East Side Gallery
Encyclopedia
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
located near the centre of Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
on Mühlenstraße in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg is the second borough of Berlin, formed in 2001 by merging the former East Berlin borough of Friedrichshain and the former West Berlin borough of Kreuzberg...
.
Description
The Gallery consists of 105 paintings by artists from all over the world, painted in 1990 on the east side of the Berlin Wall. The East Side Gallery was founded following the successful merger of the two German artists' associations VBK and BBK. The founding members were the speche of the Federal Association of Artists BBK Bodo SperlingBodo Sperling
Bodo Sperling is a German artist, painter and inventor.-Life:Bodo Sperling grew up in Frankfurt am Main, Leipzig, Amsterdam and Berlin....
, Barbara Greul Aschanta, Jörg Kubitzki and David Monti.
It is possibly the largest and longest-lasting open air gallery in the world. Paintings from Jürgen Grosse alias INDIANO, Dimitri Vrubel, Siegfrid Santoni, Bodo Sperling, Kasra Alavi, Kani Alavi, Jim Avignon
Jim Avignon
Jim Avignon is a contemporary German pop artist and representatives of the art modeste, designer and musician. A respected cult figure in the art and Techno subculture in Berlin, he currently lives and works both in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and in Berlin.Jim Avignon was born Christian Reisz...
, Thierry Noir
Thierry Noir
Thierry Noir is the man who contributed to the longest concrete painting in the world, the Berlin Wall. His paintings, with their bright colors and their melancholy poetry, survived longer than all the others did after the fall of the wall in 1989.-Life:...
, Ingeborg Blumenthal, Ignasi Blanch i Gisbert, Kim Prisu,
Hervé Morlay VR and others have followed.
The paintings at the East Side Gallery document the time of change and express the euphoria and great hopes for a better and free future for all people of the world.
In July 2006, to facilitate access to the River Spree from O2 World
O2 World
O2 World is a multi-use indoor arena, in the Friedrichshain neighborhood, of Berlin, that opened in September 2008. Developed by Anschutz Entertainment Group, it was named O2 World, when O2 Germany purchased the naming rights...
, a 40 meter section was moved somewhat west, parallel to the original position
Remediation
Two-thirds of the paintings are badly damaged by erosion, graffitiGraffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
, and vandalism. One-third have been restored by a non-profit organization which started work in 2000. The objective of this organization is the eventual restoration and preservation of all the paintings. Full restoration, particularly of the central sections, was projected for 2008. Remediation began in May 2009.
Major conflict led the art of restoration. 8 artists of 1990 refused to paint their own images again after they have been completely destroyed by the renovation. They founded with other artists whose images were simply copied without permission the GES, "founder Initiative East Side" in order to defend the copyright.
Bodo Sperling launched in May 2011 represented by the Munich art lawyer Hannes Hartung and with the support of the German VG Bild-Kunst a test case in the Berlin state court. The Court should clarify the question whether art should be listed as destroyed and then re-copied without permission of the respective artists. From the outcome of the trial a landmark declaration for the European art law is expected.
Artists
- Oskar: (Hans Bierbrauer)
- Narenda K. Jain: Die sieben Stufen der Erleuchtung
- Fulvio Pinna: Hymne an das Glück
- Kikue Miyatake: Paradise Out Of The Darkness
- Günther Schäfer: Vaterland
- Georg Lutz Rauschebart
- César Olhagaray: Ohne Titel
- Jens-Helge Dahmen: Pneumohumanoiden
- Gábor Simon: Space Magic
- Siegrid Müller-Holtz: Gemischte Gefühle
- Ursula Wünsch: Frieden für Alles
- Oliver Feind, Ulrike Zott: Ohne Titel
- Ana Leonor Rodriges
- Muriel Raoux, Kani Alavi: Ohne Titel
- Muriel Raoux: Les Yeux Ouverts
- Ditmar Reiter: Ohne Titel
- Santoni: Trilogie-Maschine Macht
- Bodo SperlingBodo SperlingBodo Sperling is a German artist, painter and inventor.-Life:Bodo Sperling grew up in Frankfurt am Main, Leipzig, Amsterdam and Berlin....
: The Trans-formation of the penta gram to a peace star in a big Europe without walls - Barbara Greul Aschanta: Deutschland im November
- Willi Berger: Soli Deo Gloria
- André Sécrit, Karsten Thomas: Du hast gelernt, was Freiheit ist
- Theodor Chezlav Tezhik: The Big Kremlin's Wind
- Catrin Resch: Europas Frühling
- Irina Dubrowskaja: Die Wand muss weichen wenn der Meteorit der Liebe kommt
- Dmitri Wrubel: Mein Gott hilf mir, diese tödliche Liebe zu überleben
- Marc Engel: Marionetten eines abgesetzten Stücks
- Alexey Taranin: Ohne Titel
- Michail Serebrjakow: Diagonale Lösung des Problems
- Rosemarie Schinzler: Ohne Titel
- Rosemarie Schinzler: Wachsen lassen
- Christine Fuchs: How's God? She's Black
- Gerhard Lahr: Berlyn
- Karin Porath: Freiheit fängt innen an
- Lutz Pottien-Seiring: Ohne Titel
- Wjatschleslaw Schjachow: Die Masken
- Dmitri VrubelDmitri VrubelDmitri Vladimirovich Vrubel is a Russian painter, best known for his East Side Gallery-painting My God, help me to survive this deadly love, depicting the kissing communist leaders Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker....
: Danke, Andrej Sacharow - Jeanett Kipka: Ohne Titel
- Gamil Gimajew: Ohne Titel
- Jürgen Große: Die Geburt der Kachinas
- Christopher Frank: Stay Free
- Andreas Paulun: Amour, Paix
- Kim Prisu (Joaquim A. Gocalves Borregana): Métamorphose des existences lié par un mobile indéfini
- Greta Csatlòs (Künstlergruppe Ciccolina): Sonic Malade
- Henry Schmidt: Vergesst mir die Liebe nicht
- Thomas Klingenstein: Umleitung in den japanischen Sektor
- Karsten Wenzel: Die Beständigkeit der Ignoranz
- Pierre-Paul Maillé: Ohne Titel
- Andy Weiß: Geist Reise
- Gabriel Heimler: Der Mauerspringer
- Salvadore de Fazio: Dawn of Peace
- Gerald Kriedner: Götterdämmerung
- Christos Koutsouras: Einfahrt Tag und Nacht freihalten
- Yvonne Onischke (geb. Matzat; Künstlername seit 2005 Yoni): Berlin bei Nacht
- Peter Peinzger: Ohne Titel
- Elisa Budzinski: Wer will, daß die Welt so bleibt, wie sie ist, der will nicht, daß sie bleibt
- Sabine Kunz: Ohne Titel
- Jay One (Jacky Ramier): Ohne Titel
- Klaus Niethardt: Justitia
- Mirta Domacinovic: Zeichen in der Reihe
- Patrizio Porrachia: Ohne Titel
- Ines Bayer, Raik Hönemann: Es gilt viele Mauern abzubauen
- Thierry NoirThierry NoirThierry Noir is the man who contributed to the longest concrete painting in the world, the Berlin Wall. His paintings, with their bright colors and their melancholy poetry, survived longer than all the others did after the fall of the wall in 1989.-Life:...
: Ohne Titel - Teresa Casanueva: Ohne Titel
- Stephan Cacciatore: La Buerlinca
- Karina Bjerregaard, Lotte Haubart: Himlen over Berlin
- Christine Kühn: Touch the Wall
- Rodolfo Ricàlo: Vorsicht
- Birgit Kinder: Test the Rest
- Magaret Hunter, Peter Russell: Ohne Titel
- Peter Russell: Himmel und Sucher
- Magaret Hunter: Joint Venture
- Sándor Rácmolnár: Waiting for a New Prometheus
- Gábor Imre: Ohne Titel
- Pal Gerber: Sag, welche wunderbaren Träumen halten meinen Sinn umfangen
- Gábor Gerhes: Ohne Titel
- Sándor Györffy: Ohne Titel
- Gruppe Stellvertretende Durstende
- Laszlo Erkel (Kentaur): You can see Infinity
- Kani Alavi: Es geschah im November
- Jim AvignonJim AvignonJim Avignon is a contemporary German pop artist and representatives of the art modeste, designer and musician. A respected cult figure in the art and Techno subculture in Berlin, he currently lives and works both in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and in Berlin.Jim Avignon was born Christian Reisz...
: Miriam Butterfly, Tomas Fey: Doin it cool for the East Side - Peter Lorenz: Ohne Titel
- Dieter Wien: Der Morgen
- Jacob Köhler: Lotus
- Carmen Leidner: Niemandsland
- Jens Hübner, Andreas Kämper: Ohne Titel
- Hans-Peter Dürhager, Ralf Jesse: Der müde Tod
- Jolly Kunjappu: Dancing to Freedom
- Susanne Kunjappu-Jellinek: Curriculum Vitae
- Mary Mackay: Tolerance
- Carsten Jost, Ulrike Steglich: Politik ist die Fortsetzung des Krieges mit anderen Mitteln
- Brigida Böttcher: Flora geht
- Ignasi Blanch i Gisbert: Parlo d'Amor
- Kiddy Cidny: Ger-Mania
- Petra Suntinger, Roland Gützlaff: Ohne Titel
- Andrej Smolak: Ohne Titel
- Youngram Kim-Holdfeld: Ohne Titel
- Karin Velmanns: Ohne Titel
- Rainer Jehle: Denk-Mal, Mahn-Mal
- Kamel Alavi: Ohne Titel
- Kasra Alavi: Flucht
- Ingeborg Blumenthal: Der Geist ist wie Spuren der Vögel am Himmel
- Youngram Kim
In Popular Media
- The gallery was seen in Wolfgang BeckerWolfgang BeckerWolfgang Becker is a German film director and writer. He is best known to the international audience for his work Good Bye Lenin! .-Biography:...
s movie Goodbye, Lenin! - The gallery was featured in the 5th leg of The Amazing Race 6The Amazing Race 6The Amazing Race 6 is the sixth installment of the reality television series The Amazing Race. It premiered on November 16, 2004, and concluded on February 8, 2005.Freddy Holliday & Kendra Bentley were the winners of this Race....
. - The gallery was featured in English indie/rock band Bloc PartyBloc PartyBloc Party are a British Indie rock band, composed of Kele Okereke , Russell Lissack , Gordon Moakes , and Matt Tong...
s single KreuzbergKreuzbergKreuzberg, a part of the combined Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte since 2001, is one of the best-known areas of Berlin...
taken from the album A Weekend in the CityA Weekend In The CityA Weekend in the City is the second studio album by British indie rock band Bloc Party. It was recorded at Grouse Lodge Studios in Westmeath, Ireland, in mid-2006 and was produced by Jacknife Lee. The record was refined and mixed at several locations in London at the end of 2006...