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The piece of Wall in the Cold War Museum in Langelandsfort

© Peer Henrik Hansen / Langelands Museum

A section of the Berlin Wall was unveiled at the Cold War Museum, Langeland on 13^th August 2011 – 50 years after the Wall was built. Bert Greiser, who had travelled from Berlin to attend the ceremony, had made the last known escape attempt at the former Chausseestraße border crossing in April 1989 together with a friend. The escape attempt failed and both of them were arrested and sent to prison.

The Berlin Senate donated the section of Wall – 3.6-metres-high and 1.2-metres-wide – to the museum. The section had been taken from reserves sponsored by Sony. It has been integrated into the museum’s permanent exhibition and can be found in the multi-purpose hall.

“Fort Langland” museum was opened in 1993. In the 40 years the fort was in operation, it surveyed and registered navigation. Ships from the East Block had to sail over Danish straits to reach the Baltic Sea. Furthermore, the majority of the naval harbours of the Warsaw Treaty were in the Baltic Sea.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis in autumn 1963, the fort was of special importance. On 22^nd October, Soviet merchant ships had been photographed coming out of the Baltic Sea with nuclear missiles onboard. Marine commandos sent this information to NATO and the USA. Just a few weeks earlier, American spy planes had observed nuclear launch platforms erected in Cuba. Together with the pictures from Laneland, it became clear that the Soviets intended to set up nuclear missiles in Cuba. When the Cold War came to an end, there was no longer any need for a fort, and in 1993, it was decided that a “Cold War Museum” should be built. The museum opened on 16^th June 1997. It aims to prevent the Cold War from being forgotten.

The Wall on Tour in Odense

© Peer Henrik Hansen / Langelands Museum

On the occasion of the 30^th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, the Danish “Golden Days Festival” was held in the fall of 2019 to mark the epochal year 1989 as a historical and cultural turning point in the history of Europe. The annual Golden Days Festival, the non-profit organization of the same name cooperates with more than 100 partners from the cultural sector and aims to convey history, culture, art and knowledge to the widest possible audience. The Wall segment from the Cold War Museum toured Denmark’s four largest cities from September 2019 to March 2020 as part of the festival exhibition “The Berlin Wall is Coming”: in Copenhagen, Odense, Aarhus and Aalborg, the segment was displayed in a special glass showcase in various public places. After the tour, the Wall piece returned to the Cold War Museum.