East Side Gallery

On my last day in Berlin I was confident in my metro riding abilities so I decided it would be the perfect time to check out East Side Gallery. I met Elizabeth at Silo Coffee for breakfast because it was close to the wall. This part of Berlin was blatantly hipster and walking around I definitely felt self conscious like I didn't belong. The food was delicious, though, so 10/10 I'd recommend making the trek. Plus, there were quite a few Russian restaurants and a ton of street art which always steal my heart.

The East Side gallery contains the longest stretch of Berlin Wall still standing today. Painting of what is now known as the East Side galley began in 1990 (I was just 1 years old!). The outdoor museum contains around 100 murals from artists in 21 countries. The artworks all represent freedom and a better world for all people. In 2009 reconstruction began to bring the wall back to life after years of erosion and vandalism ruined many of the pieces.

The most famous painting is probably the one of Leonid Brezhnev and Enrich Honecker kissing. The Russian words say, "God help me stay alive," and the German words underneath say, "Among this deadly love." It was created by Russian painter Dmitri Vrubel, and was based off a real kiss both men shared in 1979 celebrating 30 years of the GDR. You might have seen a similar picture recently which is derivative of this famous image. By the way, Brezhnev and his wife created this calendar and I absolutely need it. While it was impressive to see it in person, there was a long line of people waiting to take a picture in front of it. I just barely snapped this photo at a moment in between a change of people.

There were just so many more murals that I didn't even photograph. It was difficult trying to navigate the people the sun and there wasn't much room between the side walk, parked cars, and street to take decent photos. I tried to take photos of the ones that captivated me the most, but I struggled with that too because as I was looking through them a lot just didn't turn out well. It's definitely worth the visit though just to experience history and what it must have been like to have a country like Germany reunited again.