Location: Campus of the University of Massachusetts
1 segment
The Berlin Wall segment, which was set up on the UMass campus in Amherst in spring 2023, was donated by the Hanson family. The graffito on the wall was created by Thierry Noir and is called: The Power Of Creativity Over Concrete.
Originally, entrepreneur Eric Hanson purchased the segment in 2010 to take it on a roadshow through the states in connection with his business activities. After his death, his family decided to donate the segment to the University of Massachusetts.
The Wall segment is located on the campus grounds not far from Herter Hall, which houses the History Department and German and Scandinavian Studies, as well as the DEFA Film Library, the only archive outside of Germany.
“The university is grateful to the family of Eric Hanson for the generous donation of this segment of the Berlin Wall,” Subbaswamy said. “For nearly 30 years, the wall stood as a cruel symbol of division — dissecting not only a city and a country, but families and entire societies — and its fall marked a joyous occasion of unification and the beginning of the end of the Cold War. This particular segment of the wall shows that inspiring art can be made amid terrible situations, and its presence at the heart of campus reflects UMass Amherst’s revolutionary spirit,” said Kumble Subbaswamy, UMass Chancellor on the occasion of the inauguration.
Photo above and background:
© Still from YouTube Clip
