At the southwest corner of Grosvenor Square, in front of the statue of Ronald Reagan. Monument A portion of the Berlin Wall, embedded in a grey granite base and covered with a bronze plaque with english text.

“No arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.”  Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, 1981-1989.  First inaugural address, Washington DC, January 1981.

Ronald Reagan, the 40^th President of the United States of America, was a principled fighter for freedom.  With a clear vision and will, he gave hope to the oppressed and shamed the oppressors.  His contribution to world history in the 20^th century culminated in his determined intervention to end the Cold War.  President Reagan has left a lasting legacy as a campaigner for global peace.

“With the lever of patriotism, he lifted up the world.  And so today, in Prague, in Budapest, in Warsaw and Sofia, in Bucharest, in Kiev and in Moscow itself, the world celebrates the life of the great liberator.” Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister 1979-1990.

“With President Reagan, we travelled the road from confrontation to co-operation. I join in the tribute to this remarkable man and salute him.”  Mikhail Gorbachev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union 1985-1991 (President 1990-1991).

“I recall with deep gratitude the late President’s unwavering commitment…to the cause of freedom as well as his abiding faith in human and spiritual values which ensure a future of solidarity, justice and peace in our world.”  Pope John Paul II, Pontificate 1978-2005.

“We owe him our liberty.   This can’t be said often enough by people who lived under oppression for half a century, until communism fell in 1989.” Lech Walesa, President of Poland 1990-1995.

“Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate.  Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” Ronald Reagan, Brandenburg Gate, West Berlin, June 1987.

Fragment of the Berlin Wall, taken from the East side.

The Berlin Wall symbolized the Cold War in its division of East and West.

The City had been divided by Soviet Troops on 13^th August 1961, when overnight a barricade of barbed wire coils and concrete posts was built along the 28.5 mile border between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic.  It was later replaced by a concrete wall with watchtower patrols.  Berlin was a western enclave in the middle of the Soviet controlled East Germany, and considered crucially important to NATO.

The building of the wall was authorized by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party, Nikita Khrushchev, following political tension between him and US President John F. Kennedy.  The instability of the Cold War had created vast migration from the GDR. The wall created human tragedy for Berliners, but war was avoided and West Berlin had been saved.

The Berlin wall was in place for 28 years and was finally demolished on 9^th November 1989, thereby peacefully uniting Germany and liberating Easter Europe.  The reunification of Germany and Berlin took place on 3^rd October 1990. 

In 1989 President Reagan was honoured by Her Majesty the Queen with the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Beth.