Berlin Street Art
Berlin is one of the most “bombed” cities in the world. (“Bombed” meaning “covered 
with graffiti”). Almost every corner of Berlin is tagged—no matter if the neighborhood is rich or poor. The wealthy, posh neighborhood of Mitte is plastered with street art from artists like XOOOOX, while poor, immigrant neighborhoods like Kreuzberg are battle grounds for street gangs and also the preferred canvases of famous international graffiti artists like the Italian artist Blu and the French artist JR.
It was amazing to see so much graffiti in Berlin, especially considering that the prevailing
stereotype of Germany is that it is a meticulously clean and orderly country. I shouldn’t have been surprised by the graffiti in Berlin, however, because
of the rich history of graffiti on the Berlin Wall. 
The western side of the Berlin Wall was a gigantic slate for Berlin’s creative counterculture to express themselves for nearly three decades. When the wall fell, the graffiti artists sought new canvases to bomb on sides of buildings, subway seats, street signs, doorways, mailboxes, boats, and almost any other surface you can dream up.
Berlin is an ever-evolving city of culture. Streetscapes, architecture, and fashion are constantly changing. It was truly a pleasure to walk outside my DDR-style apartment building each morning to discover a freshly painted piece of art to ponder for the day.
For more information about Berlin’s street art, check out this New York Times video, the following books, or my online photo album.
Comment by Joshua on 12 October 2008 at 11:18 am:
Segen – this is cool, thanks for posting. I am a little surprised by this. What is the govt policy on this type of art? Do artists seek permission? Does the government embrace this street art?
Comment by Segen on 12 October 2008 at 12:26 pm:
City policy in Berlin is–that graffiti is illegal. If you get caught, the fines are fairly manageable, however. But more and more the city is cracking down on graffiti, which I think is not a smart move considering the international artists the city attracts. The graffiti could be a tourist attraction and bring in much needed Euros to the struggling, poor capital city.
There are some large-scale street art pieces that the city does allow, but knowing German bureaucracy, there are probably a lot of hoops to jump through and forms to fill out to get such permission. I’d rather just bomb by the cover of night…
Comment by Billy Joe Mills on 12 October 2008 at 1:00 pm:
Segen,
Sweet pictures. Thanks for the post and the educating me about a foreign corner of the world’s culture.
Billy
Comment by Brandon on 12 October 2008 at 1:44 pm:
My neighborhood in L.A. is famous for street art and murals, except that they’re largely sanctioned by the city or local property owners and some have even incorporated open space for the first ten or so feet of height so that local artists or gangs can tag beneath the art. It’s interesting stuff. I’ve always liked the artistic murals and paintings while finding the gang scrawls obnoxious which is common I suppose. It’s a bit surprising that you find it in richer neighborhoods though.
Comment by suburbiostncil on 4 November 2010 at 5:55 pm:
el street art nunca muere!!!
larga vida a los muros de la ciudad!
Comment by Elodie on 17 December 2010 at 9:52 am:
The first paint on the right side comes from Mymo, she is also famous in Berlin http://www.mymonstersworld.com/
:D