The record
Two painted segments a parish pastor brought from Berlin in 1999, kept by the congregation for eighteen years and finally set out in public in 2017.
Two original segments stand between the Kreuzeskirche and the Kastanienhöfe in the north of Essen city centre. One carries a Thierry Noir head in profile — the nose, the lips, the round skull; the other is the work of the Berlin photographer and wall artist Heinz J. Kuzdas.
They were brought from Berlin in 1999 by Steffen Hunder, pastor of the Protestant parish of Essen-Altstadt, and they belonged to the congregation for eighteen years before the public ever got a clear look at them. The site in the shadow of the church was handed over on 26 September 2017, with the mayor Thomas Kufen, the Allbau supervisory board chairman Thomas Rotter, and the Berlin pastor and former GDR civil rights campaigner Rainer Eppelmann present.
The delay is the interesting part. A great many of the records here describe an object arriving and being unveiled within months. This one sat in the keeping of a city parish for the better part of two decades, and only became a public monument when a housing development gave it somewhere to stand.
How did it get here?
Brought from Berlin in 1999 by Steffen Hunder, pastor of the Protestant parish of Essen-Altstadt, held by the congregation and publicly dedicated on 26 September 2017. Painted by Thierry Noir and Heinz J. Kuzdas.
Sources & verification
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.
Source accessed 2026-09-17 · Source record 117
Source-reported segments: 2. This is not a separately verified count.
Berliner Mauer-Teile in der Nord-City — Stadt Essen ↗
The two original segments painted by Thierry Noir and Heinz J. Kuzdas placed between the Kreuzeskirche and the Kastanienhöfe, Pastor Steffen Hunder bringing them from Berlin in 1999, their eighteen years with the Protestant parish of Essen-Altstadt, and the dedication on 26 September 2017 with Thomas Kufen, Thomas Rotter and Rainer Eppelmann present.
Source accessed 2026-09-17
Original-Fragmente der Berliner Mauer am Fuße der Kreuzeskirche Essen — Kreuzeskirche Essen ↗
The congregation's own account of the two original wall fragments at the foot of the Kreuzeskirche.
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