American Lives

Behind the Hard Rock Café in Orlando, Florida, can be found a total surprise: a segment of the Berlin Wall. This segment was erected in Berlin in August 1961, standing at twelve feet tall (3.7 meters).

The wall section can be found at Universal CityWalk. Take the walkway which leads to the Blue Man Group theater.

The wall was erected in August 1961 to force East Germans to remain within their communist satellite state. It stood as a harsh reminder of the chasm between the non-communist west and communist east.

On 9 November 1989 the wall was symbolically brought down. Only a few parts of it remain in place or survive elsewhere. The Hard Rock Café proudly displays its little slice of this period of history.

The Berlin Wall cut right through the center of Berlin, dividing entire neighborhoods down the middle as it did so. Its path is still marked in the pavements of today's Berlin.