East Side Gallery

The East Side Gallery in Berlin represents one of the most emblematic monuments of contemporary history, a powerful symbol of freedom and German reunification. This section of the Berlin Wall, 1.3 kilometers long, stretches along Mühlenstraße, between Ostbahnhof station and Oberbaumbrücke, and is the longest open-air art gallery in the world. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, 118 artists from 21 countries were invited to transform this section of the wall into a collective work of art. In September 1990, the East Side Gallery was officially opened to the public, featuring over 100 murals celebrating freedom, hope, and political change. Each artwork is a visual commentary on the revolutionary events of 1989/90, making the gallery a powerful artistic witness to recent history. One of the most iconic murals is “Fraternal Kiss” by Dmitri Vrubel, depicting the famous socialist kiss between Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker. This painting, based on a 1979 photograph, has become a universal symbol of the collapse of the East German regime and the end of the Cold War. Another well-known mural is “Test the Best” by Birgit Kinder, depicting a Trabant – the symbol of the DDR – seemingly breaking through the wall. The history of the East Side Gallery is also marked by conservation challenges. Weather conditions and vandalism have damaged many of the original works, necessitating several restoration campaigns. In 1996, Kani Alavi founded the association East Side Gallery e.V. with the goal of preserving and restoring the murals. An important restoration project was completed in 2009, with the participation of 87 of the original artists. In 2018, the management of the gallery was entrusted to the Stiftung Berliner Mauer, which continued conservation efforts.