.6 metres high and 2.6 tonnes. The listing came without coordinates, and the Foundation's entry gives the site rather than a position; the pin is the culture village's own.
Wie kam es hierher?
Elements 166 and 167, bought from Limex in East Berlin by the municipality of Ueno for six million yen, about 60,000 marks, shortly after the border opened.
Quellen
Gelistet von der Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung als #252 und vom Berlin Wall Archive als #261.
Federal Foundation — Berlin Wall worldwide, site entry ↗
The 1873 wreck of the R. J. Robertson and the rescue by the villagers of Ueno, Wilhelm I's memorial stone at Hirara, the founding of the German culture village from 1987 and its buildings, the purchase of elements 166 and 167 from Limex for six million yen, their siting in the courtyard of the children's house and later move into the local museum with the certificates and Limex seals.
VerzeichniseintragQuelle abgerufen am 2026-09-17
博愛記念館＆キンダーハウス — うえのドイツ文化村 ↗
The culture village's own page on the Hakuai Kinenkan and the Kinderhaus: the Kinderhaus displays a genuine piece of the Berlin Wall, 3.6 metres high and 2.6 tonnes, with related material and photographs of the period.
Institutionelle QuelleQuelle abgerufen am 2026-09-17
Federal Foundation — Berlin Wall worldwide ↗
The source lists this place as a Berlin Wall location. Coordinates, where supplied, are source-reported and may represent a general area. This is not independent verification of authenticity, current presence, or public access.
VerzeichniseintragQuelle abgerufen am 2026-09-17 · Quelleneintrag 252
Berlin Wall Archive ↗
The source lists this place as a Berlin Wall location. Coordinates, where supplied, are source-reported and may represent a general area. This is not independent verification of authenticity, current presence, or public access.
VerzeichniseintragQuelle abgerufen am 2026-09-17 · Quelleneintrag 261
Von der Quelle gemeldete Segmente: 2. Diese Zahl wurde nicht gesondert geprüft.
Von diesem Stück ist noch kein Foto veröffentlicht. Wenn Sie eines aufgenommen haben oder wissen, wann es ankam oder wer es gab, hören wir gern von Ihnen. Zu diesem Eintrag beitragen (Englisch)