Friday, January 2, 2015

The World-Famous East Side Gallery: Berlin, Germany

East Side Gallery Berlin
East Side Gallery of the Berlin Wall
One of the highlights and must-do things of any trip to Berlin is taking a trip to the East Side Gallery of the Berlin Wall. For those who don't know, the East Side Gallery of the Berlin Wall is the portion with all of the cool artwork. The East Side Gallery consists of the 1.3 kilometer stretch near the center of Berlin, highlighting 105 paintings from 1990. Unfortunately, as time has gone on, many of the murals have been destroyed by graffiti- you will see it prominently throughout the following pictures. Fun fact: The East Side Gallery is the world's most famous open air art gallery. Let's take a look at some of the most famous paintings, as well as my favorites from the stretch of the wall!

East Side Gallery Deadly Love
My God, Help Me To Survive This Deadly Love
This is one of the most famous paintings from the East Side Gallery. It was painted from a photograph taken in  1979 during the 30th anniversary celebration of the founding of the GDR. This is one of the paintings that was restored after graffiti destroyed the original painting.

East Side Gallery cartoons
Checkpoint Charlie cartoon
East Side Gallery Checkpoint Charlie cartoon
Checkpoint Charlie cartoon
Another feature of the East Side Gallery is the two above pictures of the Checkpoint Charlie cartoon. Checkpoint Charlie was the most famous border crossing between East and West Berlin, until the fall of the wall in 1979.

East Side Gallery paintings
one of my favorite paintings at the East Side Gallery
East Side Gallery gate
can you find me?!
East Side Gallery love locks
gate in the East Side Gallery
The above painting and gate is one of my favorite portions of the East Side Gallery. While I'm not sure exactly why the gate is in the East Side Gallery, I am making the assumption it has something to do with what the wall represented and people not being able to get in and out. Now, there are many 'love locks' on the gate of the East Side Gallery.

East Side gallery face painting
faces of the East Side Gallery
East Side Gallery graffiti
graffiti on the East Side Gallery 
graffiti on East Side gallery
more graffiti
East Side GAllery small people painting
my favorite picture!
My favorite painting from the East Side Gallery is above. It says "Many small people who in many small places do many small things that can alter the face of the world." What a terrific message!

O2 World Arena
O2 World Arena
And of course, while the O2 World Arena isn't a part of the East Side Gallery… it was cool for me to check out, because Nick used to play hockey here for the Eisbären Berlin. Pretty cool hockey rink to see!

Best things to do in Berlin
Good-bye, East Side Gallery & Berlin!
And of course, I had to pose with the Berlin sign. Overall, the East Side Gallery portion of the Berlin Wall was a very cool sight to check out, and something everyone should do in Berlin. It is free, and there are so many terrific paintings. Looking at the paintings can really make you think about the history of the Berlin, and how the separation of East and West Berlin really affected the city. While the East Side Gallery is the most famous still-standing portion of the Berlin Wall, throughout Berlin the location where the wall once stood is marked by a row of bricks.

27 comments:

  1. This looks so vibrant and interesting! I am going to Berlin this month for the first time.. can't wait to check it out!

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    1. Sammy, you will absolutely love Berlin! Beyond the usual sights and attractions, my best recommendation is to go to a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant called "The Bird". A little burger bar, with the best burgers and customer service!

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  2. The East Side Gallery looks so amazing. I love all the artwork with the sense of history and all the colour. Such a shame that some of the artwork has been spoilt by graffiti though. Amazing pictures! :)

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    1. Fiona, it was really too bad to see all of the graffiti. They have been working on restoring it, but it costs a ton of money!

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  3. Graffiti seems to be all over Europe. We even saw some at the Vatican!! You look like Jessica Simpson in this post. :) Happy New Year to you!

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    1. Rosey- I agree, it is all over Europe. Quite disappointing to see it in places like the Vatican- really ruins the atmosphere! And thanks, I've heard that a few times actually! Happy New Year!

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  4. Very cool! I'd love to see all of this artwork in person.

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  5. That art is amazing! I would love to see it close up - you are so lucky!

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  6. If I ever make it to Berlin, that would definitely be one of my first stops. I had no idea about all the art work, I would go just for the historical factor.

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    1. I knew some about the history, but my husband definitely taught me a lot while we were there!

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  7. What amazing sights! I've always wanted to visit Berlin, I never realized that graffiti could be so beautiful!

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    1. Eileen, the parts of the wall with just graffiti were beautiful- otherwise it was disappointing to see it ruin the artwork!

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  8. Oh wow! That is so pretty! I've never been to Berlin but always thought it would be awesome.

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    1. Emilee, Berlin was such an amazing trip for right before Christmas!

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  9. You're so lucky to be in Berlin. I look forward to visiting as well.

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  10. Great blog, glad to have found it. I am such a lover of street art because like you mentioned it's FREE, here in NYC I love discovering new street art to share with my kids because it's so creative and inspiring and many of them express interesting points of view.

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    1. Thanks Dellah! That is exactly how I felt too. It was such a fun trip, and the Berlin Wall was amazing to see in person!

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  11. What a cool place! I love how so many artists turned the Berlin wall from a dreary piece of world history to something beautiful and meaningful.

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  12. Stunning! Those artist deserves an accolades. I love art and I am stun by those paintings.

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  13. These pictures are truly amazing,I'd love to go see these!

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  14. I love street and wall art, murals, etc. The colors and creativity is sometimes mesmerizing that people can create 3-D scenes on a wall. I love the Faces of the East Side Gallery one the most. Also, the one you said was your favorite is also very eye-catching.

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  15. Gorgeous! I love the message on that painting as well. Here's hoping or maybe dreaming that we get to see Berlin too someday. :)

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  16. Omg must of been so amazing to go there!!!! I went to Germany on a family trip when I was really little....really wanna go back now that I'm old enough to appreciate it!

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  17. Looks like you had so much fun in Berlin! Happy New Year to you and your family.

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  18. Ciao Sara, bellissime foto, sto scrivendo un articolo su questo argomento anche sul mio blog. Ti ho trovata casualmente cercando foto per l'articolo, sono tra le più alte. Comunque ancora complimenti, ciao

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