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3: THE MATERIALITY OF THE BERLIN WALL<br />
around the materiality of the Berlin Wall. What was to become of this<br />
iconic but much hated monument Most people just wanted it gone, but a<br />
few voices of caution were raised, both from professionals and concerned<br />
Berliners. A proposal to preserve sections of the wall was suggested by the<br />
Berlin State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments and<br />
following investigations seven sections were put forward for preservation.<br />
Strong feelings against its preservation by the general public and from<br />
politicians, however, led to demolition (Klausmeier 2009:97). Since the late<br />
1990s there has been an increased interest in the remains of the Berlin Wall<br />
more than as a commodity and studies and research have been carried out<br />
on the material that remains (Feversham and Schmidt 1999 and 2007,<br />
Dolff-Bonekämper 2002, Klausmeier and Schmidt 2004, Harrison 2005,<br />
Schmidt and von Preuschen 2005, Taylor 2006, Sheffer 2007 and 2008,<br />
Rottman 2008 Klausmeier 2009,). These studies show that although great<br />
efforts went into the demolition of the actual wall structures there are other<br />
remains related to the wall still in situ. Although more and more of these<br />
traces are disappearing several of them can still be seen in the landscape<br />
today. A major archaeological study of what remained of the Berlin Wall<br />
was carried out between 2001–2003 by the Department of Architectural<br />
Conservation at the Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus,<br />
Germany on behalf of the Berlin State Authorities. The aim of the study was<br />
to record any remaining features of the former border structure. The results<br />
were presented in Alex Klausmeier and Leo Schmidt’s book “Wall Remnants<br />
– Wall Traces”. Presented in the format of a guidebook this archaeological<br />
survey covers the full length of the inner city wall through Berlin<br />
(Klausmeier and Schmidt 2004:13). This study together with two visits to<br />
Berlin, both in 2009, forms the base for my discussions about the materiality<br />
of the Berlin Wall.<br />
The Berlin Wall is closely related to the idea of the Iron Curtain as they<br />
have developed together and often becomes synonymous. The Berlin Wall<br />
is not one of my study areas but it is highly important, especially for the<br />
idea of the Iron Curtain and for many people as a manifestation of the Cold<br />
War. In the introduction to their book “Wall Remnants – Wall Traces”,<br />
Klausmeier and Schmidt write that the Berlin Wall “was not an inevitable<br />
product of the Cold War” (Klausmeier and Schmidt 2004:10). It is true that<br />
the Soviet Union only gave in to the demands of the leaders of the German<br />
Democratic Republic (GDR) for a barrier to stop the exodus of refugees<br />
from East to West Berlin (Harrison 2005:19). However, as discussed in<br />
Chapter 2, it is clear that the Berlin Wall became one of the most visible and<br />
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