The Wall Net

Berlin Wall reloaded In times of the confrontation of political systems the Berlin Wall was the manifestation of a totalitarian regime on the one hand and the worldwide symbol of the Cold War on the other. On November 9, 1989 the inhuman task of the Anti-Fascist Protection Wall ended, but not the strong symbolism of this ideological bulwark: Fueled by the political and social changes, a real hype about this symbol began. Ordinary citizens became “Mauerspechte”. Meanwhile, the GDR regime worked on a profitable sellout of the border installations. The abrupt end of a formative era, the temporary vacuity of meaning of the structure, the tragic fates, and a provoked art market, that referred mostly to the illegal applied works on the west side of the Wall – 1989 a lot accumulated. Today, decades later, the Berlin Wall has become memorial, monument, object d’art and piece for collectors, bizarre decorative element, contemporary witness, a point of transfer of past into presence and future. Around the globe, on every continent, in a multitude of countries … The Wall Net tracks and documents the journey of the more or less well-preserved Wall segments over space and time. More than 500 present sites are already recorded in the database. However, it is just an initial point: The Wall Net is an open platform that invites its users to active participation – commenting, updating, or uploading information and pictures. Based on private source material, painstaking research and publications, The Wall Net supports today’s symbolism and inverses the initial function of the Berlin Wall: Through the cross-linking of these sites, the integration in social networks, the Berlin Wall is no longer a dividing but a joining element – beyond borders, cultures and ideologies.