The record
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's piece of the Axel Springer gift of 2009, by the cruise quay on a coast from which thousands tried to flee across the Baltic.
An original segment was unveiled at the cruise terminal on Warnemünde's Passagierkai on 4 November 2009. It is Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's element in the distribution described on the Stuttgart record: Axel Springer AG, through Bild, gave a segment to every federal state for the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Wall. This one, 3.60 metres high and 2.7 tonnes, was handed over by Bild's deputy editor-in-chief, Jörg Quoos. Small plaques in German and English, with the Bild logo beneath, say where it comes from and what it is for, and end with the dedication to Axel Springer used across the distribution.
At the unveiling, as the Federal Foundation's memorials database records it, the mayor, Roland Methling, spoke of the miracle of a peaceful revolution, and the minister-president, Erwin Sellering, of the courage of East Germans' peaceful protest. Christoph Kleemann — spokesman of Rostock's Round Table, acting mayor in 1990 and later head of the Stasi Records office's Rostock branch — drew up the balance of the Wall along the Baltic: almost 5,650 people tried to flee across the sea between the building of the Wall and its fall, 913 succeeded, some four and a half thousand were caught while still preparing, at least 174 paid with their lives, and around 1,250 seamen stayed for good in Western ports.
How did it get here?
A gift from Bild (Axel Springer AG) to the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern for the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Wall, handed over by Jörg Quoos and unveiled on 4 November 2009.
Sources
Listed by the Berlin Wall Archive as #357.
Denkmal „Berliner Mauer“ — Orte des Erinnerns ↗
An original segment, 3.60 m high and 2.7 tonnes, unveiled at the cruise terminal on the Warnemünde Passagierkai on 4 November 2009, a gift of Axel Springer AG, which gave every federal state a segment for the twentieth anniversary, handed over by Bild's deputy editor-in-chief Jörg Quoos; the speeches of Roland Methling, Erwin Sellering and Christoph Kleemann, with Kleemann's figures for flight across the Baltic (almost 5,650 attempts, 913 successful, about 4,500 detected in preparation, at least 174 dead, about 1,250 seamen who left ship in Western ports); small plaques in German and English with the Bild logo, and their text.
Institutional sourceSource accessed 2026-09-17
Die Berliner Mauer in Deutschland — Die Berliner Mauer in der Welt ↗
An essay by Tina Schaller and Moritz Reininghaus for the Federal Foundation: Rostock received one of the segments of the Axel Springer initiative on 4 November 2009.
Inventory listingSource accessed 2026-09-17
Rostock-Warnemünde, MV — The Wall Net ↗
The segment for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern from Axel Springer AG's gift to each federal state, set up on the Passagierkai in Warnemünde in November 2009.
General referenceSource accessed 2026-09-17
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 357
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