Published Date:
07 November 2009
By Geir Moulson in Berlin
THE Berlin Wall's longest remaining stretch has been restored to its state of nearly two decades ago, as artists have repainted the murals created celebrating the wall's opening.
Berlin yesterday inaugurated the restored section of the concrete wall, which is known as the East Side Gallery and snakes along the bank of the Spree river for three-quarters of a mile.
A popular tourist attraction, it boasts famous images, such as a boxy East German Trabant car that appears to burst through the wall, and a fraternal communist kiss between Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and his East German counterpart, Erich Honecker.
The painted section "is a document that allows future generations to picture for themselves… what the wall meant", Berlin's mayor, Klaus Wowereit, said at an inauguration ceremony.
The section was transformed into an open-air gallery months after communist East Germany opened its borders on 9 November, 1989. Much of the rest of the wall was quickly ripped down.
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Last Updated:
06 November 2009 10:39 PM
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Source:
The Scotsman
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Location:
Edinburgh
