The Local Germany

Train graffiti: How Germany is tackling its €38 million problem

Fri, 10 May 2019 14:10:11 +0200

For residents and visitors to Germany, graffiti on trains and at stations is nothing surprising. But new figures obtained by The Local illustrate the scale of the problem.

'Child-free' Hamburg cafe hit with graffiti attack

Fri, 22 Mar 2019 17:40:41 +0100

A Hamburg cafe which recently made national headlines by refusing to admit children under the age of six was vandalized in a graffiti attack.

'Nazi' sprayed on food charity which refused to take new migrant clients

Mon, 26 Feb 2018 15:33:14 +0100

The police said on Monday they were searching for vandals who sprayed the word "Nazis" on the building and vans of a charitable food bank that has stopped accepting new migrant clients.

How Berlin activists are turning Nazi hate graffiti into art

Thu, 03 Aug 2017 10:42:09 +0200

A ragtag band of Berlin street artists is taking aim at an urban scourge of neo Nazi graffiti, using "love and humour" to turn swastikas into colourful symbols of inclusiveness.

Anger as famed activist fined for altering anti-Merkel graffiti

Thu, 06 Oct 2016 18:26:10 +0200

In a ruling condemned by German media as absurd, an award-winning anti-Nazi activist was convicted by a Berlin court for changing the meaning of a piece of graffiti which called for Chancellor Angela Merkel to resign.

Teenagers killed by train while on tracks spraying graffiti

Tue, 04 Oct 2016 17:34:52 +0200

Two young men, 18 and 19, were run over and killed by a train around midnight Sunday night in Berlin.

Berlin neighbours shocked by huge 'bloody refugee' mural

Wed, 22 Jun 2016 12:54:55 +0200

In typical Berlin style, an artist painted a massive mural with political overtones, stretching the entire length of an apartment building. But residents are far from pleased.

German teacher fined for painting over swastikas

Wed, 25 Nov 2015 12:13:09 +0100

A teacher from central Germany has been ordered to pay a €1,000 fine after he painted over swastikas which had been sprayed on public property.

German tourists face caning in Singapore

Thu, 05 Mar 2015 10:04:59 +0100

Two German tourists have been sentenced to nine months in prison and three strikes with a cane for spraying graffiti in the conservative city's underground rail system.

World-famous Berlin street art blacked out

Fri, 12 Dec 2014 10:49:00 +0100

Twitter users in the capital's Kreuzberg district reported that men arrived with cranes and spotlights on Thursday night to paint over two of the capital's most famous street art pieces.

City wants cash from anti-Nazi activist

Tue, 18 Nov 2014 17:20:00 +0100

The city of Limburg has demanded almost €1,000 from an activist for spraying over neo-Nazi graffiti.

Hamburg graffiti legend killed by train

Fri, 26 Sep 2014 14:50:00 +0200

Hamburg's most prolific graffiti artist was killed on Thursday night by an S-Bahn train, police said on Friday.

Bahn 'drone' helicopter to hunt graffiti vandals

Sun, 26 May 2013 13:48:00 +0200

The writing is clearly on the wall for illegal graffiti artists, as Deutsche Bahn (DB) plans to deploy unmanned mini-helicopter drones to film, track and hunt them down, it emerged on Sunday.

Graffiti 'florist' fined despite flower fans

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 17:10:00 +0200

A German man who covered his home town in graffiti flowers which became so popular they can now be found on T-shirts and badges, has been fined €12,000.

One woman tackles neo-Nazi graffiti

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:57:00 +0100

While the recently-discovered Neo-Nazi murders dominated the German media for weeks, the drip, drip, drip of xenophobic graffiti rarely gets much attention. AFP’s Deborah Cole meets a woman tackling it personally.

Eight-year-old Banksy work uncovered in Berlin

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:58:00 +0200

The Bethanien arts centre has unveiled a large work painted onto one of its walls by British street artist Banksy eight years ago.

Cost of train graffiti and vandalism on the rise, operators say

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 10:57:00 +0200

The cost of graffiti and vandalism on Germany’s trains is on the rise, hitting a record last year of €50 million as the amount of spray-painting and damage creeps upward, according to a Friday media report.

Mediaeval graffiti casts light on everyday workers at nunnery

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:14:00 +0100

Historians in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia announced on Tuesday that they have deciphered mysterious 500-year-old graffiti left in an old abbey attic. The etchings are likely practice drawings made by handwork apprentices.

Artist Banksy keeps Berlin guessing

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 13:09:00 +0100

Elusive British graffiti artist Banksy is due to walk the red carpet Sunday when he presents his directorial debut in Berlin but organisers said he would stay incognito throughout the high-profile event.

Berlin boat nearly hits mystery cable strung across canal

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:14:00 +0200

Berlin police are investigating an incident near Görlitzer Bridge in the city’s Kreuzberg district after a passenger boat narrowly avoided a cable that was strung across the canal, daily Der Tagesspiegel reported on Monday.