The record
Four panels lent by the collectors Robert and MeiLi Hefner, unveiled in April 2014 beside the main library at the University of Virginia and returned to them in 2023.
The panels stood on the quad beside Alderman Library and the Small Special Collections Library. They are not a purchase by the university: Robert and MeiLi Hefner, collectors then in Oklahoma City, lent four panels, 16 feet long and 12 feet high in all, and they were unveiled on 11 April 2014 for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the fall of the Wall. The west face carries Dennis Kaun's mural Kings of Freedom; the east face is unpainted grey concrete. The list this record was first written from speaks of a single segment outside the library; the university's own pages say four, and are followed here.
The loan has ended. In July 2022 the university said the panels were likely standing on Grounds for their final year, and in July 2023 it announced their removal for the week of 31 July. CBS19 filmed crews taking them down outside the Special Collections Library on 3 August, and the student paper reported the next day that they had been removed from their site beside Alderman Library on McCormick Road after nine years, that the Hefners had paid for the removal and transport, that the panels would go back to them, and that there were no plans for a new installation. The university's own report says they returned to their owners. The Hefners' page on the display speaks of it in the past tense and names no later venue, so where the panels are now is not recorded here.
How did it get here?
Lent by Robert and MeiLi Hefner from their collection in 2014 and returned to them in August 2023.
Sources
Listed by the Federal Foundation as #222 and by the Berlin Wall Archive as #76.
List of Berlin Wall segments — Wikipedia ↗
A segment of the wall on display outside Alderman Library at the University of Virginia.
General referenceSource accessed 2026-09-17
The Berlin Wall at UVA ↗
Four panels, 16 feet long and 12 feet high, lent by Robert and MeiLi Hefner and unveiled on 11 April 2014 on the quad beside Alderman Library and the Small Special Collections Library, bearing Dennis Kaun's Kings of Freedom.
Institutional sourceSource accessed 2026-09-17
Kings of Freedom: Section of Berlin Wall comes to Grounds ↗
Four lent panels with Dennis Kaun's Kings of Freedom mural on the west face and unpainted grey concrete on the east face, installed near Alderman Library in 2014 as part of a university celebration of artistic and political freedom.
Institutional sourceSource accessed 2026-09-17
Berlin Wall installation removed after nine years on Grounds — The Cavalier Daily ↗
4 August 2023: the panels were removed on Friday from their site on McCormick Road next to Alderman Library; they will be returned to the Hefner family, who paid for the removal and transport, and there are no current plans for a new installation.
Press reportSource accessed 2026-09-17
Removal of Berlin Wall panels underway at UVA — UVA Today ↗
4 August 2023: after nine years on Grounds, the four Berlin Wall panels known as Kings of Freedom have returned to their owners.
Institutional sourceSource accessed 2026-09-17
UVA Today, 20 July 2023 ↗
20 July 2023: the panels return to the Hefners, with removal set for the week of 31 July.
Institutional sourceSource accessed 2026-09-17
Cold War relic could be ending its time on Grounds — UVA Today ↗
5 July 2022: the four panels are likely standing on Grounds for their final year.
Institutional sourceSource accessed 2026-09-17
Removal of Berlin Wall panels underway at UVA — CBS19 News (Wayback Machine copy) ↗
3 August 2023: construction crews are taking down the four panels of the Berlin Wall outside UVA's Special Collections Library.
Press reportSource accessed 2026-09-17
The Kings of Freedom at the University of Virginia — The Robert & MeiLi Hefner Collection ↗
The owners' page, last modified 28 August 2024: the four sections owned by Robert and MeiLi Hefner were previously on display at the University of Virginia. It names no later venue.
Institutional sourceSource 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 222
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 76
Source-reported segments: 4. 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