Discovering the Berlin Wall… in Spain
The Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989. This huge structure divided the German capital, along more than 45 kilometers, from August 13, 1961 until that date. With its more than 45,000 concrete blocks, each approximately one and a half meters long, it established the border between the two cities that were formed against the backdrop of the Cold War. On the one hand, West Berlin, part of the Federal Republic of Germany, which was born as an ally of the American, British and French sectors. On the other hand, East Berlin, part of the German Democratic Republic, under Soviet domination.
When this wall fell, many of the fragments of which it was composed were used to rebuild a city that gradually became unified again. Many others, however, experienced a particular journey to different parts of the world. Five major monuments associated with this symbol can be found in Spain, some in the most unexpected places.
Fragments of the Berlin Wall in the park of the same name, in Madrid. | Shutterstock
That’s exactly what you can read in the Berlin Park, in Madrid, where three fragments rest on a pond. They are L-shaped pieces, almost five meters high and 1.20 meters wide. The full inscription reads: ‘in memory of the Berlin Wall, part of it remains here‘. The Berlin Park was inaugurated in 1967 and is full of nods to German culture. Of course, the remains of the wall would not arrive until 1990.
In Torrejón de Ardoz, still in the Community of Madrid, rests another of the pieces. Specifically in the Europa Park, well known for housing replicas of 17 European monuments. A walk through this place is even more stimulating when you realize that one of its jewels is not a reproduction but an authentic piece of history.
Fragment of the wall located in Europa Park. | Shutterstock
Among the unsuspected places where remnants of the wall can be discovered, it will surprise to learn that there is one at a service station near Zuasti. It is located at kilometer 102 on the AP-15, between Pamplona and San Sebastian. This work, promoted by the Navarrese anthropologist José Antobio Jaúregui and designed by the architect Fernando Redón Huici, is known as the Monument to Freedom. Next to it you can read the following: “the road to peace in Europe must be paved in stones torn from the Berlin Wall”, a phrase uttered by the politician and writer Salvador de Madariaga.
Finally, a trip from north to south. In the promenade of A Xunqueira, in Redondela, rests a fragment inside a window, placed in early 2011. Similarly it does in Seville, in the theme park known as Isla Mágica. Next to the large piece of concrete can be read: ‘fragment of the Berlin Wall. Demolished in 1989 for the freedom and brotherhood of peoples, brought to Seville by the German pavilion on the occasion of the Universal Exposition of Seville in 1992′.
Fragment of the wall in Isla Mágica, in Seville. | CarlosVdeHabsburgo, Wikimedia
The passage of time has caused many of the messages scrawled on the cement to lose their strength, but they can still be identified. They are part of the history of the German people, but it has to do with the whole of humanity, so pieces of that history rest in Spain.
