The slabs, painted by Berlin students, were "too brutal," one councilor told the city's community development committee, according to New Zealand's main newspaper-sourced website Stuff.
Christchurch — still traumatized by a March 15 terror attack on two local mosques and in the midst of rebuilding some eight years after a series of earthquakes — was gifted the segments in 2017 by Beratungsgesellschaft, a German construction firm.
On Wednesday, an exasperated former mayor and now counciler Vicki Buck, who was instrumental in getting the pieces freighted to the 340,000-population South Pacific city, said: "I don't care where they go now; I just want them to go somewhere."
Council staff favor the historic riverside park, which has a capacity of 5,000 people for events such as Christchurch's Buskers Festival and its Chinese Lantern Festival, arguing the Berlin slabs fit adjacent examples of brutalist architecture.
The segments' erection was envisaged in Christchurch for the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in November.
But Councillor Tim Scandrett described Victoria Square as a place of contemplation, saying: "These are too brutal to go into that area."
Another councilor, Aaron Keown, instead suggested erecting the two slabs outside Christchurch's inner-city library known as Türanga [using New Zealand's indigenous official language, Maori], saying the site was, as a place of learning, better suited.
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The Berlin Wall Trail: 10 must-see locations
The Berlin Wall Trail
The Berlin Wall divided West and East Berlin for 28 years. Since German reunification in 1990, the city is finally whole again. Still, one of the best ways to explore the last traces of this Cold War past is to cycle or hike along the Berlin Wall Trail. The 160-kilometer tour is well signposted.
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The Berlin Wall Trail: 10 must-see locations
The Berlin Wall Memorial
The tour can easily be started anywhere you want. An interesting place to begin is the Berlin Wall Memorial. Following the wall's former location on Bernauer street, it shows how the border fortifications were set up and pays tribute to those who fled or died trying to flee East Berlin.
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The Berlin Wall Trail: 10 must-see locations
Cobblestone markings
These cobblestones will help you recognize where the Berlin Wall once stood. However, only certain parts of the former frontier are maked out in this way. When the wall came down on November 9, 1989, East and West Germans were eager to get rid of all traces of it.
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The Berlin Wall Trail: 10 must-see locations
Brandenburg Gate
Following the Berlin Wall Trail towards the center of town, it will lead you to the government district, River Spree and the iconic Brandenburg Gate – which stood in a kind of no-man's-land when the city was still divided.
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The Berlin Wall Trail: 10 must-see locations
Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie remains the most famous former crossing point between East and West Berlin. Tourists now stop there to get their picture taken with actors dressed as military policemen, under a replica sign reading: "You are leaving the American sector."
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The Berlin Wall Trail: 10 must-see locations
Watchtower near Potsdamer Platz
More than 300 watchtowers used to overlook the Berlin Wall, allowing East German border guards to catch people trying to flee East Berlin. Only a few were left standing, such as this concrete structure near Potsdamer Platz, now listed as a historical monument.
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The Berlin Wall Trail: 10 must-see locations
East Side Gallery
Another classic attraction that can't be missed on the Berlin Wall Trail is the East Side Gallery. International artists painted an array of colorful murals on this 1.3-kilometer-long stretch of the wall in 1990, making it one of the largest open-air galleries in the world. This depiction of Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker kissing is one of its most famous murals.
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The Berlin Wall Trail: 10 must-see locations
Glienicke Bridge
The route continues through the city proper until it reaches the suburbs and finally Potsdam's Glienicke Bridge, where spies used to be exchanged in Cold War times. In 1962, a KGB agent and an American pilot were exchanged at this very place. The story served as inspiration for Stephen Spielberg's 2015 movie "Bridge of Spies."
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The Berlin Wall Trail: 10 must-see locations
Hennigsdorf Watchtower Museum
Large parts of the route pass through forested areas surrounding the city. Right on the bank of the Havel River, this watchtower in Hennigsdorf, about 20 kilometers northwest of Berlin, houses a small museum on the history of the frontier. It is free to visit.
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The Berlin Wall Trail: 10 must-see locations
Pankow's Cherry tree avenue
Returning to the city, you'll be greeted by a cherry tree avenue in Pankow, which is most spectacular towards the end of April, when the trees are in full bloom. The Japanese donated some 10,000 trees "to bring peace in the hearts of the people." They were planted in different sections of the former Wall. This avenue is right by Bösebrücke, the first crossing to open on the day the wall came down.
Author: Elizabeth Grenier
A majority of councilors at Wednesday's meeting did not support a site other than Victoria Square but agreed the council's decision should be further delayed until park advisers and Ngai Tahu tribal elders had been consulted, Stuff reported.
Each slab, kept in storage in Christchurch since 2017, stands 3.6 meters (12 feet) tall and weighs about four tons. Christchurch lies 18,211 kilometers (11,316 miles) away from reunited Berlin.
140 Berlin Wall memorials outside Germany
In 2014, Britain's The Guardian newspaper estimated that about 600 Berlin Wall segments had found new homes outside Germany, making up over 140 memorials worldwide.
They typically exemplify liberty and what Germany calls its "peaceful revolution" of 1989 that saw the collapse of communism in East Germany and the region's formal reunification with West Germany in 1990.
Christchurch's square, formerly a market place, includes numerous works such as a 1903 statue of the 19th-century British monarch, Queen Victoria, and indigenous sculptures — alluding to troubled interactions between former colonial settlers and the indigenous population.
Since 1975, New Zealand has had the now permanent Waitangi Tribunal to handle disputes. The body dates back to 1840 when land-seeking envoys for Queen Victoria and local Maori chiefs signed the Waitangi Treaty.
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