Berlin: staying on the east side

Germany

Here we are in Berlin. Before we arrived, I imagined that even some thirty years after the fall of the wall dividing east from West Berlin, we’d be able to tell which zone we were in. The east would still be full of Stalinist architecture, and look, well, shabbier, surely?

 The Plus Hotel, once a school of textile design.

No. Not at all. We’re staying in a cracking looking hotel and hostel that used to be a textile school. We learnt that we were along the road from the East Side Gallery. An art gallery?  That’s nice.

You’ll find your way to the ‘gallery’ by following the stencilled signs on the pavement.

But this is a gallery like no other. The canvas on which the invited artists worked is the wall, the actual Berlin Wall.  Walk along the streets which line the route of what’s left of the wall and you’ll see painting after commissioned painting with the artist’s own thoughts provoked by the wall and its demise. It’s angry, gritty, colourful, and provokes conversation among passers by. We plan to return tomorrow for a more considered visit.

16 thoughts on “Berlin: staying on the east side”

  3. Not exactly a restful holiday, is it?! Berlin is on my list of places I must visit. I read a post last year written by someone who had also spent a few days in Berlin. He was very impressed by the Wall but less so by Checkpoint Charlie which he thought a little tacky. If you visit it I’d be interested in your opinion.

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      1. OK…I’m going to post some of my images from 2003 later! I thought it was earlier than that, but the East Side images are from then.

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