Vrubel’s “Bruderkiss” was painted in 1990 as a part of the Berlin Wall East Side Gallery, along with approximately 100 paintings by artists from all overthe world, painted on what remained of the east side of the Berlin Wall.

The inscription above the mural is in German and Russian: “Oh Gott, laß mich diese tödliche Liebe überleben / Господи, помоги мне выжить среди этой смертельной любьви! (Oh God, help me survive this deadly love!). The painting is based on a photograph of Breshnev and Honecker kissing in 1979 on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).