The Walls of Berlin - Sister of Brandenburg [CCC's Street Art Contest #174]

Honestly, I thought returning to Mexico would offer me a huge selection of brand new murals that I could use for the next few weeks, if not months, for the weekly CCC's Street Art Contest, where I like to post examples of amazing street art I have come across. But for some strange reason, this hasn't been the case. So instead, let me go back to September, and to the town of Brandenburg this week.

Brandenburg Ain't Berlin

That's for certain! A small and rather insignificant town that carries the name of its province, surrounding Berlin in all directions, Brandenburg is not even the capital (which would be Potsdam). Instead it has... well, really not that much to offer. I remember when I was visiting my sister in Potsdam, we decided to jump on a train and look at this town. It's not even that far away, probably an hour or so, and with the flat rate Deutschlandticket our fare was already paid. However, since this town is not even in the vicinity of Berlin, I first didn't even want to include it in my Walls of Berlin post collection. But then again, Gransee is also quite outside the city, still I included its mural in my series.

Art on a Utility Box

Brandenburg itself was not bad. Kinda cute, actually, with a river, bridges, and parts of the medieval town wall still intact, including some of its towers. So I can totally see tourists from the US or Japan going nuts about its picturesque flair, but for us, who have grown up in a similar setting in Southern Germany, it was a bit less exciting. What I did stop to take some pictures of, was a utility building (probably electrical), with some kind of a mural painted on it.

It is of the French town Ivry-sur-Seine, of which the sign informs us, has been Brandenburg's sister city since 1963. Checking on the map, it seems like this French town is in the "shade of the Eifel tower", as it has almost been swallowed by sprawling Paris. In that regard at least, Brandenburg stands its ground with a bit of a distance to Berlin. Apparently, the most famous feature of Ivry-sur-Seine is its windmill, and the person they are proud of is Jean Renaudie, who apparently is (or was) an architect of importance, at least in that town.

As for the artist of this mural, once again I have to draw a blank. The only indication of the creator(s) of this piece, is the Colorful Design Agency, of course local to Brandenburg. Let me tell you, it's really worth checking out their page, as it seems like this benign utility box is maybe the least spectacular of their creations. This makes me want to go back to Brandenburg, only to explore its street art!