Iconic, unique and emblematic of Germany’s capital city, the Berlin Wall graffiti and street art represent the city’s Cold War past and its eclectic and artistic modern-day funk.
Though the ‘Berlin Wall’ technically no longer exists, remnants of the Iron Curtain can be found throughout the city, now transformed into the 1.3 km-long, open-air, East Side Gallery.
Here are six murals you should look out for.
The Kiss: My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love
When you think of the Berlin Wall, chances are, this mural comes to mind. Depicting the unforgettable ‘Socialist Fraternal Kiss’ between USSR leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German President Erich Honecker, it’s become one of the most symbolic moments of the Cold War.
While the real lip-lock took place in 1979, it’s been immortalised in graffiti since 1990 by Dmitri Vrubel, on the fallen Berlin Wall.
Entitled, ‘My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love’, you’ll find the Berlin Wall’s kiss graffiti location at #25 on the East Side Gallery.
Trabant Breaking Through The Wall
The second most famous artwork on the Berlin Wall is Birgit Kinder’s ‘Trabant Breaking Through the Wall’.
The Trabant car, born and bred in the soviet satellite, perfectly captures ‘East Germany’; it was smoky, slow and uncomfortable, and therefore symbolic of the crooked and inefficient state.
Crashing through the wall, the graffiti is a nod to all those who tried to escape the regime and serves as a memorial to those who lost their lives in pursuit of freedom.
It Happened In November
Perhaps no other street art on the Berlin Wall is as moving as Kani Alavi’s ‘It Happened in November’.
The painting is a snapshot of Checkpoint Charlie in the American-controlled zone of West Berlin on the day that the Wall came down. Faces upon faces can be seen with a myriad of expressions, bringing to life the overwhelming range of emotions felt by all Berliners on the day their city was once again united.
Das Vaterland
A fusion of the flags of Germany and Israel, 'Das Vaterland' is a social commentary on fascism and prevailing hope, created in response to ‘The Night of the Broken Glass’ — 50 years on from the infamous event — and the fall of the wall.
A frequent subject of vandalism, Günther Schaefer has restored his painting 44 times! In his own words, ‘as long as fanatics destroy paintings like mine, such paintings are necessary'.
Cartoon Heads
Before the vision of the East Side Gallery had even come to fruition, Thierry Noir was already rebelling against the division of Berlin, using a paintbrush as his weapon of choice.
With the wall demolished, the first street-artist of the Berlin Wall was invited to participate in the creation of the gallery, and he chose to recreate the same cartoon heads that risked his life to adorn the wall every day for 5 years.
The Wall Jumper
The sepia-coloured leap of faith taken by an East German police officer, Conrad Schumann, who abandoned his post and escaped into West Berlin, is one of the most well-known photos of the Berlin Wall.
The Berlin Wall Jumper graffiti, however, does not tell that story. Instead, Gabriel Heimler took a unique approach with his memorial, ‘Der Mauerspringer’ and chose instead to tell the story of a nameless West German jumping into East Berlin as a gesture of freedom and possibly an even bigger leap of faith into a now unified but uncertain city.
Once you’re done admiring the East Side Gallery, check out these other things to do in Berlin!