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The Berlin Wall • East Side Gallery Timeline

2013: From Restoration to Destruction

Also see the full Berlin Wall Timeline (1945-1989) and
our East Side Gallery page.

In October 2008, the latest attempt to preserve and renovate the East Side Gallery section of the Berlin Wall had its official start. Scheduled for completion in time for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, this latest restoration was the best funded and most ambitious of several renovation projects since the East Side Gallery was created in 1990.

East Side Gallery park
This view of the back of the East Side Gallery shows the new park that has been created along the banks of the Spree River. Between 1961 and 1989, this area was a death strip between the Spree and the inside wall (on the right) that is now the East Side Gallery. PHOTO © Hyde Flippo
> More Wall Photos

March 2013
But in early March 2013 protestors gathered around a spot at the East Side Gallery, where yet another hole was being punched into the landmark-protected stretch of the Berlin Wall. Ironically, it was a section that had been restored in 2009. It seems the Berlin city government is determined to slowly dismantle even this historic, last still-standing part of the Berlin Wall.

Blog: The East Side Gallery and Berlin’s Benign Neglect

East Side Gallery Timeline (1961-2013)

  • 1961 | Early on 13 August, East German troops and workers begin stringing barbed wire and setting up barriers for what will eventually become the Berlin Wall.
  • 1989 | On November 9 during an evening news conference, the East German government announces that citizens of the German Democratic Republic will now be permitted to travel without restrictions — effective immediately. Unaware of this sudden change in policy, border guards are overwhelmed by crowds of East Berliners who want to cross into West Berlin. The Berlin Wall will soon almost completely disappear.
  • 1990 | In February, 118 artists from 21 countries gather to create the East Side Gallery along a 1.3 km section of the Wall running along Mühlenstraße in Berlin-Friedrichshain from the Ostbahnhof (East Train Station) to the Oberbaum Bridge. The Gallery has its official debut on 28 September.
  • 1990 | The German Unity Treaty designates 3 October as the official date of German reunification and the new national holiday.
  • 1991 | The East Side Gallery is officially granted landmark protection.
  • 1992 | Partial restoration of the Gallery by various artists. The cheap paint used in 1990 is already beginning to peel off and weather.
  • 1996 | The Künstlerinitiative East Side Gallery e.V. (Artists Initiative) is formed in April to provide an organization to promote the restoration and preservation of the Gallery. Another partial restoration of the East Side Gallery is carried out.
  • 1998 | Some artists carry out yet another restoration of their paintings.
  • 2000 | With support from a paint manufacturing association, 40 artists repaint 42 pictures on one third (333 m) of the length of the East Side Gallery during the summer.
  • 2002 | Concrete work and restoration of parts of the Wall itself.
  • 2004 | More concrete work and restoration of parts of the Wall. Most of the paintings continue to deteriorate.
  • 2006 | In September construction begins on the O2 World events center on the site of the former East Freight Train Yard just across from the East Side Gallery. Later, despite protests and landmark protection, a 45-meter section of the Wall is taken down to allow access to the Spree River.
  • 2008 | 15 October: Kick-off ceremonies for the 2008/2009 East Side Gallery restoration project. Almost one million euros of funding has been provided by the city of Berlin and the Deutsche Klassenlotterie (national lottery).
  • 2008 | The grand opening of the O2 World takes place on 10 September.
  • 2009 | In April, work begins on a major restoration of 105 paintings at the East Side Gallery — with the goal of completion in time for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (in November).
  • 2009 | By the November deadline, the project has restored works by 98 of 113 surviving artists. A total of 74 original artists restored their own works, while other sections were renovated by other artists. In official ceremonies with the artists and Berlin politicians on Nov. 6, 2009 the restoration is declared complete, although some work will continue into December. Of 106 remaining Wall paintings, 99 have been fully restored.
  • 2009 | Critics call the East Side Gallery, as it now stands, a “kind of Disneyland for tourists” that has sections missing and no longer reflects its historic character. Proponents counter that without the restoration efforts, this section of the Wall could disappear completely.
  • 2011 | 13 August: The world observes the 50th anniversary of the Wall's construction in 1961.
  • 2012 | 9 November: Germany and the world commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
  • 2013 | 1 March: Cranes and heavy equipment begin the removal of two concrete sections of the East Side Gallery, but protestors gather around the area, causing the work to come to a temporary halt. Surprised tourists who just wanted to take some photos of the Wall landmark can't believe what they are witnessing. The latest gap in the Gallery is to allow access to planned pedestrian bridge over the river. Protestors also object to a planned high-rise condo complex now being built between the Wall and the river. - Blog: The East Side Gallery and Berlin’s Benign Neglect

  • MORE > The East Side Gallery (1990-present)
  • MORE > Berlin Wall Timeline (1945-1989)
  • WEB > 20 Jahre Mauerfall - Fest der Freiheit (2009) (in German)
  • QUIZ > Berlin Wall Quiz - A self-scoring history quiz

The Gallery Restorations

Berlin Wall Photo Gallery
The 2009 and 2000 East Side Gallery restoration projects, plus older photos.

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Original Web content ©1997-2013 Hyde Flippo | Graphic design by Erik Flippo www.erikflippo.com
Hyde Flippo is solely responsible for the content of this site and, other than permission granted to publish copyrighted material, McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Publishing has no direct involvement, financial or otherwise, with this site. When in Germany, Do As the Germans ©2002 McGraw-Hill; The German Way ©1997 McGraw-Hill/Passport Books. All rights reserved | Site Map | Advertise with us!