The record
Two segments outside the library, identified in 2015 by the Berliner who had painted one of them in 1990 as a farewell to a friend.
Two segments outside the library, one with a cartoon Elvis, the other with a heart drawn around Wir lieben Dich, the name Polly, and the year 1990. In 2015 the painter found them: Robin Pohle, a Berliner, learned through his friend Christoph Schmidt that the section he and two friends had painted in 1990 was in California. They had painted it as a farewell to their friend "Polly" — Andrea von Coburg — who was moving to Munich, and had photographed themselves beside it and given her a framed print. Merkur later published a picture of von Coburg holding that photograph. She places the original site at the Engelbecken, the old Luisenstadt canal line along today's Bethaniendamm. Everything the atlas is for is in this record: an anonymous slab in a suburban car park, identified twenty-five years later by the people who painted it, with a dated photograph to prove it.
How did it get here?
Donated to the city by the descendants of Frank Golzen, a German-born American businessman who had displayed them at his own office park. The city installed them outside the library on 22 August 2013; until then they had stood in a car park at 2685 Marine Way. The 2015 television report names Frank and Kunigunde Golzen themselves as the donors, the family account names their descendants; both are kept.
Sources
Listed by the Federal Foundation as #185 and by the Berlin Wall Archive as #272.
List of Berlin Wall segments — Wikipedia ↗
The Golzen donation and the 2015 identification, citing the Merkur report.
General referenceSource accessed 2026-09-17
Slabs Of Berlin Wall At Mountain View Library Tell Story Of Friendship Written In Graffiti ↗
Two slabs displayed outside the Mountain View library, given to the city by Frank and Kunigunde Golzen, who bought them soon after 1989; Robin Pohle, one of the original painters, identified the graffito (wir liebe dich, a heart, the name Polly) in July 2015 after a friend found a picture of the slabs online.
Press reportSource accessed 2026-09-17
Berlin Wall Segments to be Installed Thursday at Library ↗
Installation in front of the Mountain View Public Library on Thursday 22 August 2013; two segments given by the Golzen family, shipped to Oakland when one was expected, and kept since 1989 in a car park at 2685 Marine Way.
Press reportSource 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 185
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 272
Source-reported segments: 2. This is not a separately verified count.
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