When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, people wasted no time hacking away at the concrete barrier. Those who chipped at it were known as “Mauerspechte” (wall woodpeckers). By June 1990 most of the Wall had been removed by bulldozers; only a few sections remain at official sites such as the Berlin Wall Memorial and the East Side Gallery.
Despite that, fragments keep appearing across the city and beyond — in the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, souvenir shops and hotels. Brightly painted chunks, fridge magnets and postcards are sold in large numbers even nearly 40 years after the fall. That raises a question: are these pieces genuine, or replicas from less significant origins?
“There definitely are fake bits of wall that are made of plaster,” says Julian Sacha. But most pieces on sale are genuine, he adds. Julian and his brother Sebastian run Urban Products Sacha Ltd. in Berlin-Reinickendorf, the main supplier of authentic Wall fragments. The family business started in 1992 after Sebastian’s father-in-law obtained a large number of fragments and began breaking the concrete slabs for sale.
Urban Products supplies a major souvenir chain in Berlin and ships pieces worldwide, mainly to the US, UK and China. An exhibition touring Europe since 2024, “The Berlin Wall. A World Divided,” also sells fragments supplied from Reinickendorf alongside the exhibit.
The firm openly spray-paints pieces in vivid colors to enhance their appeal. Prices start at €9.90 and pieces come with a certificate of authenticity. Even the German parliament has been a customer. Sacha says they still have 40 to 45 sections in storage — about 30 whole and 10–15 already broken up for sale. Over the years many slabs (originally about 3.6 meters high and 1.2 meters wide) have been shipped across the globe, though the locations of many remain unknown.
With demand declining in recent years, Urban Products is shifting focus from concrete keepsakes toward vintage tin signs, key rings and other mementos.
This article was translated from German.