East Side Gallery
The 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 .
In the spring of 1990, after the Berlin Wall opened, this section was painted by 118 artists from 21 countries over a length of 1316 meters. 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 fully 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 located on the so-called hinterland wall , which closed off the border area to East Berlin. Mühlenstrasse, one of the main arterial roads to the south, ran along these border fortifications. 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.
history
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After a call for help from the Berlin artists and the Association of Visual Artists of the GDR to the Federal Association of Visual Artists (BBK) in Frankfurt am Main in November 1989, its chairwoman Barbara Greul-Aschanta and the spokesman for the BBK in Frankfurt am Main Bodo Sperling followed Berlin, in order to negotiate with the Association of Visual Artists of the GDR under the Berlin leadership of Jörg Kubitzki about the merger of the two German associations, and to show the artists solutions how you can cope with your everyday financial life. The GDR artists had not received any income from previous state contracts since October 1989. After three months of talks and discussions about how things can go next and how artists in West Germany earn money with their art, plans were forged for a joint project, East Side Gallery .
In February 1990, after obtaining permission from the then Ministry of National Defense under the direction of Theodor Hoffmann and the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic, the "East Side Gallery" project was officially founded. At the same time, preparations were made for a joint art exhibition in the building of the then Humboldt University of Berlin for Agricultural Sciences in Invalidenstr. 42 hit. Artists from many parts of the world were invited to take part in the project through embassies and diplomatic missions.
As major sponsors, the United States Embassy , Coca-Cola and McDonald’s suggested promoting the first all-German art project. In often night-long discussions in the clubs and private artist apartments in the eastern part of Berlin, the concerns of the East Berlin artists could not be dispelled that they might lose the independence they had just gained after the fall of the Berlin Wall by agreeing to sponsorship. So it was agreed to forego this support.
In the summer of 1990, the Japanese Embassy offered to ship the entire East Side Gallery to the former site of the EXPO 85 world exhibition after completion. However, the necessary permission could not be obtained due to the unclear ownership of the Berlin Wall at the time. As it turned out later, the entire Berlin border facility was under the supervision of LPG- Leipzig, a cover organization of the then Ministry for State Security (MfS) of the GDR. This was supposed to prevent the two parts of the population in Berlin from being too close. Christine MacLean from Scotland took over the daily organization and implementation on the wall, she signed artists and organized sponsorship money for a catalog. On September 28, 1990, the East Side Gallery was ceremoniously opened on a ship on the Spree. With their individual messages and comments, the artists created a document that shows that the desire for freedom is ultimately stronger than coercion and violence. With more than a hundred paintings, they expressed their joy at the fall of the Berlin Wall and overcoming the Cold War.
In March 1990, the "Werbe- und Veranstaltungsgesellschaft mbH" (Wuva) and the Friedrichshain district council had signed a contract for the use of the remains of the wall on Mühlenstrasse. This allowed the Wuva to put up commercial advertising - but there were few interested parties. Wuva initially had plans to send the painted pieces of the wall around the world as an exhibition and then to auction them off. Instead, in November 1991 the strip of the wall known as the East Side Gallery was placed under a preservation order.
Renovations
Over the years, many of the East Side Gallery's paintings have been badly weathered. The East Side Gallery is primarily damaged by the weather and graffiti. Some pictures disappeared completely, new pictures emerged. In 1996, under the chairmanship of Kani Alavi, the association Künstlerinitiative East Side Gallery e. V. , which has been trying to maintain and renovate since then. The renovation in 2000 was an important stage in the effort. With the help of the Association of the Paint Industry, 40 of the heavily attacked pictures were restored . The concrete surfaces were smoothed and the remaining works of art were given a special varnish, which makes graffiti easy to remove . A large part of the paintings remained in need of renovation.
In October 2008, the renewal of the East Side Gallery began. 2.2 million euros were available for this. The overall project manager was the Society of Cautious Urban Renewal (STERN). At a press conference to mark the start of the renovation, State Secretary for Culture André Schmitz described the East Side Gallery as part of the overall Berlin concept to commemorate the Berlin Wall.
“The East Side Gallery is part of the overall Berlin concept to commemorate the wall and to commemorate its victims. While Checkpoint Charlie is the international location of the history of the Wall, the Brandenburg Gate is the national one and Bernauer Straße is the Berlinische, we have the East Side Gallery and the Parliament of Trees in the government district as the two places where the Wall was dealt with after its fall Concept added "
According to STERN, sustainable restoration of the masonry was a basic requirement for the renovation. For this purpose, the steel reinforcements were exposed to free them from corrosion. In this process, a large part of the images had to be emitted. The resulting holes were filled with a special concrete, filled and primed. To restore the motifs, the artists of the works that could be found were invited to Berlin to paint their picture a second time on the Berlin Wall. 87 of the 115 remaining artists followed this request. Each artist received an expense allowance of 3000 euros and a lump sum for meals. Artists who did not come from Berlin were reimbursed for travel and accommodation costs.
The masks of Vyatcheslav Schlyakhov was unveiled as the first restored image in March of 2009. The reopening of the renovated gallery took place on November 6, 2009.
Some of the artists are protesting against the renovation: They had not previously been asked for their consent, would receive a flat fee of 3000 euros for the reconstruction of their own works, while the Lotto Foundation Berlin provided a total of almost one million euros for the renovation. Over the years, only others with print publications have benefited from the works, which is why the artist Jim Avignon , for example, had already painted over his contribution on the wall with the word “moneymachine” (money machine). 14 artists therefore founded the East Side start-up initiative with the aim of donating the funds from the lottery foundation exclusively to the participating artists to restore their pictures. However, these efforts did not prevail.
Eight artists refused to allow their 1990 paintings to be plagiarized . They saw their copyrights violated by the removal of the works, criticized the low allowance for expenses and did not take part in the reconstruction. There are a few unpainted fields between the colorful areas. Even the chair of conservation at the Technical University of Cottbus Leo Schmidt , of the renovation of the Bernauer Strasse long, a further 250 meters still original remaining piece of the Berlin Wall is in charge, endorsed the position of the start-up initiative East Side , which protested against the destruction of the original images and for a proper restoration taking into account the many graffiti.
"It is part of the life story of the wall that it is broken."
In October 2013, Jim Avignon painted over his picture with the support of several art students without having a permit. The artists' initiative criticized the action and examined criminal proceedings against Avignon. The monument protection authority examined the imposition of a fine.
The work of the artists Margret Hunter and Peter Russel is to be protected with glass as the last original work of art (as of 2017).
Construction work
As part of the Mediaspree investor project , with the construction of the new multi-purpose event hall O 2 World (today: Mercedes-Benz Arena ) for the American Anschutz Entertainment Group on the former east freight station north of Mühlenstrasse, the East Side Gallery was about 41 meters away in July 2006 long part of the East Side Gallery removed and placed 50 meters west in the former death strip. This was intended to give visitors an undisturbed view of the banks of the Spree.
On May 15, 2005, the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district established a development plan, within the scope of which large parts of the East Side Gallery are located. This development plan provides for the re-construction of Brommystraße and thus a partial dismantling of the remains of the wall at the confluence with Mühlenstraße. Between the East Side Gallery and the Spree, residential development was shown in the development plan from the new Brommystraße in an easterly direction. A riverside park is to be built on the open space between the Spree and the Wall, into which the East Side Gallery is to be integrated as an "artistically transformed wall memorial". According to the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development and the Environment, “the sculptures in the East Side Gallery are to be preserved”.
On June 30, 2008, the property owner received a building permit for the planned residential development. On the morning of March 1, 2013, construction work began on the relocation of parts of the East Side Gallery to make space for the reconstruction of the Brommybrücke , which is to connect Mühlenstrasse over the Spree with Kreuzberg. Space is also to be created for an escape route from the publicly accessible green strip between the Spree and the East Side Gallery. The construction works were "approved by Landesdenkmalamt and Supreme heritage authority" was, the district mayor said Franz Schulz of the picture newspaper with the Senator for Urban Development and Environment said in a response to a deputy request with that the serious concerns of the Landesdenkmalamt in the development plan process had been postponed. The investor claims to have been obliged by the district mayor Franz Schulz in an urban development contract to create a passage here. The work was initially stopped due to protests from around 400 demonstrators. A further 6,000 people took part in another demonstration on March 17, 2013, including actor and singer David Hasselhoff . On the morning of March 27, 2013, four more subsegments were removed under police protection, creating an approximately six-meter-wide access to the construction site.
The conservationist Leo Schmidt is meanwhile calling on the Berlin Senate to apply for membership on the UNESCO list. In contrast to the Senate's argument, a submission is still possible if Berlin submitted the corresponding application together with the State of Brandenburg . The Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs analyzes all the proposals, and the result should be final in 2014.
Future of the East Side Gallery
As of November 1, 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.
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.
Artists and motifs
- Oskar (Hans Bierbrauer)
- Narenda K. Jain: Seven Levels of Enlightenment
- Fulvio Pinna: hymn to happiness
- Kikue Miyatake: Paradise Out Of The Darkness
- Günther Schäfer: Fatherland
- Georg Lutz [long beard]
- César Olhagaray: Primitive man of the computer
- Jens-Helge Dahmen: Pneumohumanoids
- Gábor Simon: Space Magic
- Siegrid Müller-Holtz: Mixed feelings
- Ursula Wünsch: Peace for Everything
- Oliver Meline [enemy]: Welcome
- Ulrike Zott: Without a title
- Ana Leonor Rodriges: Untitled
- Muriel Raoux, Kani Alavi: Untitled
- Muriel Raoux: Les Yeux Ouverts
- Ditmar Reiter: Without a title
- Santoni: Trilogy machine power
- Bodo Sperling : The transformation of the pentagram into a star of peace in a large Europe without walls
- Barbara Greul Aschanta: Germany in November
- Willi Berger: Soli Deo Gloria (based on a work by Johannes Meissel )
- André Sécrit, Karsten Thomas: You learned what freedom means
- Theodor Chezlav Tezhik: The Big Kremlin's Wind
- Catrin Resch: Europe's spring
- Irina Dubrowskaja: The wall has to give way when the meteorite of love comes
- Dmitri Wladimirowitsch Wrubel : My God help me to survive this deadly love (Based on a photo by Régis Bossu)
- Marc Engel: Marionettes of a separate piece
- Alexey Taranin: Without a title
- Mikhail Serebryakov: Diagonal solution to the problem
- Rosemarie Schinzler: Everything is open
- Rosemarie Schinzler: Let it grow
- Christine Fuchs: How's God? She's Black
- Gerhard Lahr: Berlyn
- Karin Porath: Freedom starts inside
- Lutz Pottien-Seiring: Without a title
- Vyacheslav Schjachow: The masks
- Dmitri Vrubel: Thank you, Andrei Sakharov
- Jeanett Kipka: Birds flight
- Shamil Gimajew: Worlds People, we are one people
- Jürgen Große: The birth of the kachinas
- Christopher Frank: Stay Free
- Andreas Paulun: Amour, Paix
- Joaquim Antonio Gocalves Borregana (Kim Prisu): O Povo Unido Nunca Mais Sera Veicido
- Greta Csatlòs (artist group Ciccolina): Sonic Malade
- Henry Schmidt: Don't forget about love
- Thomas Klingenstein : diversion to the Japanese sector
- Karsten Wenzel: The persistence of ignorance
- Pierre-Paul Maillé: Untitled
- Andy White: Spirit Journey
- Gabriel Heimler: The Wall Jumper
- Salvadore de Fazio: Dawn of Peace
- Gerald Kriedner: Götterdämmerung
- Christos Koutsouras: Keep the driveway free day and night
- Yvonne Onischke (née Matzat; artist name since 2005 Yoni): Berlin by night
- Peter Peinzger: City people
- Elisa Budzinski: If you want the world to stay the way it is, you don't want it to stay
- Sabine Kunz: Without a title
- Lance Keller: The Wall
- Jay One (Jacky Ramier): Untitled
- Klaus Niethardt : Justitia
- Mirta Domacinovic: characters in line
- Patrizio Porrachia: The lightning
- Ines Bayer, Raik Hönemann: There are many walls to be dismantled
- Thierry Noir : homage to the young generation
- Teresa Casanueva: rung
- Stephan Cacciatore: La Buerlinica
- Karina Bjerregaard, Lotte Haubart: Himlen over Berlin
- Christine Kühn: Touch the Wall
- Rodolfo Ricàlo: Be careful
- Birgit Kinder: Test the Best
- Margaret Hunter, Peter Russell: Untitled
- Peter Russell: Heaven and Seeker
- Margaret Hunter: Joint Venture
- Sándor Rácmolnár: Waiting for a New Prometheus
- Gábor Imre: waterfall
- Pal Gerber: Tell me, what wonderful dreams hold my mind
- Gábor Gerhes: Untitled
- Sándor Györffy: heads of fire
- Deputy thirsty group: color carry over
- Laszlo Erkel (Centaur): You can see Infinity
- Kani Alavi : It happened in November
- Jim Avignon , Miriam Butterfly, Tomas Fey: Doin it cool for the East Side (painted over with a new motif in October 2013)
- Peter Lorenz: US flag
- Dieter Wien: The morning
- Jacob Köhler: Lotus
- Carmen Leidner: No man's land
- Jens Hübner, Andreas Kämper: Untitled
- Hans-Peter Dürhager, Ralf Jesse: The tired death
- Jolly Kunjappu: Dancing for Freedom
- Susanne Kunjappu-Jellinek: Curriculum Vitae
- Mary Mackay: Tolerance
- Carsten Jost, Ulrike Steglich: Politics is the continuation of the war by other means
- Brigida Böttcher: Flora goes
- Ignasi Blanch i Gisbert: Parlo d'Amor
- Kiddy Citny: Ger-Mania
- Petra Suntinger, Roland Gützlaff: Apollo
- Andrej Smolak: Without a title
- Lana Kim: Without a title
- Karin Velmanns: Without a title
- Rainer Jehle: memorial, reminder
- Kamel Alavi: Untitled
- Kasra Alavi: Escape
- Ingeborg Blumenthal: The spirit is like traces of birds in the sky
- Lana Kim: Without a title
Awards
- 2010: 1st special prize “Lived Unity” “365 Landmarks in the Land of Ideas” under the patronage of Federal President Horst Köhler, sponsored by the Federal Government.
literature
- Wall catalog East Side Gallery. Oberbaum-Verlag, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-928254-02-2 .
- East Side Gallery. Nicolai Verlag, 2002, ISBN 3875846133 .
- East Side Gallery - Berlin Wall Pictures. EA Seemann Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-86502-260-8 .
- Walk to the East Side Gallery. Berlin Story Verlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-95723-008-9 (German and English).
Web links
- Entry in the Berlin State Monument List with further information
- Website East Side Gallery of the Berlin Wall Foundation
- Website of the artist initiative East Side Gallery e. V.
- East Side Gallery 1990. Photos of the original works. In: berlin-in-bildern.de. Claudia Leverentz, archived from the original on September 28, 2007 .
- virtual tour East Side Gallery with panoramas from 2007 and 2010 (after renovation)
- Jörg Weber in cooperation with the artist initiative East Side Gallery eV: East Side Gallery. Google , accessed March 18, 2015 (with names of artists and image titles, taken after 2011).
- Picture gallery: Walk along the East Side Gallery. In: Der Tagesspiegel , March 2013
- East Side Gallery at Google Cultural Institute
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b East Side Gallery. In: berlin.de. Retrieved February 7, 2020 .
- ^ East Side Gallery - Berlin No more brother kiss. In: spiegel.de . March 27, 2009, accessed July 11, 2020.
- ^ Press release from the State of Berlin
- ↑ The kiss
- ↑ Gallery page
- ↑ world
- ↑ art - Das Kunstmagazin, article from April 7, 2009 ( Memento from March 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ ddp, Spiegel-Online, article from November 5, 2009
- ↑ Peter Geimer: The fake monument. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, December 1, 2009, No. 279, p. 34.
- ↑ There is an acute risk of collapse on Bernauerstrasse
- ^ Artist from the East Side Gallery faces criminal charges. Berliner Morgenpost from October 22, 2014
- ↑ Berlin Wall comes behind glass. In: Lübecker Nachrichten of April 25, 2017, p. 29.
- ↑ The wall has to go. Berliner Zeitung from June 23, 2006.
- ↑ Development plan V-74 for the properties between Mühlenstraße, Straße Am Oberbaum, Spree and the former Brommystraße (parcel 89 of corridor 25) and a section of the former Brommystraße (parcel 89 of corridor 25), with the exception of parcel 60 in the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district Friedrichshain district ( Memento from April 12, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ a b c Future of the world-famous art object East-Side-Gallery (PDF; 108 kB) Unhandled oral question no. 21 by Member of Parliament Stefan Schlede (CDU) from the 28th session of the House of Representatives on March 7, 2013 and answer
- ↑ [1] Activists protest, construction work on the East Side Gallery is lame
- ^ East Side Gallery secretly sawn up. Picture from March 1, 2013
- ↑ [2] , Berliner Zeitung of March 4, 2013.
- ↑ Construction work on East Side Gallery stopped “Mr. Wowereit - don't tear down this wall ”. Tagesspiegel from March 1, 2013.
- ↑ Demo for East Side Gallery: Thousands want to save the wall. In: Der Tagesspiegel, March 3, 2013.
- ↑ 250 police officers secure the demolition of the East Side Gallery. Online article of the Frankfurter Rundschau from March 27, 2013; accessed on March 27, 2013.
- ↑ East Side Gallery Expert: Wall is a World Heritage Site. In: Frankfurter Rundschau , April 2, 2013, last accessed on April 3, 2013.
- ↑ The longest open-air gallery in the world ( Memento from October 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ State press office
Coordinates: 52 ° 30 ′ 18 ″ N , 13 ° 26 ′ 22 ″ E