A trucking and rigging company has donated the use of a forklift to carry a 6,110lb (2,771kg) section of the Berlin Wall from a flatbed truck to a garden outside Cincinnati's National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

Mark McKenney drove the forklift for Hosea Project Movers of Covington, Kentucky in moving the section on 23 June to its permanent location, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer.

The Cincinnati community will hold a USD50-per-person "freedom without walls" gala on 3 July. Officials plan to dedicate the monument and begin its illumination.

Automotive parts manufacturer ThyssenKrupp Bilstein of America of Hamilton, Ohio donated the cost of moving the historic section to Cincinnati from Berlin, Germany.

The city of Berlin gave the section to the city of Cincinnati under a sister city program, but the recipient was responsible for the relocation, engineering and design activities, costing approximately USD250,000 including in-kind services.

The German Democratic Republic, also known as East Germany, erected the 96-mile (155km) wall in August 1961, splitting the city of Berlin, and opted in November 1989 to reopen the Iron Curtain demarcation. The East German and West German entities reunited in October 1990.