French chocolatier marks Berlin Wall fall in chocolate
A French chocolatier has celebrated 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall by replicating part of the infamous structure - using one tonne of solid chocolate.
Patrick Roger took one week to construct the piece, which is six metres long and three metres tall. Designed to resemble a real part of the original wall, the sculpture is decorated with colourful, edible “paint” and graffiti, and has “Berlin” written across it.
It was created to commemorate the fall of the Berlin wall, on November 9, 1989, and has also been designed to “fall” and break. It is currently being exhibited at Mr Roger’s boutique, at 225, Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, in the 8th arrondissement in Paris.
On November 9 this year (Saturday; tomorrow), at 10h30 local time, the chocolate sculpture will be broken, allowing the chocolate to be shared out among members of the public.
As Mr Roger’s website explains: “Almost one tonne of chocolate was needed to create this wall, of which the structure is entirely in chocolate. It is very heavy...If it falls, it breaks."
Mr Roger said: “That will really be the goal on [November] 9, to make the wall fall, so that everyone will be able to put some [chocolate] in a bag, and leave with a piece of the wall.”
The real Berlin wall was almost four metres high and more than 43 kilometres long, and largely made of concrete.
It first began to be torn down on November 9, 1989, just minutes after the Communist German Democratic Republic (GDR) announced that travel restrictions would be lifted between East and West Berlin, and Germany as a whole. The two sides had been separated for 28 years.
Germany was officially reunited one year later.
