Berlin Wall exhibition featuring six original sections opens in Barcelona

An international exhibition on the Berlin Wall was launched on Friday at Espai Inmersa, in Barcelona's Poblenou district.

After stops in Paris and Madrid, 'Berlin Wall: A Divided World' has now arrived in the Catalan capital, where it will remain open until March 2026. 

The exhibition features over 200 original artefacts and six authentic sections of the Berlin Wall, each measuring 3.6 metres high and weighing over three tonnes. 

"The Berlin Wall is an international symbol of freedom," said Axel Klausmeier, director of the Berlin Wall Foundation, in an interview with Catalan News. "It shows that dictatorships can be overcome peacefully."

The six wall segments, transported by truck from Paris, belong to the final generation of wall sections introduced in 1975, the same type that was torn down in 1989.

"They stand as witnesses to the events of 1989," Klausmeier explains. "On the East side, the wall was painted white. At night, when illuminated, you could see the shadows of people trying to escape. Guards could identify them more easily than against the grey surface on the West side."

Alongside these monumental sections, the exhibition also displays barbed wire from the early phases of the division and various anti-escape obstacles, including the notorious Stalin's Lawn, a metallic structure lined with sharp steel spikes.

"It was not just a wall," Klausmeier says, "but a complete military system made up of barriers, fences, and guarded zones. The border guards had orders to shoot to kill."

Around 140 people lost their lives because of the Wall, most shot by border guards or killed during escape attempts, though there were also tragic collateral victims.

One such story is that of Mert Çetin, a five-year-old boy from West Berlin. While playing with friends near the border, he fell into the river separating the two sides. Because the guards had orders to shoot, no one dared to jump in to rescue him, and Mert tragically drowned. 

This is just one of the many personal stories featured in the exhibition, which gives a strong human dimension to the history of the Berlin Wall.

"It affected people deeply in their everyday lives," Klausmeier reflected. "Which side you were on determined everything. It was the difference between democracy and dictatorship."

Tickets start at €12.80 and can be booked online. An audio guide, included in the ticket price, offers an "immersive," hour-long experience, considered an "essential part" of the visit.