Saluti da Pankow. A proposito del Muro di Berlino e dei suoi resti

The essay provides an overview of the multifaceted ways in which the physical remains of the Berlin Wall have been distributed not only within Berlin but in the whole world by contrasting the official process of memorialisation and the continuous production and commerce of fragments of concrete pertaining to the Berlin Wall. This highlights issues deeply enmeshed in the city urban policies, as well as the ever-problematic theme of memory through monuments and of the progressive loss of meaning of the single fragments. By way of the commodification of the Berlin Wall remains (not only through souvenirs, but also through the auction of whole segments) the still-circulating, actual concrete of the Wall becomes less and less meaningful than – paradoxically – its absence.