The Best Way To Visit The East Side Gallery
Want to make sure you see the East Side Gallery the best way? Read our tips on seeing the East Side Gallery and getting the most out of your once-in-a-lifetime trip to see the Berlin Wall!
Photo by Marie Rouilly on Unsplash
How to Visit the East Side Gallery
The East Side Gallery is located by the Spree River between Ostbahnhof and Warschauer Strasse S-Bahn stations. You can easily walk there from either station, but I recommend starting your visit to the East Side Gallery from Ostbahnhof. This way, when you’re finished you’ll be next to Warschauer Strasse station where there are transport options if you’re looking to get back into the city centre. More importantly though you’ll have great access to the districts of Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain, the coolest parts of Berlin! Both districts have plenty of quirky shops, loads of cafes, bars, and restaurants, and best of all a ton of street art! You’ll also see the cool bridge, the Oberbaum Brücke, where you’ll find musicians playing right in the middle during the Summer.
What Should I Know About Visiting The East Side Gallery?
Like anything in a big city like Berlin, the East Side Gallery gets busy in the middle of the day! Fortunately it’s essentially a big bit of concrete sitting outside, so you can go and visit it at any time. Arrive before 12 or after 4 and you should have room to breathe. At peak times do be aware that the East Side Gallery is on a narrow path next to a busy road, so if you want to take some selfies (#doitforthegram) you might have to exercise a little patience.
The view of the Oberbaum Brücke from Warschauer Strasse U-Bahn Station
Photo by Norbert Braun on Unsplash
What is the East Side Gallery?
The East Side Gallery is the longest remaining section of the Berlin Wall. It was the first part of the Berlin Wall to be made into an official memorial, all the way back in 1990 - before Germany even reunified! The plan was to turn a place of fear, division and terror into a place of hope. Artists from all over the world were invited to paint murals on the Eastern side of the Wall. Before the Berlin Wall came down it was only the Western side that was covered in graffiti. West Berliners had the freedom to walk right up to the Berlin Wall if they wanted, whereas East Berliners could technically do the same thing, walking up to the Berlin Wall was a good way to tell the secret police that you’re thinking about escaping to West Berlin. Covering the Berlin Wall in graffiti was therefore a rather silly thing to do in East Berlin.
“My God, Help Me To Survive This Deadly Love!”
Photo by Pascal Bernardon on Unsplash
What’s the deal with that Painting?
The most famous painting on the East Side Gallery is by the Russian artist Dmirtri Vrubel. It shows the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev smooching with East German leader Erich Honecker. The painting, titled “My God, Help Me To Survive This Deadly Love” is actually a reproduction of a photograph taken in 1979. The two gentlemen are sharing the socialist “Fraternal Kiss”.