My most recent trip to Germany was in 1996 and I was just about depressed about the graffiti which was plastered everywhere. If anyone was there in the late 90's who has been there recently can tell me if it has changed I would love to know.

Yes, Jor,

After 8 years, the gaffiti has changed.

Yes, new graffiti.

Yes, and the new graffiti is much more graphic and obscene than the old graffiti.

To the original poster, jor, what cities are you talking about?

To the other posters, what cities are you talking about?

This type of information would be useful for people, like me possibly, who are thinking of visiting Germany. Of course graffiti is not going to stop me, but it's always nice to know what to expect.

Graffiti seems to be worst near the train stations, making a depressing entrance into the cities.
One city that is fairly graffiti-free is Nuremberg (except for the entrance into the city by train). They have enacted very strict anti-graffiti laws. If they catch anyone "tagging" or engaging in other forms of vandalism, they WILL get arrested and spend time in custody, no matter how young they are, plus a very hefty fine. *Nobody* gets off with a warning, even if it's a first time, minor offense.
A colleague who lives near Nuremberg (Heroldsburg) took us on a city tour and explained how effective the new policy has been. He took us to the "wedding sculpture,", a particularly ornate piece of art and very tempting to graffiti artists. But it's completely untouched by graffiti and vandalism. My colleague said that it would be virtually impossible to see a similar sculpture so free of graffiti in Frankfurt, his hometown.
A sad contrast to here in Brussels, where the local English language newsmagazine ran a long, flattering story about a graffiti "artist."

WillTravel, on my trip in '96 I arrived in Frankfurt. I could not believe what I saw when the train went through the city and I thought oh it must only be frankfurt that has graffiti (I will call it tagging from here on). It started geting depressing when I saw it in areas which used to be so well taken care of. We stayed in Augsberg with a German friend for two days who lived in the heart of the city in a historic building which was covered with tagging. I asked him how he felt about it and he seemed totally unconcerned. It was the same type of tagging I used to see in San Antonio when gangs, tagging, and murders were rampant in the 90's.

I traveled most of Germany in '96 and noticed that there were a few areas which didn't have as much tagging or very little such as Bodensee(spelling) on the Swiss boarder, extreme northern Germany, and in the Nuremberg area.

There were times while traveling in the Cologne area when we could not look in any direction without seeing tagging. We met other Americans who had also traveled in Germany in the past who were also dismayed by all the tagging.