The water sculpture in Invalidenpark was built in the mid-1990s to commemorate two things: the reunification of Germany and a church that was used, among other things, to lay World War I heroes to rest in the nearby military cemetery.

The sculpture is called The Sunken Wall, referring to both the fall of the Berlin Wall and the church that was bombed during World War II.

In Prussia, the area was a kitchen garden for the veterans’ home for soldiers returning from the Napoleonic Wars and the Prussian Wars. The imperial family donated a church to the area in 1890 in memory of the recently deceased Empress Augusta.

Five years later, the church was completed and named Gnadenkirche or the Grace Church in English.

Although the church was located adjacent to the military area, Invalidenpark means Veterans’ Park, ordinary citizens could also attend church services.

During World War I, however, state funerals were held at the Gnadenkirche. The pilot Manfred von Richthofen, better known as the Red Baron, and Admiral Ludwig von Schröder are both buried from the church in the nearby Invalidenfriedhof, the Veterans’ Cemetery.

The church was hit during a bombing raid in World War II, and the East Berlin government demolished the ruins in 1968.

After Germany’s reunification in 1990, Invalidenpark needed to be renovated. French architect Christoph Girot was commissioned to design the sculpture that now adorns the park where the church once stood.

The sculpture is made of granite and surrounded by a basin of water. In summer, there is a waterfall running from the top down to the basin.

It is also possible to climb up the narrow sculpture and view the park from above, as well as Invalidenstraße, which leads to the Museum of Natural History in one direction and the Central Station in the other.