Deutsche Welle: "Some Berliners are already hot under the collar at the thought of taxpayers' money being spent on repainting this most prolific relic of the GDR, and a recent survey […] suggested only 27 percent of Berliners are in favor of the renovation."

And rightly so. The East Side Gallery began after the fall of the Berlin Wall and therefore is not a "prolific relic of the GDR." Moreover, the original wall was a drab fortification and the paintings are concerned with universalist themes, such as hope, peace and prosperity for the world in general.

Deutsche Welle: "But Kani Alavi, co-founder and president of the Artists' Initiative East Side Gallery says it's a small price to pay for the upkeep of a crucial part of the city's history. 'The gallery serves as a document,' he said, 'and we and the city authorities have to be prepared to protect the history of Berlin.' "

Actually, Mr. Alavi wants public funding for paintings by himself and Kasra Alavi, among others. The Gallery is not really part of the "history of Berlin" - if Mr. Alavi wants it maintained, he should pay for it.

Certainly the Wall needs to remain, as a reminder of the partition of Germany, the Cold War and of the fundamental differences between East and West.

I am, however, confused as to why this article appeared in the Brussels Journal. If it is to say that Germans are attempting to erase all memory of the GDR, this would be incorrect given the recent and notable wave of Ostalgie.

They should restore then entire wall and send the E. Germans back home to their socialist paradise. Nobody has the balls to say it outright but this is where most of the new anti-americansim is coming from in europe. Commies go home!