Photo Journal: A Wall of Hope in Berlin, Germany

Although it was 1989, I still remember it like it was yesterday.

 

Pulling back the plastic tape barricading a freshly paved square of sidewalk. Smelling the chalky finish as I drew my stick out like a sword, ready to attack.

 

And then, after checking left and right to make sure no one was watching, slowly etching a small smiley face in the corner of the drying-cement square. :)

 

That was my first (of two) brushes with vandalism street art and I all I wanted to do was make the world a little bit happier with my smiley message. But that’s not exactly how the woman whose property it was felt when she saw it a minute after I finished my masterpiece… She looked like >:(

 

And then I felt :(

 

Bad Lisa Bad.

 

In contrast, when Lilia and I walked down the 1.3km graffiti art-laden strip of the Berlin Wall’s East Side Gallery, we were in complete awe at the beautifully poignant emotions that the artists captured.

 

Originally constructed to separate the East (commies) from the West (democrats), the 100 mile-long wall divided the country for almost three decades until it was torn down in 1989.

 

While most of the wall has been destroyed or disbanded around the world, the East Side Gallery features a sampling of colorful voices across an endless range of topics from personal fears and wishes to social and political protests. Today the remaining section of the Berlin Wall is an international symbol of freedom and hope.

 

As we walked along the range of emotions displayed :-) :D :o) :] :3 :c) :> =] 8) >:[ :-( :( :-c :c :-< :っC :< :-[ :[ :{ >:\ >:/ :-/ :-. :/ :\ =/ =\ :L =L :S, I couldn’t help but think that my little :) would have fit right in.

 

Hotel:

Soho House Berlin
Torstraße 1, 10119 Berlin, Germany
+49 30 4050440