The record
Bought by a German industrialist who had stood at Checkpoint Charlie in 1961 when the tanks faced each other. The rain has since washed the graffiti off.
An original piece has stood since 1993 in the garden of an estate near Deauville belonging to Hans-Olaf Henkel, the industrialist and former president of the Federation of German Industries. It arrived covered in graffiti, and the Normandy rain has taken the paint off over the years — one of the few records in this catalogue where the surface has simply gone, without anybody repainting or restoring it.
Henkel's reason for buying it is unusually direct. He was at Checkpoint Charlie in the autumn of 1961, weeks after the border was closed, when American and Soviet tanks stood muzzle to muzzle across the line; he lived in the divided city in 1962 and 1963 and began his career at IBM in Lankwitz, in the western sector. Most private owners in this catalogue are unexplained. This one watched it go up.
How did it get here?
Bought by Hans-Olaf Henkel after the border opened in 1989 and installed at his Normandy property in 1993.
Sources
Listed by the Federal Foundation as #114 and by the Berlin Wall Archive as #94.
Federal Foundation — Berlin Wall worldwide, site entry ↗
The piece in Henkel's garden since 1993, the graffiti washed off by rain, his presence at Checkpoint Charlie during the 1961 tank confrontation, and his years in West Berlin at IBM in Lankwitz.
Inventory listingSource accessed 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.
Inventory listingSource accessed 2026-09-17 · Source record 114
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.
Inventory listingSource accessed 2026-09-17 · Source record 94
Source-reported segments: 1. This is not a separately verified count.
No photograph of this one has been published. If you have taken one, or know when it arrived or who gave it, we would like to hear. Contribute to this record