The record
Two painted elements in a display case in a shopping centre entrance — the Wall as a fixture of West Berlin's commercial heart.
Two painted wall elements stand in a display case in the entrance area of the Europa-Center on Breitscheidplatz. The Berlin Wall Foundation catalogues them as MAU-713, photographed in 2021.
The address is the point. Breitscheidplatz was the centre of West Berlin — the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, the Kurfürstendamm running west from it, and the Europa-Center standing over the square as the shopping centre of the walled-in half city. A visitor who wanted to see the Wall went east to a viewing platform; the commercial heart of the enclave was several kilometres from the border.
Now two pieces of that border stand in a vitrine by the doors, among the shops. Of all the ways this catalogue records the Wall being absorbed — museums, embassies, memorial gardens, a casino, a cement works — a glass case in a shopping centre lobby is among the plainest.
How did it get here?
Not established.
Sources & verification
MAU-713 Zwei Mauerelemente im Europa-Center — MAUERSPUREN, Stiftung Berliner Mauer ↗
Two painted wall elements in a vitrine in the entrance area of the Europa-Center at Breitscheidplatz, catalogued as MAU-713, classified as Mauerelemente, dated from 1980 and photographed in 2021.
Source accessed 2026-09-17
Last verified: Not yet verified
Our sourcing standardsNo 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