The Day the Wall Came Down: Berlin, Germany | Houston, Texas

On August 13, 1961, the Berlin Wall began as a barrier of armed guards and coiled barbed wire. The East Germans quickly erected a 14-foot-high, 104-mile-long concrete wall, completely surrounding West Berlin. For more than 28 years the Berlin Wall stood as the most visible icon of the Cold War. On the night of November 9, 1989, the world witnessed its sudden and unexpected collapse.

Artist Veryl Goodnight's sculpture, cast entirely by Valley Bronze, captures this moment of joy shared around the world when the Berlin Wall could no longer contain the will of the people.

The five horses racing through the rubble of the fallen Berlin Wall signify the freeing of the East German people. They also represent the breaching of personal and political barriers wherever they exist.

The sculpture, 1.5 times life-size, was a gift from the American people to the people of Germany. It resides permanently at the Alliierten Museum (Allied Musuem) in Berlin, Germany. An exact copy is displayed at the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library in Houston, Texas.