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Berlin State

Vacation 2010 September 24, Germany Eastside Galley, Berlin

East German Border

The West-Berlin side of the wall with all its graffiti has been well known for decades.

The East-Berlin side, however, was untouchable during the cold war and looked more like in the left picture. But after the Wall came down in 1989, hundreds of artists from all over the world gathered and transformed that formerly untouchable eastside of the Wall with their paintings, giving the Wall a new face in a new time. Today, the East Side Gallery is the last large piece of the Berlin Wall that's remaining still at its historical place. For almost one mile, between subway stations Oberbaumbrücke and Ostbahnhof, it curves parallel to the Spree through Berlin and tells with its pictures the story of Berlin and Germany's history.

There really isn't much to comment on these pictures. Just enjoy them as we did.

A smart entrepreneur salvaged some rubber stamps from former border crossings. Thanks to this little tourist shop. Judy got an East German visa stamp in her passport, more than 20 years after the country ceased to exist.

The painting above refers to one of the "brotherly" meetings between the Soviet and East-German Communist Party leaders. Underneath, it reads in Russian and in German, "Dear Lord, help me to survive this deadly love."

Above left is one of the few preserved original pieces from the time when the Wall came down. Almost all others have weathered away and have been replaced with new paintings. Above right is the East-Berlin TV tower peaking over the wall - that was all West-Berliners got to see of the East for many years.

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