Tucked between classrooms and coffee-fueled study sessions, a massive concrete slab stands outside Kennesaw State University’s Social Sciences building. This 10-foot-tall, 2.7-ton piece of the Berlin Wall once served as a brutal barrier between East and West Germany. Today, it rests in suburban Georgia as a powerful reminder of division, unity, and the passage of time.
Originally gifted to Senator Chuck Clay, grandson of General Lucius D. Clay, the architect of the Berlin Airlift, this section of the Wall was donated to the university during the 30-year anniversary of the wall coming down in 2019, to honor German-American relations and the fight for freedom. The plaque at its base tells the story:
“The Berlin Wall separating West Germany and East Germany was erected on August 13, 1961. It became one of the most powerful and visible symbols of the Cold War. On November 9, 1989, the East German government allowed citizens to visit West Germany, and Germans on both sides began tearing the wall down. The fall of the wall prompted German reunification, which was completed on October 3, 1990. This piece of the wall is loaned to Kennesaw State University by Senator Chuck Clay, grandson of General Lucius D. Clay of Marietta, who served as Military Governor of Germany (1945-1949) and is best known for engineering the Berlin airlift, breaking the Soviet blockade of Berlin in 1948-49. He later represented President Kennedy in Berlin during the Wall Crisis of 1961. This piece of the wall was given to Senator Clay by the Checkpoint Charlie Museum in Berlin to honor the memory of General Clay, and as a reminder of the friendship between the people of Germany and the United States of America.”
Students rush past, noses buried in textbooks and phones, doing yoga in the gazebo nearby, often unaware of the history standing just steps away. This segment, with its smiling sun, is a tangible reminder of the past, urging reflection on the walls that still divide us today.