The record
An element from Kreuzberg at the edge of the Vatican Gardens, bought at the Monte Carlo auction and given to John Paul II.
The element in the Vatican Gardens comes from Waldemarstraße, and its painted face carries a work by Yadegar Asisi showing St Michael's church in Berlin, a parish the Wall had cut off from most of its congregation: the church is on the eastern side, and the painting put it back where people could see it. Placing that particular image in the garden of the pope widely credited with helping end communist rule in Eastern Europe is not an accident.
How did it get here?
Bought at the Monte Carlo auction in June 1990 by Marco Piccininni — born in Rome in 1952, from an industrial family with Vatican connections, later sporting director at Ferrari — and given to John Paul II. It was erected a few years afterwards; 1994 is the commonly cited installation date. Sources differ on whether the gift was made in 1990 and installed in 1994, or made in 1994, and both readings stand until the Vatican's own account is found.
Sources
Listed by the Federal Foundation as #163.
Vatican City, V — The Wall Net ↗
The donor, the Waldemarstraße origin and Yadegar Asisi's painted subject.
General referenceSource accessed 2026-09-17
Where Have All the Fragments Gone? — Lapham's Quarterly ↗
Piccininni bought the element at the Monaco auction and donated it, with 1994 cited for the gift.
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 163
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