Saturday, November 9, 2019

Deadly Love


City Daily Photo
Tom at Signs2.


September 2015- Berlin Germany


Debbie at Travel With Intent reminded me that the Berlin Wall came down thirty years ago on November 9, 1989.











My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love (Russian: «Го́споди! Помоги́ мне вы́жить среди́ э́той сме́ртной любви́», romanized: Góspodi! Pomogí mne výzhit' sredí étoy smértnoy lyubví; German: Mein Gott, hilf mir, diese tödliche Liebe zu überleben), sometimes referred to as the Fraternal Kiss (German: Bruderkuss), is a graffiti painting on the Berlin wall by Dmitri Vrubel, one of the best known of the Berlin wall graffiti paintings. Created in 1990, the painting depicts Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker in a fraternal embrace, reproducing a photograph that captured the moment in 1979 during the 30th anniversary celebration of the foundation of the German Democratic Republic.

My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love has become one of the best known works of graffiti art on the Berlin Wall. According to Anthony Read and David Fisher, the painting is "particularly striking, with a sharp, satirical edge." However, it was also widely criticized on creation as a straightforward reproduction of the photograph that inspired it.






The well-known photograph capturing the famed embrace was taken by Régis Bossu in East Berlin on October 7, 1979. It was widely republished. Brezhnev was visiting East Germany at the time to celebrate the anniversary of its founding as a Communist nation. On October 5, East Germany and the Soviet Union had signed a ten-year agreement of mutual support under which East Germany would provide ships, machinery and chemical equipment to the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union would provide fuel and nuclear equipment to East Germany.

Currently, the rights for the photo are managed by Corbis Corporation.












5 comments:

  1. Beautiful murals. And I do think reproduction means people just are sooo glad this happened!
    I have a post on delay as I could not take a pic of the piece of the Berlin wall we have here due to a festival (irony!!!), but will check again tomorrow.
    Yes, I was only 17 when it happened. Time runs, but I got the most nicest people from "over there"!
    With my last ex-teamleader I´m in contact daily, despite I lost my job. I´m so glad to have him.

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  2. ...I remember this time in history well and now we are building walls. Look what happens with a 'leader' is ignorant of history! Thanks Jackie for this history lesson.

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  3. Fabulous murals Jackie to commemorate such an iconic event.
    We were on a flight just out of Frankfurt, after having lived in Germany for almost 6 years, when the pilot informed us that the wall had fallen. Everybody started clapping and cheering, I can still remember that!

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  4. That's an odd photo but a terrific mural!

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