Why is there a section of the Berlin Wall standing in Missouri?
Did you know that if you want to see a section of the Berlin Wall you don't have to book a flight to Germany? All you have to do is drive to Fulton, Missouri.
Back in the fall of 2019 (in a pre COVID world when traveling was easy) I was lucky enough to get a chance to visit Berlin, Germany as part of a week long vacation in Europe. I got to see portions of the Berlin Wall up close, I got to touch the wall, feel it, and see the footprints of where it stood. As the two year anniversary of that trip approaches I wanted to see if there was anywhere in America I could see pieces and learn more about the Berlin Wall, and to my surprise there is a section not far from me in Missouri!
According to an article from the USAtoday.com there are 11 cities in the US where you can see pieces of the Berlin Wall, lots of pieces in New York, and even a piece in my hometown of Chicago, BUT it's the pieces in Fulton, Missouri that I want to go check out. According to the article the pieces are a part of the Winston Churchill Memorial at Westminster College, that is where Churchill made his famous Iron Curtain speech.
So why would there also be pieces of the Berlin Wall there? Well apparently when the Wall, Winston Churchill's granddaughter wanted to have a section at the museum and went to Germany to ask for a small piece of the wall, but German officials liked the idea so much of the Wall being a part of where Churchill gave the famous speech they gave her 8 pieces to bring back, and turned it into an installation at the college called "Breakthrough". It sounds like something that I absolutely have to check out for myself!
Click here to read the article from the usatoday.com
For more information on the Churchill museum where the Wall pieces are, click here!