The record
Given by Daimler-Benz to Bill Gates in February 1996, and in corporate hands ever since.
A section held at the Microsoft Conference Center on the company's Redmond campus. It is among the small group of records in this catalogue in corporate rather than public hands, which is also the group whose current status is hardest to check: nothing obliges a company to say where an object has been moved to, or whether it is still there.
The Seattle Times, reporting the private unveiling in August 1996, put it in the glass-walled employee cafeteria at Red Rock West, a satellite site, and gave its size as 11 feet by 3.5 feet and 3.5 tons. The list this record was first written from says Conference Center; neither source has been checked against a visit, and both readings are kept.
How did it get here?
Recorded as a gift from Daimler-Benz AG to Bill Gates on 8 February 1996.
Sources
Listed by the Federal Foundation as #227 and by the Berlin Wall Archive as #347.
List of Berlin Wall segments — Wikipedia ↗
An original part of the Berlin Wall given by Daimler-Benz AG to Bill Gates on 8 February 1996, now at the Microsoft Conference Center.
General referenceSource accessed 2026-09-17
Microsoft's Wall Can Be Viewed On The Web ↗
Daimler-Benz gave the fragment to Bill Gates during his February 1996 visit to its German headquarters; 11 feet tall, 3.5 feet wide, 3.5 tons, permanently installed in the glass-walled employee cafeteria at Red Rock West, a Microsoft satellite campus in Redmond, and unveiled privately in August 1996.
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 227
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 347
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