The “Kings of Freedom” Berlin Wall four panel installation came down this week after over nine years on Grounds. After removal, the panels will be returned to the Hefner family.
According to Jody Kielbasa, vice provost for the arts at the University, the installation was never meant to be permanent. Robert and MeiLi Hefner originally lent the panels to the University in 2012 for an anticipated one year celebration of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, but extended their display to last almost a decade.
“Having it here from the Hefners for nine years has been truly a gift to the University community and greater Charlottesville community,” Kielbasa said.
The west side of the panels showcased a spray painted mural by west German artist Dennis Kaun. The east German side was left unpainted, simply gray concrete. For over two decades during the Cold War, the wall divided capitalist west Germany from socialist east Germany, where artwork was not permitted on the wall.
The historic panels were removed Friday from their site in front of McCormick Road next to Alderman Library. Kielbasa said the site was originally chosen because it was highly visible and open to the community.
The location was also symbolic because it was near other historically important locations — including the Rotunda and the Albert and Shirley Small Collections Library, where copies of the Declaration of Independence are displayed.
“These reminders of freedom align with the University's founding principles of educating tomorrow's citizen leaders for the greater good,” University spokesperson Bethanie Glover told The Cavalier Daily in an email statement.
Kielbasa said the Hefners donated the panels because they were interested in academic exploration and celebrating the historic event of the fall of the wall. Shortly after the wall was installed in 2014, several departments on Grounds created a symposium around the installation in honor of the 25th anniversary of the wall’s fall.
The installation of the walls for the celebration required lifting the heavy panels over the trees next to Alderman library and constructing a glass and steel pavilion around them.
“It was quite an extraordinary undertaking,” Kielbasa said.
The Hefner family is paying for the removal and transportation of the panels while the University is paying for the dismantling of the display case and restoring the landscape and sidewalk to its pre-exhibit condition.
According to the University, there are no current plans for a new installation.
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