How long is Berlin’s East Side Gallery, the famous open-air Berlin Wall art site?
Answer
1.3 kilometres
Berlin’s East Side Gallery is about 1.3 kilometres long.
The gallery occupies a surviving stretch of the Berlin Wall along the former border between East and West Berlin. After the wall opened, more than 100 artists from many countries painted murals on the concrete sections. The project began in 1990 and turned a former instrument of repression into a public art landmark.
The gallery is often described as the longest open-air gallery in the world. Its murals include political images, personal symbols, and scenes reflecting the end of the Cold War. Because weather and pollution damaged the paintings, conservation and restoration have repeatedly been necessary.
The East Side Gallery is not the entire Berlin Wall. It is one preserved section, and some of its original panels have been moved or altered during restoration and nearby construction.