''My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love'' (; ), sometimes referred to as the ''Fraternal Kiss'' (), is a graffiti painting by

Dmitri Vrubel Dmitri Vladimirovich Vrubel (; 14 July 1960 – 13 August 2022) was a Russian painter. He was best known for his East Side Gallery-painting '' My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love'', depicting the kissing communist leaders Leonid Brezh ...

on the eastern side of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

. Painted in 1990, it has become one of the best known pieces of

Berlin Wall graffiti art The Berlin Wall was constructed in 1961 to separate West Berlin and East Berlin during the Cold War. All the differences between the countries made it a perfect place for people to express their opinions, especially on their preferences and dislik ...

. The painting depicts

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (19 December 190610 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, his death in 1982 as w ...

and

Erich Honecker Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the post ...

in a socialist fraternal kiss, reproducing a photograph taken in 1979 during the 30th anniversary celebration of the foundation of the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

Photograph

The photograph capturing the embrace was taken by Régis Bossu in

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

on 7 October 1979. Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German President Erich Honecker kiss on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the German Democratic Republics. It was widely republished. Brezhnev was visiting East Germany at the time to celebrate the anniversary of its founding as a Communist nation. On 5 October, 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.

Painting

Vrubel created the painting in 1990 on the eastern side of the

. Until the

fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (, ) on 9 November in German history, 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, marked the beginning of the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain, as East Berlin transit restrictions we ...

in 1989,

existed only on the western side. Vrubel attempted to obtain permission to paint on the eastern side, but the East German Ministry of National Defence disclaimed responsibility for the Wall. Instead, he found a "Scottish girl" selling "permits" to paint on the Wall, and he signed a contract that gave up all of his rights to the painting. Along with other murals in the section, the painting continued in display after the wall was taken down, but vandalism and atmospheric conditions gradually led to its deterioration. In March 2009, the painting, along with others, was erased from the wall to allow the original artists to repaint them with more durable paints. Vrubel was commissioned to repaint the piece, donating the

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

3000 fee he was paid to a social art project in

Marzahn Marzahn () is a locality within the boroughs and localities of Berlin, borough of Marzahn-Hellersdorf in Berlin. Berlin's 2001 administrative reform led to the former boroughs of Marzahn and Hellersdorf fusing into a single new borough. In the ...

. In terms of style, there are slight differences between the 1990 and remade 2009 murals, and Vrubel has said that he made technical mistakes on the original piece due to inexperience with the method. The main message did not change. Photographer Bossu and Vrubel met in 2009 and were photographed together on 16 June with reproductions of their works.

Critical reception

''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 Anthony Read (21 April 1935 – 21 November 2015) was an English television producer, screenwriter, script editor and author. He was principally active in British television from the 1960s to the mid-1980s, which included a period as a script ...

and David Fisher, the painting is "particularly striking, with a sharp, satirical edge." It was also widely criticized on creation as a straightforward reproduction of the photograph that inspired it. In a 2014 interview, the artist explained how the location and characters give meaning to the painting: "In this painting, there's one German and one Russian, and the Berlin Wall is about the same thing but in reverse: here n the painting there's total love, while the Berlin Wall separates two worldsit was a perfect fit." He wanted to create a "wow" factor but did not expect the success it had. Prominent derivative works include '' Make Everything Great Again'', a 2016 Lithuanian mural of Russian president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

and United States president Donald Trump in a similar pose, and a 2016 mural in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

featuring

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

and pro-

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

campaigner and British Member of Parliament

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

in the run-up to the 2016 referendum.

References

{{commons category, Mein Gott, hilf mir, diese tödliche Liebe zu überleben Berlin Wall Eastern Bloc Graffiti in Germany Cultural depictions of Leonid Brezhnev Cultural depictions of German people 1990 paintings 1990s in Berlin Cold War in popular culture Counterculture of the 1990s German political satire Vandalized works of art Works about kissing East Germany–Soviet Union relations 1990s murals Satirical paintings

Photograph

Painting

Critical reception

See also

References