Chapter 30: How Does the Berlin Wall Museum Make Money?

The excavation of the Berlin Wall was not something that could be done overnight, and the large and small walls had to be specially numbered according to their location and time, and then transported to the warehouse to be cleaned and spliced, because the destruction of the Berlin Wall was so complete that many fragments were only the size of a fist.

This kind of small fragments can't be put together on the wall, but fortunately, the Berlin Wall is very long, and the basic materials are the same! Jia Lei pieced together the walls recovered from the major landfills, and finally got a wall that was several kilometers long.

As for the remaining fragments, Jia Lei took pictures one by one like treasures and put them away in transparent plastic bags, and he had to wait for the museum to be built, and then sell these things at a high price after packaging them in the souvenir shop.

"I've heard that the land has already been settled, right?" asked Jia Lei.

"Yes boss, we found a place at your request, on Niderkel Sina Strasse, between Potsdamer Platz and Checkpoint Charlie, where there is also the remains of the Berlin Wall about 80 meters long. The other location is in a vacant lot near Checkpoint Charlie, and the building on the vacant land does not cost much money to buy. Don't know which one you want to choose?" asked Richard.

"Which one do you think is cheaper?" Jia Lei asked his asset appraiser, Richard.

"Of course, it's better to be near Checkpoint Charlie! There are ready-made houses there that can be converted directly into museums. Richard said.

"But I prefer the one near Potsdamer Platz, because there's a real section of the Berlin Wall there!" Mr. Jia said, but what Mr. Jia didn't say was that it would become the busiest commercial street in the future.

"But it's a major thoroughfare, and after the merger of East and West Berlin, it's too close to the city center and it might be replanned! If we build the museum there, it might be demolished if we run into urban planning!" Richard said.

"The Berlin Wall is historical, it shouldn't be demolished, right?" asked Jia Lei, frowning.

"Boss, you are too naïve, last year there were still 155 kilometers of the Berlin Wall in the city of Berlin, but this year it has been less than a year, and the remaining Berlin Wall in the whole of Berlin is less than 10 kilometers in total, and most of these remnants of the Berlin Wall are in remote places in the wilderness, and most of them are incomplete. The Germans hated the Berlin Wall so much that there was no excuse to tear it down, let alone an excuse for the brightness. Pete said on the side.

"You're right! Jia Lei hurriedly reflected.

At this time, people were blinded by hatred, and it was not until twenty years later that people regretted not leaving behind the Berlin Wall, a historical building of special significance, but the Berlin Wall, which was buried in the ground at that time, has long been gone.

"Then buy both!" Jia Lei thought for a while and said.

"No, boss, all the assets in East Berlin are in the name of the Trusteeship, and we can't buy the one near Potsdamer Platz for the time being. Novan reminded Jia Lei.

"Then buy the land near Checkpoint Charlie and turn it into a museum, and then you can go to other places to see if you can buy a watchtower, and if you can't buy it, find someone to build one as it is." Jia Lei said.

"The watchtowers are all in East Germany, and they all belong to the Trusteeship! If we want to buy them, we have to go to the Trusteeship. Novan said.

"It's the Trusteeship Bureau again! I don't think I can get around it. After Jia Lei finished speaking, he lay on the table in a dejected manner.

****

Whether it is an archaeological excavation or building a museum, it is not an overnight thing, when Jia Lei was busy running back and forth between the construction site and the landfill, the time entered March 1990.

"Jia Lei, how are you outside?" asked Su Renfeng on the phone.

"I'm fine, I'm doing good deeds now!" Jia Lei said, glancing at the newspaper in his hand.

"It's okay, I was going to tell you that the Soviet government was ready to issue a new currency, and the original order to invalidate the ruble has been canceled. I asked someone to find out that there will be large bills of 100 or even 500 roubles, and you can come back and do business with me. Su Renfeng said happily that now that the ruble exchange rate is temporarily stable, his business is much better than before.

"No, I don't plan to go back for the time being! I also advise you, the situation in the Soviet Union is unstable and there is a high possibility of a military coup, you and Natasha should not leave Shuangchengzi recently, and if the situation is not good, hide back in Dongning. Jia Lei couldn't help but say that Su Renfeng was his relative, and Jia Lei didn't want them to be affected by the coup.

Jia Lei didn't want to go back to the Soviet Union at this time, in case he accidentally ate a bullet - it would become the biggest regret in his life!

The money is gone, but the people are gone!

"I'm very good in Germany, business is very good here! I'm about to sell a building and open a department store. Jia Lei said.

"It's good to open a department store, and you can come as a charter public without doing anything in the future. Su Renfeng said with a smile that he was afraid that Jia Lei would lose money in business.

"I still have something to do, so I won't tell you!" Jia Lei hurriedly put down the phone, Jia Lei was afraid that if he continued to talk about it, he would accidentally tell the story of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

What is 500 rubles, the USSR later issued 500,000 rubles!

Jia Lei was in a bad mood, but fortunately turned his grief and anger into strength and went out to find fault - he didn't inspect the progress of the project.

****

The purchase of a department store is still in the works, but the museum already has an eyebrow, and Jia Lei went to the museum's construction site to inspect the thirteenth layer of the Berlin Wall.

The Berlin Wall refers not only to the reinforced concrete elements that Jia Lei scavenged back from the landfill, but also to the entire 15-layer defense line to prevent the escape of East Germany.

"How is the watchtower?" asked Jia Lei.

"It's done! But there were a few East Germans protesting inside. Novan said.

"Leave them alone, they'll be gone after our commemoration tomorrow. Jia Lei said.

"Is the fourteenth layer of line covered?" Jia Lei asked.

"Alright! It's only the fifteenth layer of defense now, but we don't have a river here. Novan said worriedly.

"It's fine if there is no river! Diving equipment is too expensive, we can save some money if we don't build a fifteenth layer of defense. Jia Lei thought for a while and said.

**

The next day

Jia Lei and people from the city government unveiled the memorial to the victims in front of the museum, and the entire base of the monument is made of the remains of the Berlin Wall.

The monument is carved with a middle-aged man sitting on the wall looking ahead, the man is sitting on the wall with his chin in one hand and his chest in the other, smiling and looking in the direction of West Berlin, in front of him a mother is herding pigeons in the square with a pair of children, and four old people are sitting and talking.

It can't be seen in the front, but on the back of the sculpture, there is a gun hole on the chest covered by the man, and blood is slowly flowing out.

(Extra)

"Sam, be careful, don't get caught by the searchlights on the watchtower. Frank whispered.

"Don't talk! Squat!" Sam pinned Frank into a pit in the ground.

The lights on the watchtower were missing from right to left, and suddenly stopped!

"Oops! Laika has been discovered!" Sam whispered.

"Da Da Da!" There was a gunshot and a few screams rang out from the place where the lights were shining, and several young men and women rolled out with smoke all over their bodies, and one of them got up with a wounded leg and ran desperately forward, and the searchlight immediately caught up.

"Let's go, and we're led away by Laika by the searchlight. Sam said quickly.

Then he led a dozen people to run forward desperately, and after running for a while, a smooth, light-colored cement wall about 3.5 meters high appeared in front of him, with barbed wire fences and sirens attached in some places, and at the same time several groups of people appeared near the barbed wire.

"The boy squatted down and let the girl climb up first with our backs. Frank went up to the wall to answer!" Sam said, crouching down.

Frank nodded, took a few steps back, and then sprinted and stepped on the wall of the hands of his two classmates, jumping up with the force of their throws and grabbing the top of the wall, but unfortunately he underestimated the smooth curved wall above, and his hand slid down again with nowhere to take the opportunity.

"I had no choice but to take the ladder directly. Sam said.

The boys in the team immediately started to build the ladder according to the pre-rehearsal rehearsal, and Millie and several other girls stepped on the backs of their male classmates to climb up one by one.

The people on the other side also slowly climbed up with the help of tools, and many people scrambled over the wall, and as soon as Sam and the others hit the searchlight, the people who stayed on the other side of the wall let out screams, and then there was a burst of gunfire......

Sam and his group went around the steel horse to cut through the two-meter-high wire fence, when someone accidentally touched the siren, and half of them were left behind by the gunshots!

"Bang! Bang!" There was an electrified barbed wire fence in front of them, and Tom and his group were helpless, when a middle-aged man more than ten meters away took out a pair of insulated gloves and corresponding equipment to cut the wires of the barbed wire, and the people who were stopped in front of the barbed wire followed him and crawled out in panic.

At this time, more than half of the more than 200 refugees had been lost, and suddenly two police dogs jumped out of the night and barked, and more than a dozen people were immediately discovered.

"Run, run!" shouted Sam, and everyone ran like crazy.

"Bang, bang!" the group accidentally stepped on a mine belt as they ran frantically, killing many people, including Frank and others.

At this moment, a car rushed out, quickly rushed through the mine belt, and then plunged into the trench.

Sam and the others ran over a 5-meter-high street lamp, knocked down an armed guard, again crossed a 2-meter-high electrified barbed wire fence with sirens, ran over a large clearing without any obstacles, climbed over a second concrete wall, and finally landed.

This cement wall is 3.5~4.2 meters high and 15 cm thick, which can withstand the impact of armored vehicles, and the spray painting on the wall behind Sam says Long live freedom!

"Smack!" Countless lights lit up all around, and bursts of applause rang out all around.

"Congratulations to the two of you who have climbed over the Berlin Wall! This is the Golden Warrior Medal awarded to them by our museum, which is engraved with the Berlin Wall and the Brandenburg Gate!" Jia Lei smiled and held two 18-karat gold badges and handed them to Sam and another warrior!

This is one of the experiences at Jia Lei's Berlin Wall Museum, flipping through the Berlin Wall!

Each participant pays a $100 entry fee, and each tool is worth anywhere from $50 to $100,000, with the highest price even a tank!

Relying on seven or eight experiential activities every day, Jia Lei's museum can earn about 100,000 US dollars a day, plus other income such as selling souvenirs, the net profit is more than 300,000 US dollars a day.

"Hey, now I finally dare to boldly open activities, and from '91 to '96, I only dared to open the public to visit and take pictures!" Jia Lei said.

(The 15 lines of defense of the historical Berlin Wall, not counted as words)

Layer 0 of Defense: 302 lookouts

The first layer of defence: about 3.5 meters high, smooth, pale concrete walls, with wire fences and sirens in places

The second line of defense: steel repellents

The third layer of defense: a 2-meter-high wire fence

The fourth layer of defense: acoustic alarm cables

Fifth line of defense: electrified barbed wire

Sixth Layer of Defense: 22 bunkers in total

Tier 7 of defense: Cables to guide (slide) police dogs (600 dogs in total)

The eighth layer of defense: 6~15 meters wide open space without turf, which can leave the footprints of fugitives and bury mines

The ninth layer of defense line: 3~5 meters deep anti-vehicle trench

Tenth layer of defense: 5-meter-high street lights

11th Layer of Defense: Armed Guards (14,000 in total)

Twelfth layer of defence: 2 meters high electrified barbed wire with sirens

Thirteenth layer of defense: open space

The fourteenth layer of defense line: the second cement wall, 3.5~4.2 meters high and 15 cm thick, can withstand the impact of armored vehicles

15th Layer of Defence: There are places where you need to swim across the River Spree