Location: private property
1 segment
In the beginning of 1990, Winfried Prem, demolition contractor from Weiden, received the contract of his life: the demolition and crushing of 200 kilometer Wall. Client: the National People’s Army of the GDR. It took three years to finish the job – with up to 20 excavators and ironically several former border guards as employees.
Initially, camera crews from around the world reported on the work. Heads of state, celebrities, even Prince Charles personally shook his hand and expressed their appriciation for the work he was doing with up to 70 people. The National People’s army nominated him as major honorably. In the mid-1990s, the job was done. The shredded Wall, around 180,000 tons concrete, was mostly used in road construction – as underlay for the busy Berliner Ring.
As a personal reminder Prem has kept a segment with a graffito by Thierry Noir, set up in front of his house in Muglhof. Another segment Prem has donated to his hometown Weiden.
The Bayerischer Rundfunk has aired a portrait in 2015:
Photo above and background:
© Still from TV report