Desperate artist fights to preserve his mural on German unity in Leipzig

The artist Michael Fischer-Art is worried about his famous mural on German unity opposite Leipzig's main railway station. Because a hotel is to be built on the site, the future of the painting is unclear, the painter told the German Press Agency.

Despite a previous agreement to preserve and archive the famous mural, the construction company responsible has begun to concrete over parts of the artwork on Brühl. The 3,000 square meter painting depicts scenes from the Leipzig Monday demonstrations, the escape movement of the summer of 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Salvage on the brink

The artist sees the failure of the project as being due to a "lack of communication" between the construction company, the client and the owner of the mural. According to Fischer-Arts, the artwork can be easily removed as it is painted on a 0.5 centimeter thick layer of gage and brush plaster. "You could easily cut it out with a cutter knife," emphasizes Fischer-Art, who is said to have even agreed to take on this task personally outside of construction times.

The artist now wants to campaign for a halt to construction in order to save his painting, created for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and auction off parts of it for a good cause. According to him, there are already interested parties worldwide.

The construction company did not want to comment on the allegations when asked. The client who commissioned the project could not be reached.