The record
Half of Kiddy Citny's twin hearts, bought in Monaco for over 100,000 marks and delivered to a quiet Swiss suburb — the other half had already gone to America.
On 23 June 1990 the LeLé Berlin Wall Verkaufs- und Wirtschaftswerbung GmbH auctioned eighty-one pieces of the Berlin Wall at the Hotel Metropole Palace in Monaco, before about a hundred collectors and dealers. The proceeds were to go in full to the failing health service of the GDR, which still existed. The organisers took trouble over the setting: a lavish catalogue was printed whose gold cover showed a segment painted with half a red heart, and whose first page showed the whole ensemble it came from — two large hearts spread across four elements, painted by Kiddy Citny in 1984 on Waldemarstraße in West Berlin.
Two of those four were already in the United States by the time of the auction: the halves of the second heart, which was later sawn apart, one going to Durham in North Carolina and the other to Peter Max's store at Lyndhurst, New Jersey. The remaining two stood at the entrance of the Monaco hotel, greeting the bidders. They were lots 33 and 34, described as original motif well preserved, with edge breaks on the right; the red had faded a little since 1984 and a few later marks had been added.
They were bought by the Swiss entrepreneur Pascal Märki, who paid over 100,000 marks plus duty and transport. Stern reported the delivery to the family's property near Basel and the stir the arrival caused in a quiet settlement at the edge of the woods. Märki, whose main residence was then in Monaco, described the pieces as art objects and as a sign that people cannot be kept in tutelage for ever. He later bought two more segments, painted by Jürgen Große, who signed himself Indiano. All four are still on the property.
How did it get here?
Lots 33 and 34 of the Monaco auction of 23 June 1990, bought by Pascal Märki for over 100,000 marks; painted by Kiddy Citny on Waldemarstraße in West Berlin in 1984. Two further segments painted by Jürgen Große were bought later.
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 30
Source-reported segments: 2. This is not a separately verified count.
Federal Foundation — Berlin Wall worldwide, site entry ↗
The Monaco auction of 23 June 1990 at the Hotel Metropole Palace, its eighty-one lots and the destination of the proceeds, the catalogue and its cover, Kiddy Citny's two hearts across four elements painted on Waldemarstraße in 1984, the two already in the United States at Durham and Lyndhurst, lots 33 and 34 and their catalogue description, Pascal Märki's purchase for over 100,000 marks, the delivery near Basel reported by Stern, and the two further Indiano segments.
Source accessed 2026-09-17
Last verified: Not yet verified
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