East Side Gallery, Berlin

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Between Hauptbahnhof and Oberbaumbruke, there is 1300m (1 mile) of the Berlin Wall which is best known as East Side Gallery.

The graffiti on the wall here is the work of 118 different artists from 21 countries. It was organized in 1990 by a Scottish artist called Chris MaclEan.

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Located near the Ostbahnhof is the East Side Gallery. The "gallery" is depicted on the actual concrete wall.
I can recommend taking a tour if you have some waiting time at the Ostbahnhof because the gallery is so proximate to this trainstation.

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The East Side Gallery is the longest and best preserved remaining part of the Berlin Wall. This 1.3km long section of the wall is home to one of the largest open air galleries in the world.

Approximately 106 paintings by artists from all over the world cover this "memorial for freedom", which has been painted on the east side of the wall. The first painting was started in December 1989, immediately after the fall of the wall.

Over the years the frescoes have been eroded by the weather and exhaust fumes, and also destroyed by tourists wanting to take a part of the wall home with them. The gallery is slowly being restored by non-profit organisations, and the paintings closest to Ostbahnhof are in the best condition.

This is a very interesting place to visit, not only do you get to see part of the Berlin Wall, but you also get a glimpse of the hopes and dreams for the future for people all around the world, via the artists' work.

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When the Wall finally came down, people did not spare a thought for posterity. Consequently, there are hardly any places left where you can see this hated divider. The East Side Gallery is one of those and runs between Warschauer Strasse and Ostbahnhof. The first stop is the most interesting part of it and has become a devoted gallery where artists have painted the Wall full of old GDR memories. There is also a souvenir shop here with GDR nostalgia items.

The East Side Gallery is the longest surviving stretch of the Berlin Wall. Artists from all over have been invited to come in and paint the wall - some make political comments about the wall and about freedom, others have done more abstract art. Regardless, it's a great outdoor art gallery and makes a great walk after a recovery Sunday brunch in one of Friedrichshain's many indoor/outdoor cafe-bars - especially because it's free! The walk takes about 10 to 15 minutes.

Unfortunately, many tourists have not recognized the value of the Wall as both a historical monument, and, more recently, an art gallery. Many of the sections are in bad condition, although the artists were recently invited back to touch up their murals. Look, but don't touch!

In conjunction with the tip on the Berlin Wall (see Barricaded Berlin) is the Eastside Gallery.

The Gallery is the Wall itself, painted on the east side, as up until 1989 it was impossible to get anywhere near the Wall if you lived in East Berlin. It's the longest stretch still intact - at about 1.3 km's long - which artists from around the world have used as a canvas to paint images as a reminder to the past & a memorial to freedom. It has over 100 paintings and is the largest open air gallery in the world. It's well worth a visit.

The photo depicts one of many interesting paintings, with the then Russian head of state Leonid Brezhnev and the DDR leader Erich Honecker in a passionate embrace. The caption, written in German & Russian, reads "My God! Help me to survive / overcome this deadly love" & refers to the close relationship between Russia & the DDR.

The shop at the Gallery sells the usual tourist paraphenalia; pieces of the Wall - yes it seems to go on endlessly -; t-shirts, guide books, postcards and posters.

The best way to get to the East Side Gallery is to catch the S Bahn (S3, S5, S9, or S75) to either Ostbahnhof or Warschauer Strasse or the U Bahn (U12 or U15) to Warschauer Strasse.

The historic Berlin Wall is now down but some of it and its artwork have been saved or restored giving you a chance to see what it might have been like.

"The Berlin Wall East Side Gallery is a 1.3km-long section of the wall near the centre of Berlin. Approximately 106 paintings by artists from all over the world cover this memorial for freedom and make it the largest open air gallery in the world."

The place is just really a road across the river in old East Berlin. We got the U-Bahn to Ostbahnhof and walked across the Oberbaumbrucke. A good place to get a feel for the old city.

It's a shame that even though there are signs everywhere saying please respect the work of the artist, people still have to scribble graffiti saying hello from wherever they are. Now it could be that they are putting their name to the struggle against “The Wall” and its ideals or just plain vandalism...you decide...I thought it was just unnecessary.

It's the longest remaining bit of the Berlin Wall on which graffiti artists painted colorful images containing political and not so political messages. In the summer, just behind the wall close to the Warschauer Strasse U-Bahnhof, there's a beach cafe (Oststrand) where you can relax, so I recommend walking from Ostbahnhof to Warschauer Strasse, not the other way around