Saxony: High costs for the removal of illegal graffiti in Dresden

The removal of illegal graffiti from public buildings costs Saxony's state capital Dresden tens of thousands of euros every year. This year alone, contracts worth a total of 60,000 euros have already been awarded, as the city hall announced on Monday. That is half of the annual budget available for this purpose. Illegal graffiti "disfigures" the appearance of the city and also disturbs the subjective feeling of safety, said First Mayor Jan Donhauser (CDU) on Monday. "My goal is to sustainably remove graffiti from municipal property."

In addition to education, removal and prosecution, legal graffiti art is being intensively promoted and areas made available for it, according to Donhauser. There are already six areas in the city that are well used. It is important to show zero tolerance towards illegal graffiti and paint smearing, said Donhauser. In order to reduce them, however, the aim is also to increase mutual acceptance between sprayers and skeptics.

The removal of illegal graffiti on public buildings costs the city an average of 70,000 euros per year, according to Donhauser. The trend is rising, with bridge pillars, traffic facilities and sports facilities increasingly being graffitied. Since 2021, a total of 150,000 euros has been available annually for prevention and clean-up.