Recently I read that there’s a section of the Berlin Wall outside St. Petersburg’s old passenger train station. When I ran across this snippet of odd information I realized I had to see it to believe it, so I set out on an adventure.

I was expecting a somber memorial to man’s inhumanity to man so I was a bit surprised to find the large slabs of concrete surrounded by shrubbery in a parking lot, marked only by one tiny, clay plaque.

The marker makes sense considering that the historic depot is now home to the Morean Center for Clay. And the location does too, since the sections of wall were purchased in 2007 by the city’s Outdoor Arts Foundation.

According to this Tampa Bay Times article, the foundation purchased 350 sections of 8’x3′ wall, salvaged from the Checkpoint Charlie area. At the time, it was purported to be the largest collection of the Wall in the world.

The intention was to create something beautiful out of something ugly. I’m not sure whatever became of the plans for the 100 different art installations but, having visited the Checkpoint Charlie museum I’m glad this reminder remains.