Berlin’s THE DAY THE WALL CAME DOWN sculpture is located near the Allied Museum on Clayallee, a wide boulevard named in honor of U.S. General Lucius D. Clay. A gift of friendship from the American people to the people of Germany, the spirited 1-1/4 life size bronze symbolizes victory of the human spirit. The bronze was unveiled on the 50th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift.
Berlin’s THE DAY THE WALL CAME DOWN sculpture symbolizes victory of the human spirit. It was unveiled on the 50th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015. www.walled-in-berlin.com
Creator of THE DAY THE WALL CAME DOWN sculpture
American artist Veryl Goodnight created the sculpture, which consists of five horses leaping to freedom over the rubble of the collapsed Berlin Wall. Although Ms. Goodnight is widely known for her realistic depiction of horses, THE DAY THE WALL CAME DOWN sculpture is not about horses. It is about Freedom, inspired by the Fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989.
For 28 years, the Berlin Wall was a visual reminder of oppression. Goodnight’s horses symbolize the deep-seated human desire for freedom, a yearning that is shared by all people. In addition to sculpting the animals – one stallion and four mares – the artist replicated four-foot-wide and 14-foot high concrete panels, just like the ones that extended for 105 miles around West Berlin prior to the fall of the wall. She then broke the reconstructed panels beneath the horses, showing graffiti on the western side of the wall. To further symbolize the East-West separation, Ms. Goodnight then placed the stallion inside what would have been East Berlin while the mares gallop to the free West.
Inspiration for THE DAY THE WALL CAME DOWN sculpture
Veryl Goodnight conceived the idea of horses leaping to freedom on the evening of 9 November 1989. After having worked on a small horse sculpture earlier in the month, she watched on television thousands of East Berliners push through the openings of the Berlin Wall. That night she dreamt that her sculpted horses represented people galloping through the rubble of the fallen Berlin Wall. THE DAY THE WALL CAME DOWN was born.
Two identical castings of Ms. Goodnight’s THE DAY THE WALL CAME DOWN sculpture exist. One of her artworks is located in Berlin, the other is on display in the central courtyard of the George Bush Presidential Library, adjacent to the campus of Texas A&M University. Each sculpture is 30 feet long, 18 feet wide, 12 feet high and weighs approximately 7 tons. In 2016, Ms. Goodnight was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas.
For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic or current events, people, places or food.
Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.
