When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, crowds immediately began chipping away at the barrier—so-called Mauerspechte, or “wall woodpeckers.” By mid-1990 most of the structure had been cleared with bulldozers, leaving only a few preserved stretches such as the Berlin Wall Memorial and the East Side Gallery. Yet fragments keep turning up around the city: museums like the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, souvenir shops and even hotels sell pieces as magnets, postcard mounts and other keepsakes.
Nearly 40 years on, painted concrete chunks are a common tourist item, which raises the question of authenticity. Some vendors offer plaster replicas, but many pieces are genuine sections of the Wall, says Julian Sacha. Julian and his brother Sebastian run Urban Products Sacha Ltd. in Reinickendorf, a business that began in 1992 after Sebastian’s father-in-law acquired a large number of fragments and started breaking them down for sale.
Urban Products supplies major souvenir chains in Berlin and ships worldwide, with many buyers in the US, UK and China. Their items have even been included in the touring exhibition “The Berlin Wall. A World Divided.” The company acknowledges that fragments are often spray-painted after removal to improve their look. Pieces start at around €9.90 and are sold with a certificate of authenticity; members of the German parliament have purchased from them.
Original Wall slabs were roughly 3.6 meters high and 1.2 meters wide. Over the years many full sections were sent around the globe, though the whereabouts of some remain unknown. Urban Products currently stores about 40–45 sections—roughly 30 whole slabs and 10–15 already broken for sale.
Demand for authentic Wall fragments has eased in recent years, and the company has shifted some focus to other Berlin souvenirs such as vintage tin signs and key rings. While imitation pieces exist, many of the small concrete keepsakes available today are genuine remnants of the Wall.
This article was translated from German.