Street Art in Berlin

Photo Credit: Steffi Reichert

The German capital of Berlin is a wonderful place to admire and explore some of the world’s best street art. A visit offers a really interesting opportunity to discover the city as Berlin is the capital of street art and flights tend to be fairly reasonable. You can compare accommodation rates through sites such as venere.com where you’ll be able to find more information about the city and compare prices. With this in mind, here is my quick guide to street art in Berlin.

The History of Berlin’s Street Art

Berlin’s street art movement first began in the 1970s when anarchists and migrants began writing colourful and often political slogans along the infamous Berlin Wall. By the end of this decade, a new wave of graffiti artists had arrived, now armed with spray cans and stencils. When the wall fell in 1989 the graffiti artists moved into East Germany, where artistic styles merged and ‘freedom’ graffiti became commonplace throughout the country.

World Famous Street Artists

Berlin’s impressive designs and tolerance towards street art has attracted a large number of world famous artists over the years. These include big international names such as Banksy, El Bocho, Blu, Victor Ash and Jimmy C who have all contributed to Berlin’s flourishing street art scene, putting the German capital firmly on the map as the best place in the world to view this creative and expressive artistic genre.

Where To Find Berlin’s Street Art

If you are hoping to see some of the city’s top street art then look no further than Berlin’s Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain and Mitte districts. Here street art has found its canvas and hundreds of works, often politically motivated, can be found alongside eclectic shops, bars and clubs in this lively and bohemian part of the city. Many pieces can be easily located due to the fact that the artwork towers over the surrounding buildings in order to make a rather drastic impact.

Berlin’s Top Masterpieces

Berlin simply teems with striking street art, however if you don’t have a great deal of time on your hands, the city’s top masterpieces include Jimmy C’s dripping installations in Mitte situated in the alley just off Rosenthaler Straße. Victor Ash’s Spaceman in Kreuzberg on Mariannenstrasse, and Blu’s work in Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg which include the famous global warming sand timer and the two masked figures located just beyond the Oberbaum Bridge.