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Berlin Wall Art gallery From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The East Side Gallery (German: East-Side-Gallery) memorial in Berlin-Friedrichshain is a permanent open-air gallery on the longest surviving section of the Berlin Wall in Mühlenstraße between the Berlin Ostbahnhof and the Oberbaumbrücke along the Spree. It consists of a series of murals painted directly on a 1,316 m (4,318 ft) long remnant of the Berlin Wall,[1] located near the centre of Berlin, on Mühlenstraße in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg.
 | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (March 2013) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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_(cropped).jpg) A section of the East Side Gallery, featuring the mural My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love by Dmitri Vrubel | |
  Location within Berlin | |
| Established | 1990 |
|---|---|
| Location | Mühlenstrasse (Mill Street) Berlin, Germany |
| Type | Art gallery |
| Website | eastsidegalleryexhibition.com |
In the spring of 1990, after the opening of the Berlin Wall, this section was painted by 118 artists from 21 countries. The artists commented on the political changes of 1989/90 in a good hundred paintings on the side of the Wall that was formerly facing East Berlin. Due to urban development measures, it is no longer completely preserved, and instead of the originals from then, only the replicas from 2009 exist today.
The actual border at this point was the Kreuzberg bank of the Spree. The gallery is, for the most part, located on the western wall, which closed off the border area to East Berlin. This wall, facing inwards towards West Berlin, was much thicker and more fortified than its outward-facing counterpart. However, a small portion of the so-called "hinterland" wall has managed to survive, despite its weaker structure, as part of the memorial. Mühlenstrasse, one of the main arterial roads to the south, ran along these border installations. Due to the spatial conditions, the previously usual concrete pipes were already installed here, so that the interior wall in this area was atypically optically, but somewhat elevated, resembling the outer wall.
The gallery has official status as a Denkmal, or heritage-protected landmark. According to the Künstlerinitiative East Side Gallery e.V., an association of the artists involved in the project, "The East Side Gallery is understood as a monument to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the peaceful negotiation of borders and conventions between societies and people", and has more than three million visitors per year.[2]
The Gallery consists of 105 paintings by artists from all over the world, painted in 1990 on the east side of the Berlin Wall. The actual border at this point had been the river Spree. The gallery is located on the so-called "hinterland mauer", which closed the border to West Berlin.
It is possibly the largest and longest-lasting open air gallery in the world. Paintings from Jürgen Grosse alias INDIANO, Dimitri Vrubel, Siegfrid Santoni, Bodo Sperling, Kasra Alavi, Kani Alavi, Jim Avignon, Thierry Noir, Ingeborg Blumenthal, Ignasi Blanch i Gisbert, Kim Prisu, Hervé Morlay VR and others have followed.
The paintings at the East Side Gallery document a time of change and express the euphoria and great hopes for a better, more free future for all people of the world.
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The East Side Gallery was founded following the successful merger of the two German artists' associations VBK and BBK. The founding members were the speche of the Federal Association of Artists BBK Bodo Sperling, Barbara Greul Aschanta, Jörg Kubitzki and David Monti.[3][1]
In July 2006, to facilitate access to the river Spree from the Mercedes-Benz Arena, a 40 m (130 ft) section was moved somewhat west, parallel to the original position.[4]
A 23-meter (75') section was scheduled to be removed on 1 March 2013 to make way for luxury apartments. None of the artists whose work will be destroyed were informed of these plans.[5] The demolition work actually started on 1 March 2013. According to German news FOCUS, authorities were not aware of the start of the demolition. Due to the involvement of protesters, demolition was postponed until at least 18 March 2013.[6]
Two-thirds of the paintings are badly damaged by erosion, graffiti, and vandalism. One-third have been restored by a non-profit organization which started work in 2000. The objective of this organization is the eventual restoration and preservation of all the paintings. Full restoration, particularly of the central sections, was projected for 2008. Remediation began in May 2009.
The restoration process has been marked by major conflict. Eight of the artists of 1990 refused to paint their own images again after they were completely destroyed by the renovation. In order to defend the copyright, they founded "Founder Initiative East Side" with other artists whose images were copied without permission.[7] Bodo Sperling launched a test case in the Berlin State Court in May 2011, represented by the Munich art lawyer Hannes Hartung and with the support of the German VG Bild-Kunst. The Court will address the question of whether art should be listed as destroyed and then re-copied without the respective artists' permission. The outcome of the trial will be a landmark declaration for European art law.[8][9][needs update]
As of 1 November 2018, the State of Berlin will be responsible for the "Park an der Spree" and "East Side Park" plots with the elements of the former Berlin Wall known as the "East Side Gallery" from the property of the State of Berlin in the Transfer of ownership to the Berlin Wall Foundation. Parliament approved a proposal from the Senator for Culture and Europe that had passed the main committee. The Berlin Wall Foundation received the mandate for the structural maintenance of the East Side Gallery monument, the maintenance of the associated public green space and the mediation of the historical site of remembrance.[10]
In the future, visitors to the East Side Gallery should receive more information and historical classification. For this purpose, the foundation has launched an extensive management program. The aim of all new mediation offers is to illustrate the unique dual character of the historical place: On the one hand, as an artistic testimony and symbol of joy over the peaceful overcoming of the German division; as a testimony to the GDR border regime on the other hand. Both narratives need to be related in a common narrative.[citation needed]
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2018) |
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