Public art in Berlin
The East Side Gallery is the longest surviving stretch of the Berlin Wall, 1.3 kilometers of concrete covered in over 100 murals painted by artists from around the world in 1990. Free, open-air, and always accessible. The most famous image is the Fraternal Kiss between Brezhnev and Honecker. Budget travelers walk the full length along the Spree River and absorb the largest open-air gallery in the world without spending a cent.
Practical
On foot
Free and low-cost routes that stop at East Side Gallery.
The Berlin Wall Trail is a self-guided walking route following the path of the former Wall through the city. Free. A 10-kilometer route from the Berlin Wall Memorial through Mitte to Checkpoint Charlie and the East Side Gallery covering Cold War history through the places where it actually happened.
The Berlin City Free Walking Tour covers the city's history from the Prussian Empire to the Cold War in one 2.5 to 3 hour walk, passing the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, and remnants of the Wall. It is the definitive budget orientation for a city defined by its modern history.
Nearby
Other places worth the walk, and what each one costs.
Alexanderplatz is the large public square in former East Berlin, dominated by the Fernsehturm (TV Tower), the World Clock, and the Galeria department store. Free to walk through.
Bebelplatz is the square on Unter den Linden where the Nazi book burning of May 1933 took place. Free.
The Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom) is the largest church in Berlin, a baroque revival building on Museum Island with a green copper dome. Entry is paid at a modest price and includes access to the dome walkway with views over the Lustgarten, the Spree, and the TV Tower.
The Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse is the central memorial site of German division, with a preserved section of the Wall, the death strip, a watchtower, and an open-air exhibition documenting escape attempts and the lives disrupted by the border. Free.
Bernauer Strasse is the street where the Berlin Wall divided neighbors, families, and apartment buildings overnight on August 13, 1961. Free to walk.
Boxhagener Platz is a neighborhood square in Friedrichshain with a Saturday food market and a Sunday flea market. Free to browse.
Working out what Berlin costs?
The whole of Berlin