Der Eintrag
Als Attraktion für eine Blumenschau zum fünfhundertsten Jahrestag von Kolumbus herübergebracht und auf einem Universitätscampus zurückgelassen, als die Schau schloss.
Die ausführliche Geschichte, die Herkunft und die Quellenangaben dieses Eintrags liegen bislang nur auf Englisch vor.
The five hundredth anniversary of Columbus's voyage was marked in 1992 by a horticultural exhibition held, inevitably, at Columbus in Ohio: thirty-six hectares of flower displays from around the world under the patronage of the First Lady, Barbara Bush. Alongside it ran other exhibitions to draw visitors, among them one about Germany, in which the entrepreneur Günther Tukay was involved. Tukay, whose plant-construction and recycling company had expanded into the new eastern states after 1990, was trying to interest American firms in doing the same, and had a wall segment shipped over as a particular attraction for the German pavilion.
When the exhibition closed in October 1992 he offered the segment to Capital University as a permanent loan. With support from the Huntington Bank the 2.6-tonne piece was installed in the Blackmore Library on 3 December 1992. It now stands outdoors, in a courtyard behind Huber-Spielman Hall, described by the university as a symbol of the triumph of the human spirit over insurmountable conditions.
The painting on it is the unusual part. The remains of a devil, coloured snowflakes and the year 89 are on the face that used to point east — the side almost nobody could reach before November 1989, and which was therefore very rarely painted even afterwards. The west face, the one the world photographed, is bare grey here. To keep it that way a sign asks students not to add anything of their own. For the thirtieth anniversary the university's history department and a film and media production class held a commemoration at the segment on 7 November 2019.
Wie kam es hierher?
Brought to the United States by the entrepreneur Günther Tukay for the German pavilion at the 1992 Columbus horticultural exhibition, and left with Capital University as a permanent loan when it closed in October 1992.
Quellen
Gelistet von der Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung als #212 und vom Berlin Wall Archive als #85.
Federal Foundation — Berlin Wall worldwide, site entry ↗
The 1992 Columbus quincentenary horticultural exhibition and the German pavilion, Günther Tukay's shipment of the segment and his offer of it to Capital University, the installation in the Blackmore Library on 3 December 1992 with Huntington Bank's support, the present position behind Huber-Spielman Hall, the painting on the formerly east-facing side and the unpainted west face with its notice, and the commemoration of 7 November 2019.
VerzeichniseintragQuelle abgerufen am 2026-09-17
The Berlin Wall: 22 years later ↗
Capital University's student newspaper reports that the 12-foot section came to the university after the 1992 AmeriFlora exhibition on long-term loan from the German firm Hansa Consulting GmbH, and was installed in Blackmore Library.
PresseberichtQuelle 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 212
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 85
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