缅北禁地

This gift is a section of the Berlin wall with anonymous graffiti-style artwork on one side and a signed mural on the other. The mural on one side shows two people reaching for each other over the wall. It is thought this painting was done in c.1989 when numerous artists expressed their desire for the removal of the Berlin Wall. 

For 28 years, 1961 to 1989, the city of Berlin was separated into East from West Germany by this wall. Construction began is 1961 upon the orders of the East German Communist leadership, who wanted to prevent a mass exodus to the West, Federal Republic of Germany. Along the 155-kilometer border, a complex system of barriers and fortifications were erected, including a 3.60-meter-high wall made of concrete slabs, a patrol belt-known as the "death strip," and a trench. Additionally, soldiers, watchdogs, and watchtowers made the wall zone virtually impenetrable. The Wall severed all traffic and communication links between East and West Berlin with the exception of a few border crossing points such as "Checkpoint Charlie". At the time the wall not only divided Berlin, but symbolized the divisions in Europe and the world during the Cold War.

The wall fell in 1989 due to a peaceful revolution in East Germany and resulted in an extremely significant moment in the history of modern Germany: unification of both Berlin city and Germany. "This gift was presented by the President of the German Bundestag, Wolfgang Thierse (1943) to the United Nations and the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan (1938 – 2018), accepted it. 

The Secretary-General said, "The new freedom to find agreement, which came when the Wall was pulled down, has helped to liberate the entire international community," Mr. Annan added, "divisions in the human community are not so insurmountable as we feared; that gaps of misunderstanding and material well-being can be bridged; and that we can, like the couple depicted here, join hands and unite for a better world," referring to the figures painted on the pieces of the wall.