BERLIN — When Germans mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on Saturday, an American who was intertwined with the events of that day will be looking on, figuratively at least.

A towering sculpture of Ronald Reagan, clutching the cards inscribed with his 1987 speech challenging Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader, to “tear down this wall,” was unveiled on Friday atop the United States Embassy, after the Berlin authorities refused for years to allow his likeness to be placed in the city. The statue of Mr. Reagan, the 40th U.S. President — who died in 2004 — overlooks the Brandenburg Gate he called on Mr. Gorbachev to open.

The unveiling of the statue was attended by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was wrapping up a two-day tour of Germany meant to shore up relations that have frayed under President Trump and to shift public focus from the pressure Mr. Pompeo faces at home over the Ukraine scandal.

At the ceremony unveiling the statue, accessible only to embassy staff and guests, Mr. Pompeo praised Mr. Reagan for his bold defense of freedom , telling a gathering of politicians, diplomats, donors and others that the former president “courageously denounced the greatest threat to that freedom, the Soviet Empire, the Evil Empire.”