Combating graffiti together
Graffiti can be found on walls, bins, and in pedestrian underpasses all over Heidelberg. Removing illegal graffiti costs the city around 130,000 euros every year.
Graffiti artists are often not aware of the legal and financial consequences of their illicit hobby.
- Spraying graffiti illegally is considered ‘property damage’ (Sachbeschädigung).
- Anyone caught doing it will be liable for damages and
- will be criminally prosecuted.
Heidelberg has a two-man team dedicated to removing graffiti. They need to work fast, because – as experience has shown – the sooner graffiti is removed, the less likely new graffiti is to be added around it.
Worth knowing:
The City of Heidelberg will assist home owners in removing any graffiti from their walls. When the graffiti artists strike, simply call the graffiti removal service on 06221 58-29999, and a cleaning team from the Office of Waste Management and Municipal Cleansing will come and remove it quickly and with a minimum of hassle.
The home owner must pay half the cost of removing the graffiti.
Legal graffiti walls
The City of Heidelberg is not categorically averse to graffiti. There are nine locations around the city where sprayers are welcome to legally practice their art:
- The underpass at the ‘Messplatz’ in Kirchheim
- The underpass at the end of Hardtstraße in Kirchheim
- The underpass on Hertzstraße between the industrial park and Rohrbacher Feld
- The underpass underneath the Leimen exit of the B3 heading towards Emmertsgrund
- The underpass on Leimer Straße (Rohrbach to Leimen)
- The underpass on the Götzenberg hill
- The pedestrian underpass by the Karlstor city gate
- The pedestrian underpass at Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage
- Pfaffengrunder Terrasse / Bahnstadt
