I remember how shaken I was seeing this photo for the first time in the late eighties. Just to be sure - it was not a photo of a graffiti - it was a photo from an official meeting. I think one of West Geerman weeklies put it on the cover...
Now THERE's something you don't see everyday. :o)) Um. I am not sure I WANT to see it again, either. :o)). In any event - well documented. Extraordinary graffiti in effect.
The Fraternal Kiss is a famous Berlin Wall painting (painted during the euphoria following the fall of the Wall), depicting the former leader of the Soviet Union, L. Brezhnev, in a lip lock with the former head of East Germany, E. Honecker.
Words on the sign:
"My God, help me, this deadly love to survive"
My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love (Russian: «Господи! Помоги мне выжить среди этой смертной любви», 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.
Leonid Brezhnev and East German President Erich Honecker kiss on the occasion of East Germany's 30th anniversary. Don't know what the sign says but must be something about the anniversary. V!
Brejnev (or something like that) was the USSR (communist) President for a long time, during the Cold War of the 60s and 70s. I think it is a custom in Russia for men to kiss and hold hand. I remember a shot of Dubbya and Putin walking hand in hand at Dubbya's rancnh! I'm glad that tradition stays in Russia!!! As for the sign in cyrilic, no idea what it says!!!!!
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