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Fragment 22 of the Berlin Wall is finally in PHL


Students look at a section of the Berlin Wall, a gift to the Filipino people from the people of Germany, on display at the National Museum in Manila on Thursday, October 8. The wall was erected by the German Democratic Republic in 1961 to encircle West Berlin, and it became the iconic symbol of a divided Europe and the Cold War until its demolition on November 9, 1989. The fall of the Berlin Wall was the first step in the reunification of Germany, on October 3, 1990. AFP/Jay Directo
 
A section of the Berlin Wall earmarked for the Philippines was officially inaugurated at the National Museum of the Filipino People on Wednesday, which was also German Unity Day and the 25th anniversary of German Unification.

Several sections of the Berlin Wall have been sent to different cities all over the world during state visits since the Wall came down in 1989.

The fragment sent to the Philippines, called “Mauerteil,” is the 22nd of the wall's 40 sections. It stands 3.65 meters tall and 1.2 meters wide, and weighs 2.8 tons.


In 2011, then-German President Christian Wulff said in a statement on the 25th anniversary of the EDSA Revolution that People Power was an inspiration to the peoples of East and West Germany at the time.

"Only a few months later, the Berlin Wall came down and we Germans were able to make our unified state a reality in peace and freedom," he said.

A section of the wall was designated for the Philippines as a gift from the City of Berlin, but the slab stayed unclaimed in Germany for more than 10 years. In a piece for Manila Bulletin last year, former Philippine Ambassador to Germany Jose Abeto Zaide said that during President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's term, the Philippine Embassy in Germany held talks with the Berlin Protocol, resulting in then-Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit's agreeing to send a piece of the Wall to the country.

Zaide added that the task only needed Arroyo's availability to sign the Golden Book at the Berlin Rathaus (City Hall), a consent of the EDSA committee to receive the Berlin Wall, and a logistical support for shipment of the section to Manila.

The plan never pushed through because Arroyo's visit to Germany never materialized.

Last December, the deed of donation for the artifact was officially turned over to the Philippine Embassy by the Berlin Senate Chancellery.

In a note, the Berlin Senate said it was “happy that part of the Berlin Wall would stand in Manila as a monument to remember that it was possible to successfully overcome and reunify divisions in Berlin and Europe.” — BM, GMA News
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