below: LOVE, It’ the Cologne way in three-dimensional blue letters and cursive script. A bee flies past as a toucan watches over the garage entrance. The building has become a garden of flowers including pink hibiscus, pink and red roses, yellow stars, and a white daisy. It was painted by Henning Hüttner
below: “Kolijka” by a pair of Polish artists known as SEPE (aka Michał Wręga) and Chazme. (aka Daniel Chazme) It was painted in 2015 as part of the City Leaks festival
below: A closer look at one of the figures in the mural. It’s more than ten years old and a little faded but still in good shape.
below: Mixing paint in a wood bucket while standing on Cologne’s crest – three gold crowns above eleven flames. The three crowns symbolize the Three Wise Men whose bones are said to be kept in a golden sarcophagus in Cologne Cathedral. They were brought in 1164, by Rainald of Dassel, the Archbishop of Cologne; this made the city a major pilgrimage destination.
below: Another slightly faded mural is “Queen of the Night” painted in 2013 by Swiss artist TIKA, aka Maja Hürst. It too was a City Leaks mural.
below: Painted in 2012 by the Cologne-based artist duo Debug Visuals, consisting of Sebastian Karbowiak and Pierre Galic. The title is “Neighbours”
below: A bit of crazy colour on the platform at Barbarossaplatz station by Marcus Krips (aka KripsKunst)
The Ehrenfeld neighbourhood of Cologne is a “hotspot” for urban art of all sorts. This blogpost focuses on some of the murals and graffiti that I saw close to the train station. It is one of many posts featuring art in Arheneld.
below: By the German duo, Herakut, a girl and her dog in a blue and white striped shirt with words “Ohne dich würde ich mich nicht trauen” (Without you, I wouldn’t dare)
below: This geometric creation by Zedz is beside the Lidl parking lot.
below: “Matriarchy” is a mural by Ukrainian street artist AEC Interesni Kazki (aka Aleksei Bordusov). There are two naked women – one black woman riding a tiger and one white-ish woman sitting under a red umbrella. That’s quite the platform that shes sitting on.
below: SeiLeise (Tim Ossege)’s depiction of Cardinal Woelki’s as a Star Wars emperor wearing a dark habit and standing between two soldiers from the imperial guard of honour wearing red coverings and a fig leaf strategically placed.
below: This European flag is also by SeiLeise, a flag where the gold stars are being methodically cut off and removed.
below: “A Chinese Fairy Tale” was painted by Dabtar and A.Signl who are members of the street art crew Captain Borderline. Amnesty International and Colorrevoltion e.V. were also involved. Apparently the mural is a statement (or to raise awareness of?) the human rights situation in China. It dates from 2014.
below: This 3D large mosaic head is an earlier work of Captain Borderline (2011).
below: Once again, another Captain Borderline painting – this time they collaborated with local artist, Rakaposhii (mural ‘Mystical Wall’, shown in 4 photos)
below: This long wall was designed together by two street artists as part of the first City-Leaks Festival in 2011 – Swiss artist Smash137 and Dutch artist Zedz (see above mural). It’s title is “Musikalische Komposition”. Between when this picture was taken (October 2025) and now (September 2026) the building was demolished.
below: “Häusliche Gewalt” (Domestic Violence) was created by street artist RIPO (aka Max Rippon) in July 2014
below: Lichtstrasse with RIPO’s mural along with a couple of paintings higher up on the adjacent building.
below: In accessible – murals painted on a wall that is now behind a fence…. one of the pitfalls of art on temporary structures.
below: Potted plants, and/or plants in colourful vases surround a person who seems to be removing an animal (leopard?) mask in a mural painted by Gaupo Sapo (composed of YuMu, Krashkid, and Alexander Isakov) in 2017.
below: A very happy spray paint can admires its work?
below: Posters with messages like “We are all brainwashed” surrounded by winged phones and television emitting concentric waves. Another message from Vanessa Slagter is “Grow Women Power – Grow where you want. Not where they want to see you”.
below: “Any Europeans should see behind the wall” by the artist Benten.
below: “Believe Israeli women” and “Make street art great again”. The artist’s ‘signature’ looks like biebezvrfarbe.rise
below: A man and his hair.
below: Vincent was painted on his hair even though this is Sid Vicious (of the Sex Pistols). This stencil Sid with a can of Fanta in his hand is by Petit Agite. The pink heart is an add-on.
below: A guitar player – with legs doing some awkward things!
below: Four little bits and pieces – A NanE popsicle with a goofy toothy expression. A black and white Bustr (?) who seems to be gaping wide mouthed at the tiny woman’s portrait. The latter was made by Henry Paulson who seems obsessed with three or four young woman whose very similar portraits can be seen in a LOT of places. Last, top right is Little Vandal Cube by Reth.
below: More Henry Paulson faces… some normal, some with big lips, some with mismatched eyes…
In the past few months I have posted three sets of pictures of Bonn murals and graffiti. The images that I am posting here are all that I have left from my time in Bonn. At this point, I have no plans to return so this is “the last of Bonn”. Of course, if anyone wants to send me pictures of more Bonn urban art (because I am sure that I missed some, or that there is more recent art/graffiti), I will be happy to post it with full credit.
below: “Einsusflug” and a tripping pigeon wearing its cool sunglasses.
below: “This zystem is our enemy”. To which someone has replied, “True that”.
below: Many of the sidewalk/traffic/utility boxes around central Bonn have been painted with scenes from the city. This is the Old City Hall (Altes Rathaus) that dates back to the 18th century. I have always liked how City Hall ‘translates’ to Rat House in German!
below: Another box, this one with very stylized, almost abstract, trees.
below: Images of Johannes Sebastien Bach (1685-1750), the German composer, are all over Bonn.
Kiefernstrasse translates to Pine tree street… it is a street in Dusseldorf that has history. It is lined with apartment blocks that started life as homes for workers in the local factories steel works in the late 1800s. Some were damaged during the war. In the mid 1900s they became home to squatters and other “left wing” groups. Now many of them have been fixed up and/or covered with large colourful murals.
below: He’s hiding behind a tree now – a mural that M05K and Johanna OLGA painted in 2013
below: Bare feet on long skinny legs stick out of pink pants.
below: At street level, groups of strange characters in black outfits are standing around. Except for the little one, they are all wearing hats shaped like pyramids.
below: There are quite a few signs that help tell the story of Kiefernstrasse. The headline on the poster below is ” 1992 Wandbilder sind lebendige Kunstwerke” (= Murals are living works of art) and the article talks about 1992 and how it was the year that Klaus Klinger, Daniel Pulido, and a group of youths painted “Everything’s Bananas” at number 37. This was the first mural on the street; it no longer exists.
below: Daniel MacLloyd painted this large blue bird.
below: This gable is covered by a marine scene – including turtles swimming in the water – was painted by Ami One
below: Bright orange faces!
below: The Dusseldorf monkey is also here.
below: And again!
below: A bright red door, surrounded by….
below: … a long red dragon winding its way through golden clouds.
below: Käferhouse, or Beetle House, by Till Martin Köster and Christian Bolte, 2008. Insects galore! beetles, ants, roaches, bedbugs…. including some with human faces on their backs.
below: One of the many interesting smaller artworks found among the larger murals is this pair of kids in the playground riding their elephants and playing at war, or protest, or being social justice warriors… your choice. Google wants me to believe that it is a Banksy but I am not falling for it.
below: Another social commentary artwork. This time a girl has plenty to eat (and takes a picture of it) while the person beside her goes without.
below: A white unicorn with laser vision – the little white sign painted into the mural says “Laser Rainbow Unicorn & Robocat Rider”. Apparently cats riding unicorns in space is not an unusual theme. The other little sign says “Kevin Gucci” – is that the artist?
below: Strange things are happening on the balcony! There’s even a sheep…. but wait, that’s not a real balcony, instead the artist has employed what is known as “trompe-l’œil style” – it’s painted to look like a wooden balcony structure.
below: At street level, under the balcony seen above, is an alcove for a garage entrance – but it seems like a green police van is parked there already! I wonder what the gnome mechanics are up to!
below: 2007’s addition to the street was a (mostly) monochrome mural that is part puzzle pieces and part little figures. Ben Mathis was responsible for creating the ‘grid’, while MaJo Brothers painted the figures such as this robot holding a cracked egg. Was it dropped? Or is it hatching? 2007.
below: Splotches of blue
below: The characters (animals) in this mural are Marsupilami. They first appeared in the Belgian comic book “Spirou” in 1952 in a story below: The characters (animals) in this mural are Marsupilami. They first appeared in the Belgian comic book “Spirou” in 1952 in a story written by André Franquin. In the story, a man delivers a mysterious package from South America and as it turns out, the package contains a baby Marsupilami. Franquin continued writing about their adventures until the 1970s. In the 1980s the characters were re-invented and found themselves in TV episodes and video games.
below: The next two paintings flank a doorway, one on either side – an equestrian statue (i.e. a man on a horse) and a woman from time gone by but with anachronistic cans of spray paint in her hands.
This image shows another of the articles documenting the history of the area. This one describes an event in 1919 where a train was robbed outside Dusseldorf by a gang of about 30 men, led by “A communist from Kiefernstrasse” known as Steil. He was subsequently shot by the police and died from his wounds.
below: Stencil, boy with a large helmet – ready to be an astronaut. Once upon a time there were a few more details visible in the helmet. This ‘Space Travel’ was made by Seileise aka Tim Ossege.
below: Everyone’s painting these days!
Another poster tells the story of the first Streetfest here in 1982 where the greengrocer’s shop was turned into a cafe with a borrowed sound system.
below: It almost looks like a giant crossword puzzle.
below: Neptune swims upside down
below:The Reds are reaching out, wanting to run? looking for something?
below: He doesn’t look very happy.
below: Jesus carries a goat
below: On an upper wall, a golden Buddha sits and meditates.
below: “Love will tear us apart” more than once.
below: Together in one place, four little pieces by JoinyStreetArt (round white face), sm111le, Karl Heinz Swaggert (hairy fellow on the left), and Metraeda (pink cat). If you have been following this blog, you will probably recognize some of the names and their corresponding styles.
below: Bad Goat, with a strand of green vine and a third eye
below: “Nothing else matters” actually refers to a football club.
below: Nippes has it’s own mural complete with city skyline on a red background – painted by Robin Von Gestern.
below: These little Kölner Heinzelmännchen can be seen on the side of a residential building. These helpful gnomes appear in German legends and folklore; they are rarely seen because they do their work at night and in secret.
Goodlack Art has painted them falling down the stairs – Ooops, not so quiet tonight!
below: As part of Cologne’s City Leaks street art festival, this mural was painted by Danjer Mola.
below: This mural is Okik Momoe’s little bird on a branch… in a fishbowl?
below: Preparing to paint a new mural by a community garden.
below: Immediately above the new painting (above) is a large mural depicting daily life in years gone by.
below: In fact, there is a matching mural on the other side of the garden lot.
below: Another gable mural, this one by Sat One.
below: A closer look at part of the mural
below: This cow, painted by The Kuhl Kid, is a common sight around Cologne. Here it is behind a fence
below: Even though most of the cow is missing, it is still recognizable as being the same as the one above. A little red heart glued into a jar lid seems perfectly placed between the cow’s ears.
below: Cars, pipes, and other accessories on a brick wall
below: Cars and flames. Why are flames so often associated with fast cars?
“Wo immer ich bin vernehme ich deine stimme ihr sinn Schwingt durch raum + zeit in sussem einklang Verbringen wir jede stunde”. Translation: Wherever I am, I hear your voice, it’s meaning, it resonates through space and time In sweet harmony we spend every hour.
A while back I posted about street art that I found around Hochstadenring in Bonn (Dec 2025). What I omitted from that post was a section of the wall that was heavily covered with paste-ups, stickers, and other small pieces of street art. This is that section.
below: A red frog clings to a character that looks rather concerned about that large skull lurking behind him. I think that this is a good example of an interesting juxtaposition, whether intentional or accidental, that you can get when you have a collection of pieces from different artists together in one place.
below: Elvis is in the building!
below: “You’re driving me bananas!”, a young Sophia Loren, a bird in flight, a green octopus dressed in red and white stripes, and many more slaps.
below: Green Taxonomy, and in the bottom corner, Planet Selfie. Made of triangles and other angular shapes is a white protestor holding a sign that says “Yetis geggen rechts” by Metraeda
below: More love on a phone – this time featuring Sulley from the movie “Monsters Inc”.
below: The paste ups that reference art history (e.g. Rodin’s “The Thinker” and other statues) are the work of Jam Paste. In the center, “It’s not dreams that escape me, but reality”.
below: 8arms2hug is all about octopi including this lovely lady in turquoise with the flowers on her head and a necklace around her neck. Beside her, the bunnies with baseball bats were created by CAP aka Cuts and Pieces.
below: Several posters are here too – One says “WAS HATTEST DU AN!” (= What were you wearing!) while another proclaims, “das Kleben ist schön” (which translates to “pasting is beautiful”).
below: A Maid in Cologne artwork shares space with Mr. Burns, from the Simpsons TV show, with a French phrase on his cap, “L’Etat c’est moi”.
below: Another section with a lot going on including a Zastoj character with 2 X’s for eyes who holds a gun that is almost as big as he it. At the bottom, the striped shirt on that shape suggests Sailordude by TRP613 but his head is different – a collaboration with another artist? Perhaps Metraeda?
below: Once again, there is a lot happening here – from Jams Pastes version of the Thinker, to a small woman carrying a protest sign that says “Frieden, Bier, Sonne” – peace, beer, sun. My apologies to the artist of the latter piece – her name is written on the arm in the image but I can’t read it (b. chandre?). Three of the paste ups are text, made like beer coasters, and these are by Bierdeckel Street Art.
The three beer coaster inspired paste ups: 1. “Wickl Dich Nicht Ich”: this translates roughly to “Don’t wrap yourself, 2. “Liebe das Leben”: This green sticker translates to “Love Life.” 3. “Be Kind To Your Mind”
below: A Seileise stencil of a young girl with a small green plant in her bucket.
below: In the Ehrenfeld neighbourhood, Venloerstrasse intersects with railway tracks and this is the graffiti that covered one side of the arch before the street passes under the railway bridge.
A closer look at most of it –
below: Her shoes match her glass of red wine as she sits in a comfy chair. The other woman is a portrait by DISH and she sports bananas in her ears.
below: Fishes Invasion dominates this section of the wall…. but it’s not just an ordinary fish, it’s Joker Fish.
below: Lisson One yellow face among an assortment of little graffiti artworks.
below: A bird with a long white neck sits above 3 mall lids – a heart for love, a symbol of peace, and a yellow smiling face to represent happiness (or harmony?)
below: Seen here – A yellow woodpecker, a green and pink turtle, and an excitable little duckling who is looking for love.
below: The words are very small, but they say, “No place for love, peace, & harmony in this world”. But another little sign proclaims that “the heartest drug is LOVE!
below: Sheeptown 1 euro stamp, Candy by cinnirelli, End gender racism by lille-illus
below: Fight 4 ur rights. Plus a very small “Aut of Order” where a rainbow flows out of his head as it is tied up by several tiny people.
below: Feel the vibe.
below: Swordplay
below: “Be Kind to your mind” and “Das leben ist schon (life is beautiful)”. Both are by bierdeckelstreetart whose artwork is mostly text based.
below: A platter with one puppy and one kitten, and the words “immigrants food service” written above. But further down the wall, a young white boy and a young black boy walk arm in arm.
… is a street in Bonn that ends in a dead end (for traffic). There are buildings only on one side of the street because the other side is a concrete wall that helps support Guido-Westerwelle-Brucke as it rises to form a bridge over the railway tracks.
below: Little long-nosed knee pads for someone with big feet.
below: Cheap Art (& Factorie 45) are located here. Also, there is body (of sorts) above those big feet. “Legs Alien” was painted by Falko.
below: Books coming together to form a bridge – this is “World Construction” by Anthony Dipaola and Adolfo Torrico. There are 17 books in the stack and each one represents a Sustainability Goal such as No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Gender Equality, and Affordable Energy, etc. It is painted on the side of Kult 41 cultural center (and beside Bonn’s Central Mosque).
below: This mural by Marie Hesse is a recent addition to the neighbourhood. It is a tribute to Expressionist painter August Macke (1887-1914) and is her interpretation of a Macke painting “Mädchen mit Blauen Vogeln (Girl with Blue Bird) (the museum, August Macke Haus is nearby).
below: Big brown eyes, with a tack in the bottom corner of one.
below: Smile!
below: Another Smile! This one looks like weather – there’s lightning, and raindrops, and clouds.
below: I almost missed it – This Petit Astronaute by Seileise (aka Tim Ossege) was hiding behind some very heavy pieces of metal.
below: Because I was trying to balance the metal pieces while holding my camera, the photo is not at the best angle.
below: Purple lines, like purple crayon drawings.
below: Mahala
below: A big toothy grin, popsicle by NanE
below: The south end of Hochstadenring – vacant lot on one side, concrete wall on the other.
below: Turn around, and look back where you came from.
below: An alien life form and lots of scribbles.
below: From the end of Hochstadenring you can see the next street over, Heerstrasse, and two faded older mural dating from 2015.
below: A closer look at the one on the left shows this scene
below: There was a flowing grid of different colours on the mural on the right but most of it has been covered with tags.
below: Street art of a slightly different sort – the next two photos are large whimsical sculptures that were probably made from found objects. They add some fun to the courtyard of Kult 41.
… a few things seen as I walked around Dusseldorf on a rainy day.
below: At the train station – not really street art? But it’s a colourful addition to a grey platform.
below: One of the original pieces of street art in Dusseldorf is this large yellow Monkey that appears to be painted by a group of smaller monkeys. It was painted in 1969 by the Majo Brothers. The title is, appropriately “Affe” which is German for monkey. You could probably call it Der Gelbe Affe, or the Yellow Monkey.
below: Joseph Beuys is memorialized in this large portrait – he was a native of Dusseldorf who was influential in the development of the city from the 1960s until his death in 1986. One of his famous phrases is, “Everyone is an artist”.
below: Complex and largely symmetrical in shades of pink and purple is one way to describe this mural by HowNosm (or How & Nosm), a partnership between brothers Raoul and Davide Perre.
below: This is a large-scale, monochrome mural realistically depicting a person’s feet as they stand. They are wearing old boots (or shoes) and you can also see the bottom of their pant legs in the image. The artist was Hendrik Beikirch (aka ECB).
below: “Meat is Murder” he says as he holds out a sausage.
below: “No more wore” written on the Ukrainian flag.
below: Floral dog on a black and white slap, image by Christin Wenga.
below: Sad face with a blotch of yellow on his forehead.
below: “Nix Gelernt?” Nothing Learned?
below: In the center, raising the flag but it has been altered from the original photograph of the American the flag being raised at Iwo Jima on 23 Feb 1945 to an Anarchist flag. In the bottom corner is a small League of Legends sticker
below: His burning inside produces enough hot air to keep him afloat. There is a word written on his T-shirt which might give some clue as to the artist who created this large paste-up but I haven’t been able to find any answers online.
below: The thirteen of hearts and a pinwheel of robotic arms.
below: mmm
below: A bright green potted barrel cactus “growing” on a concrete wall.
below: Another dusseldorf monkey, not so big this time.
below: A lot of advice packed into a small space. “Don’t Panic”, “Be Big”, as well as “Never ever on a first date”.
below: Red head.
below: Framed twice.
below: For aspiring photographers – here is one way to display your work. Do you think that is effective? Worth the effort?
below: I’m not sure who it is, but they have very big black and blue lace-up shoes.
below: In the Belgian Quarter of Cologne, where the streets are named after Belgian cities, there is a barber shop (and hair salon) where the exterior wall is covered with paper.
below: Blue hair, purple hair, and a fat yellow bumble bee.
below: These are Angry Amily drawings on brown paper
below: Another section of the wall – The portrait, lower left, is probably about Sophie Scholl and the white rose movement. Scholl (1921-1943) was a German student who was active in the White Rose Movement, an anti-Nazi organization at the time of Hitler’s rule. She was executed on 22 Feb 1943.
below:Evyrein’s Elon Musk/Mask is in the middle. Notice the little Hitler mustache. Also, the placement of Elon’s body over the stiletto heels is marvelous! To the right of Elon is a little pink octopus hanging onto a red heart by 8arms2hug, a maker of octopus-themed street art.
below: Cats and rappers. Garfield is on his phone while under a three-eyed cat. The three men are Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell of the hip hop group RUN-DMC. The group was formed in 1983.
below: The images of people on cans of spray paint is the work of The Postman. Much of his art focuses on celebrities, many of whom, such as Grace Jones and Sid Vicious pictured here, have appeared on these spray paint cans. Tweet cat (now sporting a German fedora) sneaks into the photo too.
below: Many little things can be seen up near the top of the wall.
below: “The tide is high; my love is low” by Behind Green Eyes, is reminiscent of lyrics from song by Blondie, “The tide is high but I’m holdin’ on, I’m gonna be your number one.”
below: A series of cartoonish characters in various colours form a column beside a window. Lots of merde there too but I am not sure if that is part of the original drawings or if they were added after.
below: A large blue cat by Metraeda prowls beneath a portrait in shades of brown.
below: Pope with a gun. Pope Benedict XVI in fact. The hat in this picture is the same as the hat worn by Benedict XVI in the picture used by Wikipedia. It is an image of Jesus holding a cross while he sits with two sheep.
below:Zoologne, aka Marcel Kreutzer is the creator of the small round sticker with the oval yellow happy face standing beside a plant. There are quite a few similar stickers all over Cologne. As for the fiddler, I have no idea who produced that image.
below: The signature seems to be RUDE and might be your opinion of the image as well.
below: An unhappy green bomb with a microphone. Or at least it looks like a comic drawing of a bomb – that way I can say that it’s unhappy because it’s bombing on stage.
below: Reading cross-legged on the floor.
below: Bee nice or buzz off, as well as Support your local Antifa.
below: Diskettenlaufwerk is actaully the name of an Ultimate Frisbee team. NanE (or Nanelife)
below: Clint Eastwood is portrayed as The Savior in this paste-up. Actually there is quite a bit here – a very small pink Ghostcat, a yellow smiley face, a NanE slice of bread, “Love knows no conditions” text by BehindGreenEyes, as well as a pink and black portrait by Pixmen… and more
below: A cute little girl and an even cuter little red block with googly eyes.
below: More paper.
below: Skulls and more
below: It looks like a chicken in orange and blue as well as an anatomical heart with slight modifications. Perhaps that’s where his heart lies, or where it longs to be.
below: A big hug for Mopsy! Lots of love for an amazing character!
below: Encouraging words by Luna in a white circle with an Australian themed sticker by Tweet below it (kangaroo, emu and balloons!). On the other pipe are two creatures. The one on the bottom is a collaboration between MyCuteCreatures and Joiny.
“Sei doch mal – Nicht so streng mit dir – Du hast die wahl – immer, jetzt und hier” br>
Don’t be so hard on yourself. You have a choice, always, now and here.
“Sei doch mal – Nicht so streng mit dir – Du hast die wahl – immer, jetzt und hier” br>
Don’t be so hard on yourself. You have a choice, always, now and here.
