East Side Gallery
The original site of a 1.3-km stretch of the Berlin Wall, with more than 100 murals painted in 1990 by 118 artists, including the famous 'Fraternal Kiss'. It is the longest open-air gallery in the world.
The East Side Gallery stands on the north bank of the Spree in Friedrichshain and is the longest surviving section of the Berlin Wall, at 1,316 meters. From 1961 to 1989, this stretch was the 'back wall' on the East Berlin side. After the Wall fell in spring 1990, 118 artists from 21 countries painted more than 100 murals on its eastern face, celebrating freedom and expressing hopes for the future. It became the longest open-air gallery in the world, was listed as a heritage site in 1991, and underwent extensive restoration and repainting in 2009. The most famous works include Dmitri Vrubel's 'Fraternal Kiss', showing Brezhnev and Honecker kissing, titled 'My God, help me to survive this deadly love'; Birgit Kinder's 'Test: Breakthrough', showing an East German Trabant car bursting through the wall; Thierry Noir's cartoon heads; and a slogan reading 'Many small people in many small places doing many small things can change the face of the world.' The gallery is free and open around the clock. Walking along Mühlenstraße from Ostbahnhof to the Oberbaum Bridge (Oberbaumbrücke, a red-brick double-deck bridge across the river linking to Kreuzberg, also a classic photo spot) takes about 30 minutes. The far side of the wall, facing the riverbank, also has graffiti and small exhibitions. Getting there: from Ostbahnhof station on S-Bahn lines S3, S5, S7 or S9, or from S-Bahn Warschauer Straße station on U-Bahn lines U1 or U3, it is a 5-minute walk. The surrounding area is the heart of Berlin's nightlife and street culture: the clubs and Sunday flea market at RAW-Gelände, the bars of Simon-Dach-Straße, and across the river in Kreuzberg the Turkish market (Tuesdays and Fridays). Please do not write on the murals or stick anything onto them; vandalism has long been a problem here.
Opening hours
Open all day
Nearby sights
- Berlin TV Tower & Alexanderplatz
- Nikolaiviertel
- Humboldt Forum
- DDR Museum
- Berlin Cathedral
- Hackesche Höfe
- Jewish Museum Berlin
- Museum Island