East Side Gallery, Open-air art gallery on Berlin Wall in Friedrichshain, Germany
The East Side Gallery is an open-air gallery on a preserved section of the Berlin Wall in Friedrichshain, Germany, located directly along the Spree. Over 100 large-scale paintings cover the concrete barrier and stretch from Ostbahnhof station to the Oberbaumbrücke bridge.
After the Wall fell in 1989, artists from 21 countries painted the eastern side of the barrier in 1990 with works documenting the political shift in Europe. The gallery was later placed under monument protection and transferred to a foundation in 2018 to secure its long-term preservation.
Many murals carry dedications to reunification and show symbols such as broken barriers or hands reaching across borders. Visitors pause in front of each work to read the messages left by artists from around the world.
The gallery is accessible around the clock and stands within walking distance from Warschauer Straße and Ostbahnhof stations. Those who wish to see the entire collection should allow about an hour for the walk along the wall.
Some works had to be restored several times after vandalism, with the artists themselves returning to the wall to renew their motifs. These restorations show how living the monument has remained and how much it continues to draw people.
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