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Most all of us have heard of the Cold War, and the Berlin Wall, especially if you’ve been meeting with your Mid-Wilshire tutor in California. But many of us cannot imagine what it would be like to stare at this massive wall every day. Well it turns out, in Mid-Wilshire you can do just that. What appears to be a piece of wall art is actually large section of the Berlin Wall, imported from Germany to the United States. On one side is the original artwork spray painted on by citizens when the wall came down, on the other side is art done by four different street artists. There is even an original guard shack off to the side that was used by East German patrolmen to guard the border.

So, what’s the big deal? The Berlin Wall was constructed in 1961, as a way to stop the residents of Eastern Germany from fleeing. West Berlin was under huge influence from the allies, and was a capitalist economy. Even though the Cold War had ended, East Germans that no longer wished to be under communist rule were fleeing to the safe haven of West Berlin by the tens of thousands. East Germany saw this as an embarrassment and as a threat, and wanted to stop this mass escape. So, in a short two week they constructed a makeshift wall that only had 3 places to go in or out, and those spots were heavily guarded. After some time, the wall was fortified to be the wall we recognize in our history books, and stood until 1989. The Eastern Germany side of the wall featured sand pits for showing footprints, attack dogs, spotlights, and even trip wire machine guns. With all this some 5,000 East German citizens still found ways around, under, or through the wall.

As tensions cooled in the years after the war, the spokesman for East Germany’s Communist Party declared that the wall would be coming down. That night at midnight, the gates were opened and over 2 million people from East Berlin flooded to the wall, to celebrate with their neighbors, in what can only be described as one of the biggest street parties ever seen. Cranes tore down sections of the wall while citizens took part by using pick axes and other tools to chip away at sections.

Today the wall is gone, but the history of the wall is still there, and in Mid-Wilshire you can experience that history first hand. So, after your next lesson with your Mid-Wilshire tutor, stop and check out this irreplaceable piece of history, that’s free to anyone and everyone to experience.