The opening and fall of the Berlin Wall, which divided East and West Berlin over a length of 43 kilometres, began on 9 November 1989. An outstanding event in recent world history took its course. In spring 1990, a 1.3-kilometre section of the Wall was painted metres by 118 artists from 21 countries. The East Side Gallery memorial was created as a permanent open-air gallery. The artists applied their views of the years of change 1989/90 in sketches to the concrete wall in about 100 paintings. The works have since had to be restored several times due to the effects of the weather.
