Vision of East Side Gallery

Vision
for the Artists Initiative
East Side Gallery e.V.

An Act Against Forgetting

Architectural Drawing
of Proposed East Side Gallery Museum
Contact East Side Gallery

The East Side Gallery, one of the last remains of the Berlin Wall that's still at its historical place, is probably the longest gallery in the world. With its length of 1.3km, it curves parallel to the Spree through Berlin and tells with its pictures the story of Berlin and Germany's history.

The Künstlerinitiative (Artists Initiative) East Side Gallery e.V. site http://www.eastsidegallery.com is the only officially endorsed web site with the sole purpose of supporting and preserving this unique gallery as a memorial for freedom.

The first step is to restore the wall and the paintings of the East Side Gallery. Nevertheless there already exist some visions for the future of the East Side Gallery. In 1999 two architectural students of the Technical University of Berlin, Andrea Salge and Barbara Schulz, used their final diploma presentation to propel a special idea: Under the supervision of their professor Prof. R. Hascher and in a cooperation with Kani Alavi, president of the Künstlerinititive e.V., they have worked out an architectural concept for a "House of the East Side Gallery".

The idea is to build an international memorial of freedom--not a static museum but a place of international exchange open to any kind of work and discussion about any kind of walls and borders, not just the Berlin Wall, but also themes such as Korea or Ireland.

Model of Possible East Side Gallery Museum, Berlin, Germany

Scale model of proposed East Side Gallery Museum, Berlin, Germany

The emphasis is on the artistic work and exploration of this theme. The "House of the East Side Gallery" is to be understood as a place of teaching and learning for artists from all over the world who explore the past and present of divided countries or physical and mental walls. Kani Alavi developed his concept before the actual architectural planning of the building. The architects Andrea Salge and Barbara Schulz therefore planned a very open and transparent building that allows the East Side Gallery to become part of the actual building, thus creating a unique memorial of freedom, leaving the East Side Gallery in its full length and at its original historic place.

Until now the territory behind the East Side Gallery between what used to be the Wall and the river Spree has not yet been rebuilt. There are different concepts existing about how to reanimate and architecturally awaken the zone, but none of the suggestions take the East Side Gallery as the central point of this area. The historical and political dimension of the East Side Gallery is not recognized at all in these plans. For this reason it is even more important to tell people about the vision of a different "House of the East Side Gallery" and to underline the necessity of such a concept.

Architectural Drawing of Proposed East Side Gallery Museum

Architectural Drawing
of Proposed East Side Gallery Museum

The architectural models of the "House of the East Side Gallery" have been presented and exposed from the August 20 to September 10, 1999 at the Galerie am Potsdamer Platz as part of Berlin's East Side Festival. The concept with its thematical and architectural ideas has fostered great interest in German press and public alike. The models moved to another exhibition about the East Side Gallery, organized by the Bezirksamt Friedrichshain, which opened in October 1999 until March 2000. It seems that the vision of Kani Alavi, the Künstlerinitiative East Side Gallery e.V. and the two young architects about the future of the East Side Gallery has impressed many people and that there is a realistic chance that this vision might become reality.

9th November 1999