Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso and German Ambassador to the Philippines Anke Reiffenstuel led the unveiling ceremony on Monday for a fragment of the Berlin Wall placed at the Bonifacio Shrine.
They were joined by Manila Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna and National Museum director Jeremy Barns during the Manila City Hall flag-raising ceremony.
The portion of the Berlin Wall, identified as “Fragment 22”, was donated by the city government of Berlin in Germany to the Philippines in 2014 on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the wall, the Department of Foreign Affairs earlier said.
It was housed at the National Museum since 2014 and now placed at the Bonifacio Shrine.
Between 1961 and 1989, the Berlin Wall divided the City of Berlin into two halves, representing two conflicting ideologies of East and West Germany.
Its collapse on November 9, 1989 during a mass protest was a crucial event in German history that led to the reunification of Germany.
The Berlin city government sent fragments of the wall to several countries as a gift.
Fragment 22 allotted for the Philippines is called “Mauerteil” and 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.
