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.
My previous post was also about a walk down a section of Toronto’s Graffiti Alley (Spadina to Portland). This post is from the same walk – because there were so many images that I wanted to share, I decided to divide the fun into two parts. This second part takes a closer look at some of the smaller pieces.
below: Peeling paper hands…. A 33wallflower33 group of three women in their dashing outfits … and a charming man with devil’s horns and red glasses.
below: Although it’s getting more difficult to see, there’s a Poser rabbit by the door. The door is disappearing behind a layer or two of paper and paint.
below: There is a little pink stikman on the light above the door.
below: Once upon a time this skinny little guy was pink but ooops, a layer of paint and now he’s prematurely grey.
below: In her face – another stikman
below: Last stikman for today… sometimes you find them tucked away in hard to see places.
below: Party line? Four hands phone.
below: A bleeding heart, a pansy flower, and a woman with a red hat and big ear rings.
below: Polly wants a cracker before she takes over the world, or at least that’s what she told me.
below: A young woman with blue lipstick and jagged pink make up on her cheeks. A spiked collar is around her neck. Make of it what you will.
below: Another young woman, this time she’s a little softer (at least in appearance) – drawn by Catchoo.
below: Multiple Sailor dudes (trp613) in two varieties hanging out with a happy little catchoo critter and its smiley daisy balloon.
below: “Save me”!
below: It looks like catchoo has been busy.
below: More of that wall.
below: Darth Vader makes an appearance too. Who’s that man peeking through the hole?
below: One flower sprouts a bald person while the other produces a sunny orb. That black octopus doesn’t look very happy – perhaps in this winter weather it needs more than just a woolly toque.
below: There are those women again!
below: Dogma slaps standing tall in his puffy jacket and bright red mitts.
below: Riding a D7606 crayon – T-bonez always finds new adventures.
below: A collaboration between Tamm Shinzo and April Showers Art produced this little round piece – sitting on top of the clouds with the moon shining over her shoulder.
below: Cryptid Supremacy – a rat with a very long tail
below: While we’re dealing with rats – Squee! They are all fleeing from an NYC trash can. Don’t litter!
below: Another small collection – Catchoo shows up on a soy sauce bottle while a Sentient Cookie (aka Cecil Tian) character gets taped to the wall… remember that banana?! And last, in the top left corner, a Cartoon Car Slaps.
… 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.
….Yet another lane in the Central Business District in Melbourne that has street art on its walls.
below: Two bald men, two pink robots.
below: Two different men. On the right, Julian Assange, of WikiLeaks fame, is painted on a roller door. On the left is a portrait of a different man, Ethan Joker, by Lushsux.
below: Bob Marley
“You say you love rain But you use an umbrella to walk under it. You say you love sun But you seek shelter when it is shining. You say you love wind But when it comes you close your windows. That’s why I’m scared when you say you love me.”
below: A mix of different paste-ups and stencils including an astronaut’s proclamation that “We are the Chosen Few” and a UFO with an enormous brain.
below: A closer look at “We are the Chosen Few”
below: Catwoman on the run with a blue bag from DeliveryBunny.
below: Bad Habits – Riots not diets!
below: The Breaking Bad LEGO guys are in Higson Lane too. There is also a little Robbo-T guy with crossed wrenches – a skull and crossbones motif!
below: Cute penguins and a big fuzzy penguin, by Lukas Kasper
below: On the left, another Lukas Kasper painting – this time a lizard. On the right, a brilliantly coloured falcon’s head by Silly Sully
below: Melbourne Moments
below: Revolution on the Television Head, or something like that. A women’s revolution? It’s the work of Salvo, aka Matthew Domenic Salvo.
below: “It’s okay to change your mind” written on orange beside a Tinkerstrumpf paste-up of a young woman and her guns. She has appeared in London and Cologne as well here in Melbourne.
below: On the right, a sort of portrait of a woman, or at least the skull of one.. with sunglasses.. and then overlaid with yellow, orange, and red stripes (by v-Is_4_vasso) The one in the middle is either a restaurant menu or an artwork meant to look like a menu – whichever the case, she has a red octopus on her head. Last, the very pink face on the left looks a lot like Princess Leia.
below: Ronald McDonald is saving a seat for you.
below:Robbo-T has ripped his heart out but the two young ladies haven’t noticed.
below: Black and white photos of somewhere in Melbourne.
… 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.
below: Trouble Makers on Heliosstrasse in Cologne. There was a Paste Up Festival in August of 2025 here that was organized by Street Art Against Hate. Although that was a couple of months ago, lots remain here on this wall and many other walls on the street.
below: Some of the paste-ups found on the “Trouble Makers” wall.
below: On the left is a cross-eyed orange Pummel Fee Fart Fair (and I wish I knew what words were in the thought bubble above his head!). On the right is a MyCuteCreatures little cat with two even smaller friends between her ears.
below: One of these dogs has a peach coloured sweat shirt adorned with eyelashes and lips, by Miss GlueInverse (she calls her work analog collages). To the left of that dog is a woman cutting her long hair with a pair of blue scissors by Kalaa Baar.
below: An interesting phone conversation? And a bearded man in sunglasses and a bear (cat?) suit.
below: At the bottom, a pink Nadroschka pretends to be modest.
below: Another MyCuteCreatures and a second Mopsi. This time Mopsi has a bat on his neck and the words read, “Good boy, Bat habits”.
below: “I love Cologne” – but that cat seems too excited! So Schoen Immer Wieder is a German street artist who is responsible for the paste-ups of her pug ‘Mopsi’, most of which have cute/interesting words. In this case, the words are “easy, peasy, lemon squeezy”. The little blue dog also comes with words (same artist? I don’t know). It’s sign says, “You did so well today”.
below: On the right is a black and white drawing by SheepArt Cologne (aka Klaus Schaefer) while sleeping in the bottom left corner is a small drawing by French artist Balaet Balaets (viens, on rêve). A very full purple trash can sits in the middle. Is that a yellow balloon in the garbage?
below: Tweet cat (seen in Melbourne!) has teamed up with Mario while a little furry nose pokes his nose over the wall.
below: “Wer mit Dreck wirft verliert am Boden” which Google translates to “Those who throw dirt lose on the ground” which, by the sounds of it, may not be precise!
“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.
Eyes on the Streets 