East Side Gallery

Between the Oberbaumbrücke and Berlin’s Ostbahnhof, the East Side Gallery runs along the Spree and Mühlenstraße (Berlin-Friedrichshain).

After the opening of the Berlin Wall and the associated political changes, artists who had previously lived from state commissions in the GDR no longer received commissions and thus had no income.
Solutions and suggestions were sought on how to shape the future artistic life. This led to the East Side Gallery project.
Permits were obtained and an art exhibition was planned. Through the embassies and diplomatic missions, artists from many parts of the world were invited to participate in the project. In the end, 118 artists from 21 countries took part and designed a section of the Berlin Hinterland wall according to their ideas. In September 1990, the now world-famous open-air art exhibition opened.

The artists created pictures with individual messages and comments on the section of the Wall. To this day, they represent a document of the fact that the desire for freedom is ultimately stronger than coercive measures and violence.
In many of the pictures, the artists expressed their joy at the fall of the Wall and the overcoming of the Cold War.

Over time, many of the images on the Berlin Wall weathered. Some of the first pictures have since disappeared and been replaced by new ones.
Since 1996, there has been an association that takes care of the preservation and restoration of the section of the Wall and the beautiful works of art. Some of the pictures could be restored. With the help of special paint, attempts are now being made to prevent graffiti sprayers from “defacing” the works of art.
Some artists have since been back to Berlin and painted their works on the Wall for the second time. Some artists did not take part in the reconstruction, and the areas they painted then are now unpainted.

No, the visit is possible free of charge.