Dmitri Vrubel created the famous mural of a socialist fraternal kiss on the Berlin Wall.
Vrubel painted My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love on the East Side Gallery in 1990. The mural reproduces a 1979 photograph showing Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German leader Erich Honecker embracing and kissing during the 30th anniversary celebrations of the German Democratic Republic.
The image refers to the socialist fraternal kiss, a ceremonial greeting used by leaders of communist states. Vrubel’s version became one of the most recognizable artworks associated with the former wall. The original painting deteriorated over time and was restored several times.
The East Side Gallery is an open-air gallery on a remaining stretch of the wall along the Spree. Although the artwork is popularly treated as an original Berlin Wall scene, it was painted after the border opened. That timing is a common source of confusion.