Art critic Emilie Trice has called Berlin “the graffiti Mecca of the urban art world.”  In addition to the artwork of the East Side Gallery, Berlin is rich with lots of beautiful street art throughout the city. Everywhere you look—from the walls of buildings, to doorways and even garbage cans—you’ll find murals, stencils, paste-ups, and many other artistic experiments staring back at you. The colorful public art helps to brighten the cityscape and inspires Berliners and visitors. Evolving trends result in an evolving art scene.

Many of the world renowned street artists such as El Bocho, XOOOOX, and Evol live and work in Berlin.  Exciting works like the floating astronauts, one of the city’s most recognizable murals can be found around the Kreuzberg  and Friedrichshain area.  A quick search on the internet yields a map of street art that can be used as a self-guided walking tour.  As always, we didn’t have as much time as we would have liked to explore all the artwork. Here are a few pieces we saw while walking around the city: